| Ecclesiastes 3:1 – “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” |
Managing time wisely and setting priorities is crucial to achieving personal and professional milestones. Time effectively managed can bring evident transformation.
Time is such a precious gift and as such, should be utilized intentionally. To manage time effectively, you must recognize:
- Your season,
- The goal,
- What you need to achieve the goal,
- How you plan to achieve the goal,
- The time required to achieve the goal,
Once the above is determined and the goal is set, it is essential to do the following:
- DRAW A PLAN: There must be a goal-map for direction, reference and accountability.
- PRIORITIZE: Determine what is crucial to the goal, from High priority to Low priority. What is urgent? What is essential? What can wait?
- DELEGATE: Delegation allows you to leverage the skills and strengths of others in achieving a task. It saves time, increases productivity, and boosts efficiency. Assigning tasks to those who excel in specific areas encourages improved or added learning styles.
- BLOCK TIME TO EXECUTE: Allocate specific blocks of time to tasks or categories of work. This builds structure and ensures you give attention to your priorities, reducing distractions and multitasking.
- AVOID PROCRASTINATION: If something can be done in two minutes, complete it and move on to the more time-consuming tasks. Do not keep pending a task that can be done now for later.
- LEARN TO SAY NO: It is okay to say no when necessary to less important commitments to free up your time for the more important ones. It is good practice to be on only some projects. Know where and when to say my schedule is booked and can only take on what is necessary.
- COORDINATE: Frequent check-ins to assess progress and identify what is working and what is not working help ensure proper time management coordination. There must be a system of feedback on what you do
- REST: Avoid burnout and take care of your health. You are most productive when you are well-rested and healthy.
If you must see any goal through to a successful end, time management must be at the fore. How you manage your time determines how progressive you become. It is important to understand the brevity of life. Time is finite; hence, you need to put first things first. What can wait, what can be delegated, what needs to be done now? How do we piece everything together to make sense?
Victoria
Victoria is a financial advisor and investment consultant who loves numbers when they work. She enjoys participating in policy formulation and organizational development, specifically, human resource management. She has good ears for music; a great planner, and a critical thinker. She is happily married to an amazing man.