Now we talked about how to budget our time, which is a very important and also difficult, time management technique. Once you have created a budget that works well for you, the next step is to learn to be time rich and also stress free.
Be prepared
When you budget your time for the day, give yourself some freedom. Like everything else in life, things will creep up on you when you least expected them. When you map out your day, make sure that you add an hour or so of time cushion to your schedule. When your appointment is delayed or something unexpected comes up, this time cushion will keep you from getting stressed out by these unexpected events.
Balance is the key
The ultimate goal of time management is for you to live a balanced life. In order to do that, you have to balance out your commitments in the different aspects of your life. When you add a new activity to your schedule, remove an old activity from your schedule. Don’t add anything new, be it work related, volunteer related or just for fun, etc unless you can remove something from your schedule to balance it out. If you can’t remove anything from your schedule, then maybe your plate is already too full for you to add anything new.
Learn to say NO
No isn’t a bad word but a lot of people are afraid to use it. In fact, if you use it right, it can be a great stress reducing word. Most of the time there is no need for us to justify ourselves for saying no to someone’s request but oftentimes we find ourselves doing that anyway. Just tell them you can’t do it this time and give them a friendly smile. If you don’t feel comfortable saying no to someone in the face, tell the person you’ll get back to them and then call or email them later.
Combine your errands
If you have errands to run, arrange them so that you can do as many things on as few trips as possible. For example, make dental appointments for yourself and your family members back to back on the same day so that you won’t have to keep coming back to the dentist’s office. If you have to do grocery shopping, maybe you can make a stop at a grocery store on your way home. You can save a lot of time by combining your errands.
Under promise and over deliver
Another important time management technique is to assign reasonable deadlines to your goals. By selecting reasonable deadlines, you can avoid the stress of being caught in a time crunch. Use your time effectively and you’ll likely be able to finish ahead of schedule. This will not only give you the satisfaction for a job well done, you’ll also be able to relax and turn in early.
I hope these tips will be useful to you. Please comment below if you have any time management tips to share.
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