Managing Your Life One Minute at a Time

Sparkman “l wish I had more time at the end of my day’. This statement is uttered by countless people every day. You are not alone. There are many “secrets” to success in multiple areas of our lives. Time management is not only one of them but also one of the most important. It is amazing what you can accomplish if you plan ahead. Everyone on this planet only has 24 hours to complete a day. That includes sleeping, eating, work, extracurricular activities, travel time and family time.

The answer to why other people seem to get more accomplished in a 24 hour period is time management. They have learned the secret to what you are about to learn. How to manage their time and categorize their day so they make time for the things more important to them. Time management can help you in every aspect of life both personal and professional. Before we get into the “meat and potatoes” of the greatness of time management, let us look at something we are all familiar with. The outcome of not having these skills. When I was in high school and even college I did something that I have always regretted. Procrastination is the foundation of all disasters. (Pandora Pokily, Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out). I use to wait until the very last minute to even begin my assignment. I remember going through Criminal Law and waiting until eleven o’clock pm to begin my midterm paper that was due at eight o’clock the next morning. I am sure that you have never done anything like that. When I performed like that it caused some much unneeded stress in my life. The largest component too lack of time management is stress. According to RESEARCH.

ORG (“Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. ). Stress is a physical outcome from a mental state of mind. It has to do with the “fight or flight” method. It occurs from your mind feeling overwhelmed. That is a side effect off lack of time management. You always feel you don’t have enough time to complete your tasks. Waiting until the very last minute to complete anything can cause a great deal of stress that we could easily avoid if we would simply begin a method to planning and time management.

Another side effect of a lack of time management is not being able to complete needed tasks. For some reason we always complete the tasks that we “want to”. This sometimes leaves us unable to complete those that we “need to”. Take me for example. When I was seventeen years old and the co-owner of my very first business, (before I knew what time management was all about) I always had time to hang out with my friends. I always had time to play music, go snowboarding, go to ten lake, anon nil ten movies. I outhunt running a business would be easy. Just tell the employees what to do, and it will get done. Right? Wrong!

After my first quarter and I received my earnings and I quickly realized that I had to learn how to manage my time and employees or I was going to ink this venture. After my awakening I got back on track and we all benefited from it. Remember, time management is not Just for you but for everyone that you directly or indirectly influence. The superior thing about time management is that you can use it in every aspect of your life. Take students for instance. If I knew then what I know now I could understand that I can hang out with my friends and still have time to do my homework. It would have been so great.

My goal is that students grab this concept before they learn the hard way like I did. Since I am going back to school later in life I also have to factor in my family with my schedule. This is something that I could never have done without learning these skills. Even though I have homework I still have to make time for my wife and children. This is something that prior to beginning my online education I told them I would not compromise on. Thanks to time management I can keep that promise. There are some very simple and yet important applications you can begin right now to get yourself on the road to managing your life.

The best place to begin your time management process it by having a “center piece”. When my wife is setting the table, she does it based off of the center piece. It could be flowers, a fruit bowl or candles. Depending on what center piece she uses determines what type of plates, silverware she is gin got use. I want you to think of time management in the same way. Your “center piece is what you will base the rest of your day off of. Allow me to elaborate. My center piece is my job. I know when I go there and I know when I come back. For most people, myself included , this is the biggest portion of time that I have set aside throughout my day.

This is the center of my management plan. All of my activities are based off of my schedule at work. Having this center piece allows me to have boundaries to determine what my days will look like. This especially affects my extra-curricular activities. My wife on the other hand is a stay-at-home mom. She will be the first to tell you her center piece is the boys nap time. This determines when she needs to shopping, run errands, take the boys places and when she needs to be home. If you are a student your center piece is more than likely going to be classes.

You are not going to schedule a workout during your history class or between your science and rimming Justice classes. Once you have your center piece you will have a better idea of what you can realistically accomplish in a day. The second time management application is to get and use a planner. The reason people do not get done what they need to has a large amount to do with the fact they don’t know what needs to be done. If you have a planner or organizer you are able to see first thing in the morning everything that has to be accomplished for that day. It will also show you if your goals or expectations are not realistic. If you don’t write when you don’t eave time for it, you wont write when you do have time for it. ” (Catering Storybook Keller). When I was TLS leaning tout tell management one AT my largest problems was that I would put too much into my day. I though “l can get all this done because it is in my planner”, when in reality there was no way for me to complete every task I set out to do. A planner gives you a visual of what your day would look like. Then you are able to make any changes that you need to ensure a successful day. A planner can have more uses that Just activities.

You can use it to plan your eels, plan your grocery shopping, plan your monthly bill payments, plan your workouts, and a number of other aspects of our day-to-day lives. The most important part of all the information presented to you is to set a routine. We are people of habit. We learn it at a very young age. We wake up, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and brush our teeth and out the door we go. That is my families routine. As defined by http://www. Defenestration. Com a routine is (“a prescribed, detailed course of action to be followed regularly; a standard procedure”).

A routine is something that e continually do until it becomes a habit. As defined by http:// www. Defenestration. Com a habit is (“A recurrent, often unconscious pattern of behavior that is acquired through frequent repetition. “) Using a planner is the same idea. You set a time every day before you walk out the door to look at your planner. The time that I have set aside is during breakfast. Every day I look to see what I have going on for the day. I am able to see the plan that I have made and make any changes if I need to. That brings me to my next point. Nothing is set in stone. Changes can be and should be made as life changes.

Just because you planned on going for a bike ride at 6:pm, does not mean you should miss your daughter’s softball game at 6:1 pm. There is no greater investment then into yourself. Time management is an area that everyone and anyone should invest in. It does not matter if you’re a college student, single mother, overworked father or the CEO off fortune 500 corporation. You will be amazed how much a little planning will affect your stress levels, attitude and complete outlook on life. Take the time to plan and manage your time. Stop asking your day where it went and start telling it where it is going.

References: Habit. (2013). In The Free Dictionary. Retrieved from http:// www. Defenestration. Com/habit Routine. (2013). In The Free Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www. Defenestration. Com/routine Need More Time? Wait Just a Minute, Here It Comes . (2011, November). Entrepreneur, 0, 1-2 . Retrieved from http:// www. Entrepreneur. Com/article/220668 Time Out. (2007, April). Entrepreneur, 0, 1-2 . Retrieved from http://www. Entrepreneur. Com/article/175828 Learn to Manage Your Lime In college. (2011, October). USA News, Retrieved from http://www. Sinews. Com/education/blobs/the-college-experience/