Guide On How To Be Professional In Doing Time Management

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Time management skill is no doubt one of the crucial skills, but being professional in managing your time needs a bit of an extra step. 

However, if you want to improve your time management skills, you need to go much deeper in knowing what can help and highlighting important factors affecting managing time decisions. 

And to understand more about it and be more professional about it, here is a detailed guide on managing your time. 

Table of Contents

Understand The Common Factors Of What Influence Your Feeling Of Time 

Time is a key factor when you make decisions, it imposes a delay in feeling satisfied with the desires you have. 

Managing the time includes the importance of knowing what influences your feeling of time. 

Here is the outline of the most common factors that affect how you influence the perception of time. 

Boredom 

Boredom can alter your perception of time, in fact when the time is slow passage can make it boring and it’s a prominent feature of boredom. 

For example, time seems extremely slow when you are in between boring meetings and tend to file away when you are with the person you like or work you love to do. 

Also, you feel like it’s too long when you are waiting for two minutes in front of the elevator. 

Impulsivity 

When you are an  impulsive person,  your experience time is a bit differently, 

You have an altered sense of the time, this might explain why you have difficulties when delaying gratification. 

People with impulsiveness show a greater tendency to devalue the deferred graduation despite having the long-term consequences. 

Craving 

The other one is craving, the individual in the state of this experience time differently as they feel it moving more slowly. 

For example, smokers who have the strong urge to smoke exercise the time passing even more slowly. 

Not just smoking but anything else such as watching the show you are waiting for or going out. All of this can be craving something in the middle of doing work which affects the focus and quality. 

Emotions

Time estimates can end up distorted and your emotions. Individuals suffering from anxiety and depression feel like time is passing by. 

When you are anxiously waiting for time to happen, you feel like a slower passage of time. 

Aging 

The older you get, the faster time passes. Since you have a lot of work you need to focus and sometimes you have your mind all over.

But as you age, it gets more difficult to remember all of the things at once. 

Are You Good At Time Managing And What To Do If You Are Not? 

To start with time management,  you need to be aware of how to begin your process. 

Well when you are trying to upgrade the game, you need to know more about the basics. 

Time management is basically a technique for using the time more effectively. 

Organize the professional and personal tasks based on how important and urgent they are. 

Well if you are doing it already then you need to know about if you are doing it right or not. 

Being good at managing your time is doing conscious planning and thoughtful decision making. 

It also involves studying to be focused and sticking to the prioritized tasks instead of getting derailed by the unimportant distraction. 

So if you want to know if you are doing it right or not by asking all of these questions first? 

  • Do you know how effective you are in prioritizing the tasks based on how important and urgent it is? 
  • Do you know how much you are spending on each of the tasks?
  • Do you have to take work from your office to home?

Once you evaluate the current skills, plan to improve on what you need to get better. 

It’s not easy but like any skills you are working on, you need to put the time in order to get better. 

Success people are utilizing a variety of different skills which are in time management to boost productivity and effectiveness.

It includes : 

  • Planning 
  • To-do lists 
  • Checklists
  • Prioritizing 
  • Goal setting 
  • Evaluating urgent tasks
  • Auditing and improving workflows
  • Delegation
  • Setting thoughtful deadlines
  • Scheduling 
  • Filtering notification 
  • Documentation 
  • Project management
  • Setting short and long term goals
  • Automation 
  • Using data
  • Consolidating technology

Avoid The Common Pitfalls Of Time Management 

It’s easy to get off track when you manage the time to improve, here are some of the common pitfalls to avoid.

  • Not making your to-do list, if you don’t know what is important to get your things done and can’t be effective in prioritizing the workload.
  • Doing multitasking, contrary to the famous belief, is less effective and productive instead of focusing on the task and moving to do it later. 
  • Not knowing the task requires time to get it done, so you need to know how long a task takes. 

What Impacts Your Time Management And How  To Deal With It? 

Time management depends on different things, and it’s crucial to know how to deal with them in order to manage your time wisely. 

Well here are some of the important ones and here is how you can deal with them: 

Time Planning 

Whether it’s your tasks for day-to-day or goals for the long term, no matter what you do, planning is important. 

Even though it does seem boring and fiddly, it will help you in preventing anything that slows or makes things complicated. 

With a lack of time planning, you also tend to get stressed and it’s not a good sign for your health as well as being productive. 

The trust is planning your time saves you from long hassle, it allows you to prepare for the unforeseen changes and hurdles that you might encounter. 

To improve your time planning, here are  some of the tips : 

  • Start your day but keep your clear focus, make sure you are determined with what you want to achieve.
  • Have your tasks but create a dynamic task list.
  • Focus on starting with doing high-value activities.
  • Focus on minimizing the interruptions.
  • Review your day and how things went.

Time Attitude 

Generally, time management is related to developing the process and tools for boosting productivity along with efficiency. 

However, time management requires the right attitude. It’s what you tend to think about personal time management which is loosely defined as managing the time to waste the least time on doing what you need to with the right mindset. 

Time Wasting 

Time waste is something that is causing you to spend a lot of time on doing things that are unnecessary or have nothing beneficial for you. 

When you are wasting time you need to boost and improve where you can help to avoid such situations. It includes: 

  • List the tasks you need to do on a daily basis, keep it handy so you don’t get off track.
  • If there are tasks you need to do for breaks, make sure you are scheduling them so you are not wasting time.
  • Improve your focus on tasks so you don’t get distracted and do things to waste time 

Why Morning Is Important For Time Management? 

Well, there are some people who are not naturally morning people, but they can manage their time according to that. 

However, to those who want to be a morning person and feel comfortable with it, it’s important to understand how morning plays an important role in time management. 

You can be a morning person too, however, even if it does not happen immediately, there is tremendous power in getting things complete early in the morning. 

With that, you also get the best way to be more productive. 

If you are trying to see if you are more efficient in the morning or not, it’s best to try it for a week. Sometimes you don’t even realize that you are more productive during the morning instead of at night. 

Waking up earlier than others gives you more time as compared to others. 

Not just that, here are some of the most vital reasons why morning is considered so important in time management. 

  • Waking up early usually leads to eating healthy, it’s an important meal of your day to be more productive. 
  • You have more time to take care of yourself as well as for the skin. 
  • You can do the exercise, it releases endorphins which make you feel energized throughout the day.
  • Early risers have a better schedule of sleep on time which improves the time of quality sleep.
  • While others sleep, you can take advantage of having the best peace and quiet time to focus on what’s important for you.

However, to make your morning much more productive, here are some of the important ways to start with : 

Go To Bed Your Earlier 

Want to be productive? The first thing you should do is to go to bed early. Many people feel like they can reduce the hours, but it’s extremely important to be productive. 

On another hand, lack of sleep makes it difficult to be productive and makes it hard to make clear decisions. 

With that, you face difficulty in focusing and attention. 

To avoid this, it’s best to get more sleep, and instead of staying up late, try to go to bed early.

Also focus on getting sleep to wake up with refresh, clear, and laser focus to your next day. 

Wake Up Early For Productive Day 

Time Cook wakes up around 3: 45 am to do exercise, grab a coffee and check the emails. 

As for Elon Musk, he wakes up at 7 am and starts his day by working on important emails, getting kids ready for their schools, and then heading to his office. 

Not just them, all the successful and productive people wake up early. It’s basically to focus better on the priority tasks before other distractions and commitments start to get your attention. 

Also waking up early doesn’t guarantee you a productive day, but for that, you have to preplan how you are using the time and for what. 

Stop Hitting The Snooze Button 

Get enough sleep to avoid the snook button, also place your phone or alarm on the other side of the room so you have to wake up. 

Hitting the snooze button also wastes your time, and if you are waking up 15 minutes late, there are chances you have to adjust by reducing important hours from some other important tasks. 

Set Your Intentions 

To be productive, you need to plan out the day. Allow yourself to use the time separately and focus on tasks that are needed. 

This will make your day much calmer and you will be more efficient in managing your time. 

Stretch For Minute 

When you sleep, your body muscles get stiff and you wake up,  stretching can help in making your blood flow again. 

Also, it helps in making your muscles elongate and makes you feel great to start the day. 

Don’t Skip Your Breakfast 

Self-love starts with enjoying a nourishing and healthy meal, and breakfast is the important meal. 

However, you can stick with something simple so it will save time. But make sure you are not skipping it. 

Get Your Clothes Ready 

Get your clothes ready beforehand, you can do it last night and put on what you want to wear. This will save time for the next morning, and also help in reducing decision fatigue. 

How To Do Planning For Managing Your Time Efficiently? 

One of the crucial features of professional time management is to plan your day.  You can also plan your week and year, but for now, start with planning your day and week. 

Make Your Regular Planning A Habit 

Instead of waiting for the motivation to strike,  you should plan your day and make It as your hobby. 

Motivation flows from your actions and there is no other way around. 

That’s why you should have a ritual for daily planning. There are some days when you feel motivated and you create a to-do list. 

But someday, you are so disengaged and exhausted that even waking up from bed seems like difficult work to do. 

Those are the days that are most important to approach with a solid plan. 

You can start by setting your alarm for daily planning sessions. Keep the time same for every day 

Also miz your existing habit like drinking coffee with your new planning sessions to make it effective for you. 

How To Start With Planning A Day? 

The sample organization unit is to plan your single day and to do it effectively, here are some of the important pointers to start with. Also, the tips are handy for planning week, quarter and year, 

Build Your Routine 

Even though you believe that routines are boring, it’s clearly not, especially for the brain.  It helps the brain to rest and be ready for what’s coming up next. 

Including benefits like : 

  • Minimizing the uncertainty as you automatically know what to
  • Clear your thinking, the brain is not getting overwhelmed by decisions and emotions.
  • Prepare you for what is coming 
  • Improve your focus and attention
  • Save your energy from making minor decisions every single minute. 

Find Out About Your Goals 

To make it effective, you should be clear about what you want to achieve.  Even having an overall idea is great too, just don’t go vague about it. 

Overestimate Time You Need 

In order to avoid the greatest mistake in production and not get messed up with time management, you should account for things that might happen. 

 It makes you ready for unpredictable things that waste time and also expands the hours invested in work.

Be In Tune With Nature 

It’s important that you are tuned with your true nature, it means if waking up at 5 am is not for you, don’t do it. Plan things that go by your true nature, there are chances you are a night owl 

So pick what suits you instead of following what others do. 

Consistency Is Better Than Being Perfect 

Being a professional sounds like a positive thing, but it’s not something you should be stressed about. 

So don’t let the pressure of perfection drop you from what you need to do. 

Being consistent can beat perfection. 

How To Do Planning For A Week? 

While you are moving towards the larger time unit, the daily management and productivity apply to your weekly schedule as well. It includes routine, task management, and goals. 

But when you are planning for a week, instead of thinking about daily work, you need to handle the bigger chunks. And for that, here is what you need to do : 

Create Your Master To-Do List 

This will come in handy to scaling the organization to quarterly as well as yearly planning. 

Just take a spreadsheet or blank paper to write everything you want to achieve for example : 

  • Passing 4 more example
  • Explaining the team for three more people 
  • Getting furniture for office
  • Running a half marathon in October 
  • Applying for three more projects 

So when you have your goals and tasks outlined, it will be easier to plan your week. 

Plan Ahead 

Don’t wait for Monday to start in order to do the planning, have it ready on Friday or even during the weekend. 

Mondays are better when you already have an idea of what to do. 

List Your MITTS 

For doing the daily level planning, you have to pick on MIT for the day, instead of deciding every day, you can use Fridays or Sundays to list the MIT for the next week and assign them depending on importance and urgency. 

Divide The Week Depending On Personal Priorities 

Besides prioritizing the most urgent ones, you need to manage the week. 

You can use theme planning for doing the week, for example : 

  • Monday: For meeting and running the company.
  • Tuesday: Developing product 
  • Wednesday: Growth plan, communications, etc. 

Manage Your Energy 

Every Friday you can assign different tasks to your weekly self including : 

  • Is this task draining the energy? 
  • Is it neutral regarding the energy level? 
  • Is it energizing you? 

Keep Yourself Flexible 

Being rigid to the schedule can end up being counterproductive. Planning stuff is helpful and allows you to avoid the unpleasant uncertainty of what to do. 

But be flexible and assign the tasks as you go. 

How To Be Better In Chunking For Managing The Time More? 

Managing time is really challenging in today’s wonderful technology environment. 

Even though multitasking is an option but it’s not always the smartest option and definitely not for the long term either 

There is a smart method which is known as chunking, it can help in managing time well and improving productivity. 

Chucking is when you are grouping the information as well as tasks into chunks which are a manageable size and help in sequential order. 

As it’s a great alternative of multitasking, it includes : 

  • Chunking describes how human memory is utilized and working. 
  • It’s important to remember the concept as well as look at completing several tasks frequently.
  • Switching between instead of doing them at the same time, it makes it better and much more effective. 

In order to start with time chunking, here are some of the steps you need to consider : 

Step 1: Make Your List 

  • List everything that you need to get it done. Use the notes app or paper. 
  • Be sure to list everything, even the smallest tasks. 
  • Revisit the list often and keep it updated by adding continually, put it there as soon as it arises. 
  • Make the list comprehensible enough to have a quick review of your priorities.
  • Focus on the primary purpose and long-term goals can help in motivating to accomplish short-term goals as well as tasks. 

Step 2: Block The Time For Each Task 

  • Break down the working hours into chunks, divide them and schedule to get tasks done as well as avoid interruptions. 
  • Stragtcialy schedule the performance demanding tasks to the productive hours.
  • Include the time for breaks and interaction with colleagues. 

Step 3: Do One Task When You Are Working 

  • Multitasking is not helpful, however doing several tasks means doing the extra work which makes your brain foggy focus. 
  • Pick single tasks and focus on what you need to get to do, 
  • Focus on celebrating and producing better outcomes. 
  • Avoid interruptions and try to refrain from thinking about the tasks. 
  • Try to avoid switching frequently and can’t focus on what time is allocated for what tasks. 

Step 4: Stick To What You Plan 

  • Be disciplined with what you planned, you need to follow a schedule that you need to set yourself
  • Avoid doing procrastination and give yourself a deadline to track your progress. 
  • Start with doing small tasks and chunks of your time. 
  • You can start with a 2- or 25 minute period of continuous work with 5 minutes of break. 

Step 5: Review Your Results 

Assess your progress depending on your tasks, and often see how you are using the chunking method successfully. 

How To Deal With Multitasking In Time Management? 

Multitasking isn’t something that is for human beings or able to do as you have a very limited amount of time, and the brain is not designed to handle different tasks. 

However, Multitasking is possible but it’s not the greatest solution. 

Since you are in a professional world where all of the things are taking attention, you sometimes need to multitask and you might have experiences of doing it once or a while. 

The Downside Of Multitasking 

There is no doubt that multitasking is not the greatest option, it does worse than ruining productivity. 

There are some of the basic impacts it does, including : 

  • Multitasking is a waste of your time, people lose an average of 2.1 hours per day. It also impacts on efficiency. 
  • It impacts the brain, since you keep distracted and lower your focus, it makes you dumber and you get forgetful as well.
  • It makes you tired and wears you out, also you need to fill more seconds with more and more work which leads to burnout.
tips handling multitasking work

How To Handle Your Multitasking If You Have To? 

Since it’s not a new thing, multitasking does happen in the real world where you need to handle such situations. 

There are a few things that you need to do in order to do it smartly, it includes  : 

Adjust Your Expectations First 

Be realistic when you are setting goals, you need to sit down and start working on what you want to do. 

It does sound like having too many projects is a way of success, but it can take too much time and make you busy, leading to burning yourself more than what you can handle. 

So when you are setting up your goal, it’s important to be SMART.

Choose What You Want But Be Wise 

Now that you have decided on picking from a larger number of projects, you need to make a choice on which one you want to take on. 

This depends on your capabilities and what you want to excel in most. 

Choose things that you can handle smartly and need to get it done in the right way. 

Outsource More 

As you grow, the task list will have more work and you need to manage. 

So when you are handling the multitask, don’t pressure yourself to do everything on your own, outsource the work to others to handle the pressure and quality. 

Batch The Similar Work 

When you have the list ready for work, a batch that has similar tasks and you can get them done together. 

Your brain suffers more when you switch to two different tasks with completely different natures. 

Be Ready Mentally And Physically 

Doing multitasking takes a toll on your health, it makes you feel stressed and emotionally drained. 

So focus on what you are eating, exercise, and take breaks to focus on improving the work. 

How To Deal With Procrastination  Like Professionals In Time Management? 

No matter how great you are managing the time, there will be a situation where you procrastinate. 

Even professionals have to face such a situation, the feeling of knowing that you need to get the work done but you are not able to do it. 

So you fool down all day until the deadline is on your head. There are different tricks and tactics that can help you in dealing with procrastination, also it helps in improving the situation for you. 

strategies overcome procastination

Just Start Your Work 

One thing that you may do is to force yourself to start and take the first step. 

The first step is going to be difficult, so if you need to keep moving, you need to push l and let yourself flow. 

Manage The Energy Instead Of Time 

An important concept of time management is that you are not only managing the time but also considering the energy level. 

No matter what you are planning and helping in a discipline, there will be days that you get some days when you are productive whereas some days are not productive. 

Here are some of the things that you can consider such as : 

  • Push yourself when you are at the daily peak of productive hours, not when your energy level is low.
  • After a period of doing hard work, make sure you are taking a break and recharge the batteries.
  • If you are feeling irritated, talk to others and calm yourself.

Do Other And Easier Tasks Until You Recover 

What usually happens when you are going through procrastination with a task, is you spend a lot of time doing things that hold no value but waste the time. 

So during such times, you can use procrastination as a source of motivation for other important tasks. 

Use this time fr doing other work instead of stupid things. So don’t fight the procrastinators,  do your other important stuff from your list. 

Engaging With Assertiveness Training 

A lack of assertiveness is one of the reasons for procrastination and is usually an ally in upbringing. 

There are different areas in your life where you know how to assert and others where you have no clue.  The way is to fix such a situation is to assert yourself in a healthy way, including : 

  • Mimic the assertive behavior in a field where you have assertive,
  • Join the assertiveness training course.
  • Go to individual or group therapy to explore the underlying reasons for procrastination.
  • Get a coach or mentor to help

Overcome Fear Of Failure Or Success 

Procrastination can happen due to fear, maybe it’s a fear of success and failure. 

Both have their own reasons, so you need to be sure of overcoming the situation. 

If You Are Lazy, Make Identify Shift For Yourself 

If you consider yourself a lazy person, you need to find that shift that can suit you best. 

So if you want to deal with it,  first consider yourself as an ultra-productive person and explore underlying beliefs.

You can consider a few ideas such as : 

  • Visualize your identity and try to feel good as well as confident about yourself.
  • Write down the rewards you achieve after getting your work done. 
  • Support the new identity by doing small productivity actions. 

Improve The Lifestyle To Save Energy

If you don’t have a high level of energy, it leads to procrastination. The lack of energy is caused by burnout, overworking, and temporary exhaustion. 

Here are a few of the recommendations that can help in improving lifestyle. Such as : 

  • Get enough sleep of 7 or 8 hours along with keeping a quality sleep. 
  • Eat a healthy diet along with green veggies, low levels of sugar, and healthy fats.
  • Have a smaller meal throughout the day to keep the insulin level steady.
  • Avoid the unhealthy snacks 
  • Help yourself to get the basic supplements 
  • Exercise a few times in your week 
  • Drink water enough 
  • Maintain your body and spirit

Apart from that, you need to avoid getting addiction such as : 

  • Too many sweets 
  • Too much of chocolates 
  • Sleeping too much 
  • Watching a lot of TV shows
  • Hanging out in bars 
  • Harder addictions such as alcohol, smoking, or drugs. 

How To Ensure You Are Taking Enough Breaks During Your Day? 

Breaks are an important part of your time management. The professional knows why breaks hold such a crucial part of it. 

Here are different important reasons why breaks are necessary  into the workday : 

Improving Your Concentrations 

Intermittently shutting down the cognitive processing which helps the brain to reset and reinforce. 

So you need to take a break while you are doing the work. 

Quiet The Noise 

When you are in the middle of chaos, you need to realize what drains your energy and understand why you need to take care of yourself. 

So step outside and give your mind as well as a sensory system to get a short break from everything. 

Refuel Yourself In Healthy Way 

Without planning the breaks, you eat without thinking and sometimes skip the water. 

And being healthy helps you in productivity, also taking breaks gives you time to take care of health.

Get The Body Moving 

If you have been cranking at a desk for 4 to 5 hours straight, taking breaks gives you movement to keep your muscles active and energized. 

Well, you need to understand if you are taking breaks, it helps you in improving your profession but also helps in time management. 

To make sure you are taking it effectively, here are some of the points : 

  • Something is better than nothing, including 5 to 10-minute micro-breaks to have breaks. 
  • Fully detached with beats semi-detached, it can help you in taking a break, leave the phone at your desk.
  • Move after a period of time, go for a walk, it will reduce the problem in the late afternoon.
  • Take breaks with people, it is better than going alone. 
  • Go for the outside wall instead of staying indoors. 

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