Los Angeles, Feb 16

There is little in life that is more valuable than time. You should use your time as wisely as you use your money. The less time you spend on accomplishing something, the better, as long as you do it right. Use the following tips to make the most of your time.

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Maintain a schedule that contains thoughts, activities, and conversations during the week. This provides insight into what you're able to complete in a day and where precious moments go. This schedule shows what time you spend on results and how much you waste on the things that are unproductive to your goals.

Buy a small notebook or calendar that you can use to track any plans or thoughts in. If you jot down all of the tasks that you complete in a day, you will gain a better knowledge of where your time has been spent. This could help you create a plan for each day and manage your time successfully.

Take some time to schedule some time for your interruptions. You need to be able to plan some time that you can be taken away from from the tasks you're working on. For instance, maintaining concepts similar to office hours. Office hours can be thought of as planned interruptions.

Take about five minutes before your tasks and calls for deciding what results you wish to achieve. This can help you see success before you begin. It can also slow down some time. Try taking about five minutes after every activity and call to figure out if you achieved the desired outcome. If you didn't, what did you miss? How can add the missing element to the next task?

Learn to let the little things go when you are overwhelmed by a busy day. People who tend to fuss over less important matters often lose their focus on the big picture, thus wasting time. Have your priorities straight and don't allow small problems to get in the way of managing time efficiently.

If you want to maximize your time, start your day by taking 30 minutes to plan your entire day. This time you take to plan out your day will save you a lot of time in the long run. By having your day planned out, you will have a schedule to follow and will avoid wasting time with unnecessary tasks.

Consider not wearing a watch. It sounds counterintuitive to time management, but some people are clock watchers. They get focused on the time, to the detriment of actual time management. You need to free yourself of this to really focus. In fact, you'll find that it's quite liberating and effective to just get down to work without being the slave of a clock or watch.

Make it a habit to hold on communication until you're done the things that take the most focus. Emails and telephone calls are huge interrupting forces when it comes to time management. You may think that you need to answer every email as it comes in, but really you don't! Hold them until you're done your current work. It's a much better use of time.

Make sure that you create a list of things to accomplish. Start doing the tasks at the beginning of your list, then work your way down. Consider having your list with you at all times to maximize efficiency.

Consider Pareto's Rule when considering time management. Really the lion's share of your focused work (80%) gets done in 20% of your time. That's normal and not the sign of someone inefficient. The human brain needs down time to adjust and renew itself. Make sure you give yourself breaks and periods where less is expected.

If you have trouble managing your time, consider keeping a diary. For three days write down everything you do to pinpoint how you are spending your time. A diary will help you understand how much time you spend doing productive things and how much time you waste on unproductive conversations, thoughts and actions.

If you are having trouble managing your time and it is leading to stress in your life, you should try to cancel any routine meetings that do not have specific benefits for you. If you need to ask a superior if this acceptable, then ask them. Many hours are wasted sitting in routine meetings that have nothing to do with your abilities. Stop going to them and wasting time.

Work hard to mentally prepare yourself for your tasks. It is not always easy to get yourself in the correct state of mind, but practice will do you good. Tell yourself you're allowed to concentrate for just a short time, and then do that.

Keep your to-do list on hand at all times. It can help you remember what you need to do. Some items on your list may lead to more stress. This might make you forget your other tasks. If you have a physical list, you will be much more likely to move seamlessly from one thing to another.

Set aside 10 minutes each day for those tasks that you dread. During those 10 minutes, concentrate solely on the task at hand. By using this technique, you will quickly be able to get the task completed without it overwhelming you. This technique also works well for larger tasks that need to get completed.

Always overestimate your time scheduled for appointments and you will always be on time. This time management trick will ensure that you are always where you are supposed to at the time you specify. If you end up with extra time, use it to catch up on email, phone calls or other necessary tasks.

As stated above, time is one of the most valuable things in life. You need time to do the things you love and enjoy the little things in life. The best way to find more time is to use the time you have wisely. Take heed to the tips in this article to make the most of your time.

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