Secrets of Effective Time Management to Increase Personal Knowledge
By Boon Goh
Complete Tasks That You Are Supposed To
You know very well of your main purpose or main tasks every day. The majority of your time should be spending on your chosen profession and passion.
Avoid wasting your time away from your main purpose. Delegate and outsource secondary tasks that you are able to explain to other what do you want, so that someone could take care of it for you.
Goal Setting
Time management success secret for business owner is that there is no real secret, it is impossible for one to manage time, but you can manage what you do with your time. Setting short term goals and long term goals and have them written out is an important factor in effective time management for a business owner.
If you do not know what needs to be done and what you are working towards, you will be just wasting time around with no direction. What is your ultimate goal?
What one goal do you want to accomplish this year? What are the steps that you need to take to achieve the goal for this year? Will that goal enable you to get closer to your ultimate business goal?
Speed Up Yourself
Observe the successful entrepreneurs; they have some same characteristic, their personal speed. Yes, in everything they do including walking, talking, making decisions.
You need to become fast and accurate on everything you do. Every day, focus on adding more and more energy on speeding up your action, your mind and body will get into the habit of catching up the speed.
Ask yourself: "Is that `mine'?"
Every time someone attempts to breach your boundaries and do something that doesn't fit in with your work plans, asking yourself "is that my stuff or his stuff" can really help you decide more clearly on how to handle curveballs while still maintaining boundaries. For example, your husband pops his head round the door and says: "Honey, can you make me some sandwiches?
I'm late!" Asking yourself "Is making sandwiches for his lunch his stuff or mine" quickly showcases the fact that he is (a) a grown adult (b) perfectly capable of making his own sandwiches and (c) perfectly capable of allowing scheduling enough time to do so. You can then decide exactly how you're going to reply.
Delegate
Even if you do not have employee, you can delegate tasks to friends and family or consider hiring freelancer or a contractor to help when you get really busy and need the extra help.
In addition, don't forget that outsourcing household tasks is just as helpful as outsourcing tasks that are directly business related. It can be very difficult for a business owner to let go of non money making tasks to others. But, ultimately it is imperative that you find a way to automate, delegate or let someone else do tasks that are not a priority to earning money, but compulsory tasks that need to be done.
Whether it's employing automation technology, hiring a bookkeeper, a receptionist, a Virtual Assistant, or a housekeeper it does not matter. Any help will be a real time saving measure.
Identify distractions
The sad truth is that most of us plan our work days as if they are always going to run ideally. No telemarketer is going to call; our son is not going to skin his knee; our teenager is not going to suddenly remember she has an extra band practice tonight and the dog is not going to get his paw stuck in the dishwasher (don't ask!!!)
While the latter is admittedly a once-in-a-lifetime emergency, what you want to look out for particularly is the sort of distraction that occurs on a regular basis -- the ones that de-rail you on a daily basis.
And these can include the most pleasurable distractions.
For example, if you're a Facebook addict who habitually spends an extra hour or so chatting or checking out links after you've posted your daily post, schedule Facebook for the end of your workday, rather than the beginning.
Recognize your rhythms
Every single person has an optimum time of day when they produce their best work, as well as a minimal time of day when they are most likely to fight the tendency to doze off or make mistakes. Fit your work around these periods -- and do your best to ensure your "peak" periods aren't interrupted by unnecessary distractions. So if you're a bookkeeper, don't schedule a gym break for 10 a.m. if this is when your mathematical powers are at their peak. Don't let your aunt sucker you into taking her shopping after lunch, if your intellectual motor is purring along at its best from noon to three p.m. -- re-schedule the shopping trip for morning or evening. And don't take phone calls or check your emails during your "peak" period. They'll almost certainly jolt you out of your zone, if not downright distract.
Dress for success
This one is less of a "must" than the previous five tips. Consider it more of a suggestion, based on personality. There are many people who can work comfortably and assertively in pajamas, but many others have found that wearing nice clothes and putting on make-up as if they really were heading to the office not only makes them feel more assertive, but also helps reinforce the message to family members -- namely, they're "going to work" now. Particularly if you have issues with depression or self-worth, making sure you practice good self-care and pay attention to your appearance can help you feel more worthy of allowing yourself to stick to your boundaries.
Never, EVER "explain"
This is one of the most crucial rules to start living by, when you're working on building strong boundaries. People not used to maintaining firm boundaries almost always feel compelled to "soften the blow" by explaining why they can't oblige. The trouble is, whenever you give a reason, you open an opportunity for the imposer to argue against it. To your astonishment,
"I'm sorry I can't drive you to the store tomorrow because I've hired a babysitter and I've planned to work till noon" instantly gets countered with:
"Well, it's the only time this sale is on -- and you can always work when Mike gets home -- AND save yourself the cost of a babysitter! Right?"
(Remember, imposers are good at it -- whether they mean to be selfish or not.) So practice just saying "no" at every opportunity -- and resist the urge to justify your decision.
Finally, make sure you put all these tips and strategies to use by scheduling time daily (on your new, online calendar) to start implementing them. When you've done this, you should know clearly that Monday is Physical Office Evaluation and De-cluttering Day, Tuesday is Hard Drive De-cluttering Day, Wednesday is Social Network Streamlining day, etc. etc. Make it a week-long or two week project -- even if you only allot half an hour a day.
You may feel like you're "losing" time every day by tackling these chores, but in truth the time you'll permanently gain will be priceless. If you're tempted to abandon the effort, ask yourself: "What could I do with an extra hour a day? An extra afternoon a week? And extra day a month?" (Print those questions out and put them up on your billboard! No time management app or system will really work... until you make it.
You know very well of your main purpose or main tasks every day. The majority of your time should be spending on your chosen profession and passion.
Avoid wasting your time away from your main purpose. Delegate and outsource secondary tasks that you are able to explain to other what do you want, so that someone could take care of it for you.
Goal Setting
Time management success secret for business owner is that there is no real secret, it is impossible for one to manage time, but you can manage what you do with your time. Setting short term goals and long term goals and have them written out is an important factor in effective time management for a business owner.
If you do not know what needs to be done and what you are working towards, you will be just wasting time around with no direction. What is your ultimate goal?
What one goal do you want to accomplish this year? What are the steps that you need to take to achieve the goal for this year? Will that goal enable you to get closer to your ultimate business goal?
Speed Up Yourself
Observe the successful entrepreneurs; they have some same characteristic, their personal speed. Yes, in everything they do including walking, talking, making decisions.
You need to become fast and accurate on everything you do. Every day, focus on adding more and more energy on speeding up your action, your mind and body will get into the habit of catching up the speed.
Ask yourself: "Is that `mine'?"
Every time someone attempts to breach your boundaries and do something that doesn't fit in with your work plans, asking yourself "is that my stuff or his stuff" can really help you decide more clearly on how to handle curveballs while still maintaining boundaries. For example, your husband pops his head round the door and says: "Honey, can you make me some sandwiches?
I'm late!" Asking yourself "Is making sandwiches for his lunch his stuff or mine" quickly showcases the fact that he is (a) a grown adult (b) perfectly capable of making his own sandwiches and (c) perfectly capable of allowing scheduling enough time to do so. You can then decide exactly how you're going to reply.
Delegate
Even if you do not have employee, you can delegate tasks to friends and family or consider hiring freelancer or a contractor to help when you get really busy and need the extra help.
In addition, don't forget that outsourcing household tasks is just as helpful as outsourcing tasks that are directly business related. It can be very difficult for a business owner to let go of non money making tasks to others. But, ultimately it is imperative that you find a way to automate, delegate or let someone else do tasks that are not a priority to earning money, but compulsory tasks that need to be done.
Whether it's employing automation technology, hiring a bookkeeper, a receptionist, a Virtual Assistant, or a housekeeper it does not matter. Any help will be a real time saving measure.
Identify distractions
The sad truth is that most of us plan our work days as if they are always going to run ideally. No telemarketer is going to call; our son is not going to skin his knee; our teenager is not going to suddenly remember she has an extra band practice tonight and the dog is not going to get his paw stuck in the dishwasher (don't ask!!!)
While the latter is admittedly a once-in-a-lifetime emergency, what you want to look out for particularly is the sort of distraction that occurs on a regular basis -- the ones that de-rail you on a daily basis.
And these can include the most pleasurable distractions.
For example, if you're a Facebook addict who habitually spends an extra hour or so chatting or checking out links after you've posted your daily post, schedule Facebook for the end of your workday, rather than the beginning.
Recognize your rhythms
Every single person has an optimum time of day when they produce their best work, as well as a minimal time of day when they are most likely to fight the tendency to doze off or make mistakes. Fit your work around these periods -- and do your best to ensure your "peak" periods aren't interrupted by unnecessary distractions. So if you're a bookkeeper, don't schedule a gym break for 10 a.m. if this is when your mathematical powers are at their peak. Don't let your aunt sucker you into taking her shopping after lunch, if your intellectual motor is purring along at its best from noon to three p.m. -- re-schedule the shopping trip for morning or evening. And don't take phone calls or check your emails during your "peak" period. They'll almost certainly jolt you out of your zone, if not downright distract.
Dress for success
This one is less of a "must" than the previous five tips. Consider it more of a suggestion, based on personality. There are many people who can work comfortably and assertively in pajamas, but many others have found that wearing nice clothes and putting on make-up as if they really were heading to the office not only makes them feel more assertive, but also helps reinforce the message to family members -- namely, they're "going to work" now. Particularly if you have issues with depression or self-worth, making sure you practice good self-care and pay attention to your appearance can help you feel more worthy of allowing yourself to stick to your boundaries.
Never, EVER "explain"
This is one of the most crucial rules to start living by, when you're working on building strong boundaries. People not used to maintaining firm boundaries almost always feel compelled to "soften the blow" by explaining why they can't oblige. The trouble is, whenever you give a reason, you open an opportunity for the imposer to argue against it. To your astonishment,
"I'm sorry I can't drive you to the store tomorrow because I've hired a babysitter and I've planned to work till noon" instantly gets countered with:
"Well, it's the only time this sale is on -- and you can always work when Mike gets home -- AND save yourself the cost of a babysitter! Right?"
(Remember, imposers are good at it -- whether they mean to be selfish or not.) So practice just saying "no" at every opportunity -- and resist the urge to justify your decision.
Finally, make sure you put all these tips and strategies to use by scheduling time daily (on your new, online calendar) to start implementing them. When you've done this, you should know clearly that Monday is Physical Office Evaluation and De-cluttering Day, Tuesday is Hard Drive De-cluttering Day, Wednesday is Social Network Streamlining day, etc. etc. Make it a week-long or two week project -- even if you only allot half an hour a day.
You may feel like you're "losing" time every day by tackling these chores, but in truth the time you'll permanently gain will be priceless. If you're tempted to abandon the effort, ask yourself: "What could I do with an extra hour a day? An extra afternoon a week? And extra day a month?" (Print those questions out and put them up on your billboard! No time management app or system will really work... until you make it.
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