Time Management Problems

You will have to make some priorities.If your studies are important,you should give more time on this.

I know the feeling all too well. It feels as though there just aren't enough hours in the day and time gets away from you. When you focus on one thing you feel underproductive in other areas etc. The best thing to do is to prioritize things as others have said from most important (at the time.) to least important, you can get everything done that needs to be done if you work at it. Sometimes if you are writing a paper and come down with writers block, it helps to do some internet marketing or get some exercise so in that respect you can in fact get a little bit of everything done around the same time.

1. Pick one thing that is the most vital.
You would be satisfied/ "most" satisfied with your day if you accomplished this one action. (Okay, two things max)

2. Take a piece of paper and fold it three times, into a little rectangle, so it fits in you pocket.

3. Write down that impactful action on the paper

4. Make sure and do one most important thing/ day.

I like this method because it's very simple and as "idesignbanners" mentioned, it helps you prioritize or as aymanfarah put it, you do the most important things first.

You should always note your things to do for tomorrow for you not to forget.For me it's my daily tasks.

There are couple of things that you could do to manage the time for yourself. 1) First Things First - so set priorities. 2) Plan the next day actions the previous night as you would get things right on time rather than thinking what to do next. Thanks

Definitely spend adequate time on your studies, then prioritize your IM tasks.

I like to do the hardest things first so that the rest of the tasks seem really easy and it all gets done.

Get at least one significant thing done per day.

Never ponder during work time, when you are working, be productive. If you can't decide what to do or you get stuck doing something, just pick something you know needs to get done and do it. Don't spend any more than a few seconds deciding.

Use a countdown timer to time your tasks and set a specific time frame to have it done. You would be surprised what you can get done when you give yourself only 10 minutes to do it.

Minimize distractions as much as possible during work times, log out of messengers, turn off the phone, TV, etc, and let everyone know that is your productive time and not to bug you.

Don't get distracted online. Don't keep checking email or web stats every few minutes, and don't get sidetracked with other people's promotions. If you are thinking of investing in something ask yourself, "Will this help me with what I am doing now?" If it is something you think you may need someday, skip it, you can buy it someday. Only invest your time and money into something if it will help you do what you are doing now better, faster, or cheaper.

Use a reputable password vault or password manager to keep track of and enter your user ids and passwords for sites. This alone can save you several minutes per day.

That's just some things that have helped me get more done, I hope it helps. Best of luck!

Have you seen Derek Franklin's 'The Action Machine'? It's really awesome to help you get focused and get things done in a set amount of time. Just set it up and get down to it without having to worry any more about timing yourself. Give it a shot, I think you'll really like it:
http://www.warriorforum.com/warrior-...ings-done.html

Maybe you could outsource some of your more repetitive IM tasks. Find someone that wants to make a bit of extra cash and give them a procedure to follow.

Then you just have to check to make sure they have followed the procedure.

This way you can focus on the more important tasks, and the others still get done.

The biggest mistake that most small business owners make is that they work in their business rather than on their business.

Prioritize. Strictly follow your time table. No buts, no ifs. Give your studies the top priority in your time table.

Hi Desmond,

You could try the free Simpleology 101 ... its from Mark Joyner ...

Hope this helps,

Andy

Hi Desmond,

You might want to give the following tips a try:

1. Shut your door and turn your phone off. You need to avoid distractions when you have a task that is very important. Your head will be more clear if you are sitting alone. If you are working on your computer try not to go to social media websites like Twitter, MySpace, and Facebook since they will just waste your time.

2. Group common things together. When you are at home keep things that you use at the same time, like your keys and wallet, together. This way you will not have to waste valuable time looking for them the next time you are trying to leave the house.

3. Change your actions. You need to consciously change your behavior if you know that it is being counterproductive in your day.

-If you are always running late after lunch, set a timer so you can be back to work on time, for example.

4. Use fewer documents and keep them organized. You should not keep every email, memo, document, and file that comes across your desk, even though most of them are electronic.

-Get rid of what you do not nede, organize what you need to keep in folders, and only keep things that you need at that time.

5. Make a timeline. If you are doing work or out having fun, make a guess about how long you will be doing that task. If you are constantly aware of what time it is, you will not look at your watch and wonder where several hours went.

6. Act more, plan less. How many times do you catch yourself trying to figure out what you have to do? You will not move forward if you are just thinking about the future.

-Live in the moment by doing what needs to be done to finish your tasks.

7. Do not procrastinate. Many people have trouble with this. You will spend much more time thinking about a project when you are trying to avoid it than you would if you just did it right when you found out about it.

-Stop making excuses for yourself and just do what needs to be done. Once you finish something that you didn't want to do you will feel so much better about yourself and you will want to take on another task.

8. Have goals. Every plan should have goals. It is much easier to keep track of your progress if you have goals outlined so you know what is done and what is still waiting for attention.

9. Give yourself a reward. When you do a good job, make sure that you give yourself a reward. If you know that there is a reward at the end of a task you will be much less likely to proctrastinate.

-You need to have some fun in your life.

10. Give yourself a break. You don't want to be overworked and burnt out although discipline is important. When you give yourself a chance to take a break and relax you will actually give your productivity a boost.

-Clear your mind by taking 10-minute breaks when scheduled.

A last bit of advice.

You need to find time management tips that work the best for you. That is the most important thing. Keep track of when you are wasting time the most and when you procrastinate.

Just be sure to keep taking steps in the right direction and you'll soon conquer the time wasters that have kept you from success for far too long!

Cheers~

Mark

hi
You've probabaly heard of the 80/20 rule
- a very wise rule only successful people use.
So, do only those minor things which give you 80 % of your results

and those things which Take 80 % of your time but RESULT in 20% - just eliminate them or at least super minimize
Always follow this rule - or You'll will always 'swim' in routine in your life

and + always find the best & EASIEST WAYS to counter difficult problems
- it means, innovate
because stong & easy solutions always exist - you just have to find them

one really successfful businessman recommended this book - to USE its principles in life:
and as this businessman's a highly successful one (about 20 years ) -then I'm sure this advice is worth listening to:
So, the book by Emerson "Twelve Principles of Efficiency"

If you've got $10 and would like to help african children get electricity in exchange for a webinar by Paul Evans of nicheology.com, you can check out Power Mtendere

Hi!
one more advice to free up much time for you.

great entrepreneur Willie Crawford recommends this book:"No B.S. Time Management For Entrepreneurs - The Ultimate No Holds Barred Kick Butt Take No Prisoners Guide To Time Productivity & Sanity " by Dan Kennedy

Hope this helps!

What works for me is, Plan your work and work your plan - minimize procrastination if you can never eliminate it.

I checked some more methods to use my time more effectively. After setting goals for the week, days, tasks for the one day I begin to realize it and write down my every action with the exact start time and end time. In the evening I spend 10-20 minutes to find out what I can do faster next time and what I won't do in the same way. I clearly realize what actions and things have just ate my time.

I am 22 and a senior in college, work 12 hours per week and volunteer in a student org about 2-3 hours per week. I still find time to do my IM, get a smartphone and reply to emails during class/breaks, and learn GTD (Getting Things Done). It helped me, honestly.

No remedy as I have this problem myself, but in a reverse way... I'm almost 50 yrs old...lol

Here's a suggestion that you can try.

1. Select 7 tasks you would like to achieve for the 7 days of the week. These are things you would like to have concrete results on.
2. prioritize the list
3. Drop the bottom 5
4. Do the 2 left to completion - You cannot start any other IM tasks until these are 100% complete
5. Makes sure you do those 2 tasks 'excellently'...Not necessarily 'perfectly' but to the best you can

Every week start out with just 2 tasks and if yu can complete those with time to spare then toss in a 3rd one.

This will allow you to achieve more than most people who dream about making money online.

This is a proven, simple and straight forward system that helps you manage your use of time because 'Time Management' is a myth. There are always the same amount of hours in the day - How we manage them is what makes a difference.

Hope this helps.

I have a free system on my blog, and a link to a few more on it as well. I hope they help.

I was struggling with thinking I didn't have enough time recently. This thought and feeling seems to come and go at different times. I wise person reminded me that I have enough time for what is most important. It's true, I don't have enough time, even to implement a small percentage of my good ideas, but I do have enough time for what is most important. I always do. And so do you. Good luck!

Do this. Do a log of all the activities you do for the day and also note when you switch tasks. For example, if you are writing a report at 9 but then switch off to check the news at 10, note that down. Do that for a bout a week. I know no one that wasn't shocked at their results. Then just prune out your time wasters one by one.

Let me know if you want some clarifications.

Desmond,

I know where you're coming from. I recently read The Four Hour Workweek by Tim Ferris and while I don't necessarily think I'll ever be able to do that--I did find some useful tips that have saved me hours!

One--write a list (not an electronic one) of your to do's each night--circle the TWO that you MUST finish the next day.

Two--Don't open your email, twitter, facebook, skype, etc. the next day until those two tasks are complete.

The other options is to get a V.A. You can hire a v.a. for less than 3 an hour--let them help you. I have 9 and could not function without them.

As time is very precious in life, time management becomes very important. First you should list out the things to be done, and then you need to prioritize your list. You should not overload yourself with too much work. Keep a goal journal and evaluate your goals weekly to make sure you are on right track. By managing your time effectively you are managing your life in the right direction.

Many years of taking on high work loads and prioritising my tasks to manage my time 'effectively' so that I could create the illusion of 'success' finally brought me back, some years ago, to something my first boss at Kodak said:

"You stand or fall by the quality of your decisions."

Consequently, if I find I have many tasks that I've 'got' to do, the last thing I now do is to write them down and prioritise them.

Instead, I tear up any bits of paper with tasks on them and forget about them on the principle that if they're really important, they deserve proper consideration rather than trying to get them out of the way as quickly as possible with any old decision that happens to spring to mind.

And I frequently find, after a few hours or maybe days, that a good number of tasks that seemed to loom so large have now actually disappeared.

When I'm mentoring young people who are just starting in business, I often mention Napoleon Hill's Think And Grow Rich - not that I'm a fan of the book, which I personally don't rate very highly, but I do rate the title very high indeed!

If there is a hidden secret in the book, maybe it's actually the title?

I know most people would be horrified at my sacreligious statement about TAGR but nowadays I'm rarely impressed by anecdotes about rich and powerful people - I know I'll never be like J P Morgan or James Carnegie and although their stories may be interesting, I definitely wouldn't want to emulate them even if I was able to do so!

However, although I haven't read the book recently, Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People contains much more sound practical guidance for an ordinary person like me.

Of particular relevance to this thread, in my opinion, is his advice to more or less forget about time management and to adopt a policy of personal management, which is based on the importance and urgency of any tasks that are confronting you.

I don't feel competent to explain what Stephen Covey advocates in much detail because of the time that has passed since I read the book, but basically importance is ranked higher than urgency, so obviously you can ditch anything which is unimportant and non-urgent!

This alone saves and re-focuses a load of time because it's surprising how many tasks slot into the non-urgent/unimportant category if you've got clearly defined goals!

I'd also add that pro-activity beats re-activity every time!

There are many people who are only too willing to 'delegate' tasks to you - why not give top priority to tasks that you have pro-actively taken on rather than do others bidding?

This article might help ...

First Things First - Time Management

Cheers

Will

I personally have found that "Getting Things Done" is an effective set of tools. The best advice is that your to do list should contain only action items. Ie. direct actions that you can sit down and accomplish immediately. This helps fight procrastination. If you have a list that says "1. Political Science Homework" or:

1. Research sources for term paper
2. write essay for Poli Sci
3. write first draft of polo sci term paper

You will have an easier time getting started.

Break tasks into Micro tasks. Small simple actions that "move the ball" forward.

Hi Desmond,
You need to prioritized all the things. Set your short term goal and long term goals, there are lots of software that allows you delegate your task for IM and still keep you at the forefront of IT.
Hope you find your way soon.