How much time do we actually have?
We are all only a matter of time! Without time management, we are wasting a part of ourselves! Scary? I thought so too. Furthermore, a person’s average life expectancy is roughly 75 years. I got you with the math!
I am going to go with an average age of 20.
75 – 20 = 55 years left on average.
75 * 12 = 900 * 4 = 3,600 * 7 = 25,200 * 24 = 604,800 * 60 = 36M minutes.
55 * 12 = 660 * 4 = 2,640 * 7 = 18,480 * 24 = 443,520 * 60 = 26.5M minutes.
So, now if you are 20 years old you have already spent 9.5M minutes of your time.
Did I mention it gets worse? So basically, time is not a guarantee and you may have just a couple more days, hours, or even minutes left. Nobody knows!
Sorry if I scared you a little too much. I take it as a wake-up call to action!! Whether we like it or not it is reality. I hope I knocked the importance of time management into you by now.
3 main reasons why we waste time
We tend to think of it as a prison
People don’t like the concept of a controlled schedule. We like to go about our lives freely as much as we can. For some of us, the thought of a structured schedule where certain things need to be done at a particular time is just overwhelming. Bellow, I have 7 ways that will prove this wrong and that time management is actually fun!
Lack of knowledge
Most of us don’t fully know the value of time until it is too late. Once it is too late, what is that knowledge going to do except give us regret? This is why I started out with the numbers above so that at least it will scare us into learning more and taking time management seriously.
Procrastination
I think we all can relate to this one. The worst sentence to say is “I will do it tomorrow” or “I will do it when I have time”. Someone once told me that he always hears “I will do it after I graduate or I will do it when I get older, let me enjoy now”, but never hears “now is the time”. Basically, the right time that we have pictured in our head will never come. We have to create that time ourselves. A cure is needed for Procrastination
What is so hard about time management?
The hardest part of time management is getting started and staying consistent. It is like learning how to ride a bike, first, you got to put on the tricycle wheels and then you might fall a couple of times. Once you take those tricycle wheels off and get going normally it becomes second nature.
Afterward, whenever you come across a bike you will be able to ride with no problem even though you might not have ridden a bike in a while. The same goes for time management once you get past those first couple of weeks consistently it will be a piece of cake.
Now let us get to the good part…
7 simple ways to time management like a pro
Pay more attention
Start by thinking about what tasks you do daily. Keep thinking about time management. This will create a process in your brain that will start detecting the parts of your day where you are wasting your time and you will start being more alert about it.
Plan easy-to-complete goals
Start giving yourself daily goals that are not as time-consuming. This will give you a huge boost in confidence when you start seeing all these tasks you are able to check off at the end of the day. For example, read a chapter of a book.
Say No!
I can’t tell you how much time I have wasted just because I was too nice and couldn’t say no in some situations. For example, you go out with your friends every weekend. For a change, say no to going out the coming weekend and do some productive work instead.
Go to sleep early
Most of the people we hear talking about personal development and achieving goals talk about getting up early. Go to bed early and allow your mind to get proper rest. No proper rest leads to 0 productivity. The early hours of the night are the most beneficial. Create that alarm to start getting to bed early today!
Take breaks
Doing what you love to do and what makes you relaxed is great, but what is even greater is the feeling of doing them after completing a couple of tasks that you scheduled for the day. This is what I meant by time management being fun. Manage your time so that you can fully enjoy those breaks without any regrets!
Make a vision for your future
Having that vision or destination we want to reach will easily help us plan our daily goals. A purpose gives us organization and productivity. Examples of goals are getting a dream job, creating a following on YouTube, living in a house next to a lake, and the list goes on.
Ask for help!
I love this part of time management. Let’s say I am trying to build a website for my blog. I know someone who has done it before, so I ask them for help completing my task. Instead of trying to go at it on my own, I have now saved a lot of time by asking for help. Now I will have extra time to focus on what I created a website for. Work smart, not hard! Ask for help!
Conclusion
I would like to leave you with these three things to do today…
- Make one goal for the day
- Identify one bad habit to get rid of – Check out the Change your habits in 3 simple ways post
- Go to bed 1 hour earlier than yesterday
I also recommend you head over to Ali Abdaal’s YouTube channel and check out his video on time management here.