Time Management is Difficult
Time management is difficult.
It is a vague concept since it is not something that you can see, it becomes an abstract idea for many people. So how do you know if you are good at managing your time?
People tend to spend time doing things that they enjoy and putting off the tasks that they don’t like. We’ll do anything to avoid what we see as distasteful.
You are making an appointment with yourself to do a specific task, at a specific time. Click To Tweet
We also tend to take the path of least resistance, completing easy tasks before starting something difficult. The more complex a task, the more steps (and time) it will probably take. We naturally follow the path of least resistance.
People don’t always put their priorities first. We spend time on other people’s priorities and put our work lower on the list. We don’t want to disappoint, but it really shows a lack of respect for our own time.
If you schedule blocks of time in your calendar, these tasks become commitments. You are making an appointment with yourself to do a specific task, at a specific time. Rarely will you forget these appointments if you use your calendar well.
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Reblogged this on rogmaozamiz and commented:
Time management
Putting off the tasks we don’t enjoy is so true. And also, focusing on other people’s priorities is another way we can go sideways with how we manage our time. If there is something I keep avoiding, I use that as a cue and get curious. I ask myself if it’s still necessary to do or if I can let it go. Once I find that answer, finding a way forward is easier.
Curiosity is a wonderful way to approach procrastination. I love that you cue yourself and find out why you’re avoiding something.
Time Management was one of my goals this year. I needed to make my priorities also crucial in my day. So, I started updating my tasks to include all my personal and clients tasks. This way, I have a balance between both. The results were terrific! By the end of the week, I had completed 90% of the tasks I wanted to do for my business.
Great job! That’s a great result and I love that you included balance, which is so important.
It is that act of tying the task to a specific time that makes all the difference. For me, it may be a collection of things that I’ll do at my “Daily Desk Time,” or a series of errands. But having some general idea of when I will be working on each of my various tasks is a lot different from having an endless list of tasks that I hope to get to.
Like you say, I tend to avoid the tasks that make me nervous or are unpleasant or difficult. I have to rally my courage sometimes for things like those!
Yes, making sure that each task is allotted to the right time and place is very important. I think we all have those tasks that we have to rally our courage around, great job tackling yours!
Excellent points, and I know I definitely put off doing thinks about which I’m anxious if there’s an opportunity to do something for someone else’s priorities. 🙂
I block time for almost everything; it’s meeting those commitments to myself that can be a sticking point. I make myself do the things I don’t like, somethings as a prerequisite to do the things I want/like to do. The sticky wicket for me tends to be the thing that I know I will like (or at least not dislike), like writing a post or putting together a presentation, not because I’m avoiding the activity itself, but the feelings I’ll have about the activity after the fact (will “they” like the post? the presentation). I find I have to combine time blocking, the Pomodoro Technique, and some form of external accountability to make sure I’ll do things before it gets to the point where I’ll feel pressed. (I always deliver, but how much better would it be to do so stress-free?)
Time blocking is so helpful, as is the external accountability. I love that you do things you like / want as a prerequisite, that’s a great way to balance things you want to do with those you have to do.