The Key To Managing Your Time So You Can Achieve Harmony In Your Life

If you are anything like me you would love to get back 4 more hours per day. Between work, family, and everything else that you have going on managing your time is a very high priority.

Do you struggle with accomplishing daily tasks?  Maybe you find it nearly impossible to find the time to do the things you need to do.  In fact, many people are challenged in managing their time for many reasons including: unexpected circumstances,   lack of time, and even procrastination. Needless to say, when you are able to effectively manage your time you are able to limit burnout and reduce stress.

Balance, balance, balance is the buzz word for many busy women entrepreneurs. I have come to realize that there is no such thing as balance and we must strive for harmony. Over the years I have found it increasingly important to have effective time management in my day to day activities. A wife, mom of a young adult daughter, two very active young boys, and a busy entrepreneur it is imperative that I have a schedule that allows for flexibility, spontaneity and fun. One of the keys to my business success has been effective time management or time efficiency as I like to call it.It has helped me to build a successful company and then rebuild another business after filing bankruptcy.

So what the heck is Time Management anyway? Time Management is determining what you need to accomplish and when the task needs to be completed.  Keep in mind, time management is a combination of practice, technique, and skill.  As you improve your time management abilities you will learn time management takes a great deal of dedication and commitment.  Needless to say, developing time management skills is a process and typically the process takes time to master.   Additionally, it is important to develop a strategy and implement this strategy if you want to see results.

The most important thing that has helped me manage my time is NOT checking my e-mail when I first arrive in the office. I know it sounds very simple, but it has made all the difference in the world. My days use to go like this – I would get in the office in the mornings check e-mail, posts to Social Media and look up and it was lunch time. I hadn’t accomplished any of the things that I set out to do. Does that sound familiar?

Now my day looks like this. I start in the morning creating my to-do list using The Magic Power of 3 which simply means I write down the most important 3 things for me to accomplish that day. Three tasks may not sound like a lot, but is a very realistic measure of what you can accomplish during the day. I prioritize my tasks and write down exactly what I need to accomplish it. I will then scan my e-mail for 5 minutes to see if there is something that I need to respond to immediately. If not, I will close it and begin working on my tasks. After lunch I will schedule in time to go through and respond to e-mail messages. I give myself a time limit to ensure that I can finish completing the three tasks that I scheduled for the day.

This one simple shift in how I structure my day has helped me to be at least 35% more productive per day and re-gain my morning time to focus on completing my top 3 projects for the day. The most important four hours in my day 9:00am – 1:00pm are strictly dedicated to ensuring that I invest the time required to properly grow my business and increase revenues.

T. Renee is the author of Metamorphosis: How I Shed the Life Others Wanted for Me and Learned to Live My Authentic Life and The Authentic Woman: How to Live Your Authentic Life to Win in Marriage, Family, and Business. To learn more please visit www.treneesmith.com.