Time Management Tips

Read these 24 Time Management Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Organize tips and hundreds of other topics.

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How can I avoid being late to or missing an appointment?

Plan Your Day

Either 15 minutes in the morning or in the evening can help you to get the most out of your day. No missed appointments, tasks, or overlooked goals. If you spend those 15 personal minutes with yourself to really concentrate on what matters most to you, your day will be more fulfilling.

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
What can I do to be accountable to accomplish tasks?

Master List

Make a master list. This is a very powerful tool. This keeps you from forgetting things you need to do. The list will hold you accountable, plus let you see all your accomplishments as you check them off.

   
How can I start my day off right?

Start Your Day Off Right

Develop a morning routine so that you get all you need to accomplish done. Imagine starting a day off at work with your dishes done, your bathroom clean, and your clutter-spots in order. This will keep your day running smoothly and for the most part, worry-free.

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
How can I avoid being late to or missing an appointment?

Use Reminder Services

The Internet offers many reminder services to help you remember appointments, special days, and important tasks. Take advantage of this free service and never be late again (of course, barring unforeseen occurrence).

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
What is a good meeting strategy?

Meeting with busy people

When meeting with busy people, (doctor, dentist, CEO...)ask for the first appointment of the day. Your chances of having to wait are reduced, therefore saving you time!

   
How do I mark priorities on my tasks?

Prioritize

Prioritize the things you have to do.
A: High Value (Things you use or need every day)
B: Medium Value (Things that you use or need several times a week)
C: Low Value (Things that might come in handy some day)
D: Total Waste (Waste of time, space and money)

   
How can I avoid forgetting important thought?

Stay Prepared - Keep Tools on Hand

Carry a pen and pad of paper - or have your handheld - with you at all times. Whenever you have an idea or something you must remember, jot it down! No excuses for forgetting! Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
What can I do to insure regular home maintenance?

Make an Annual Maintenance Schedule

It is a good idea to set up an annual schedule to get routine things done around the home. For instance, have a certain time during the year to wash your windows (spring and fall) or clean the furnace (spring or fall).

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
How can I stop chaos at work?

Avoid Phone Interruptions

If you are in the office extremely early or extremely late, before or after business hours, and the phone rings, don´t answer it!

   
How can you better organize your schedule?

Scheduling Appointments Efficiently

Let's face it in society today we are just a bunch of multitasking, overbooked, hardworking individuals trying to stay ahead of the game. We want to provide a good product/ service. We want to make everyone happy. But we forget it's ok to slow down and breathe. It's ok to slow down.

How can we slow down? Its simple don't overbook your appointments. Yes, it's important to keep things moving along efficiently. We want that well oiled machine working for us. Just remember to be well oiled it has to get oiled. Thereby the machine has to stop and be serviced. We can apply this to our daily lives. We need to sit down and relax, breathe, think and readjust. Don't rush from appointment to appointment, or worse yet overbook those appointments so that if you need to pause or your customer/ client needs to pause it doesn't throw your whole day off.

If you take the time to schedule the appointments with allowance for a five or ten minute break between each one you and your client/ customer will appreciate you more. You become ten times more efficient. Why? Because you are calmer, you are more aware and you are ready for that appointment, not wheeling from the last one. Your customer/ client will be ten times more grateful. You'll probably get ten times more business. Slow down and make more money.

   
How can I run an effective meeting?

Meeting Agenda: The Importance of an Agenda

Having an agenda prepared before each meeting is an important time management tool. The agenda will lay out for the attendees how the meeting is suppose to flow, what topics will be discussed and most importantly in what order. Most meetings are conducted with a time completion goal (for instance, one hour to three hours) with an agenda you can keep your meeting flowing along in expectation to meet your time goal for completion.

The agenda should be prepared in advance. If the meeting is for a small group of people, for instance, a board of directors the agenda should be provided in advance, enough in advance for the attendees to review and be prepared for discussion. If the meeting is a more of broad or general meeting you might want to simply post the agenda a day in advance or hand out for those in attendance to review before the meeting starts.

The agenda is an important time management tool to be utilized by the person running the meeting. All others should use it to follow along. The "time keeper" of the meeting will be responsible for adhering to the pre set schedule and should have developed methods that will allow him/ her to keep the meeting on track and flowing through the agenda items in a timely manner.

Don't dismiss the importance of this schedule. The agenda will save you time and money if used developed and used properly.

   
How can I avoid procrastinating?

Just Do It

As difficult as it may sound, if you are holding off on doing something because you just don't want to do it, just do it and get it over with.

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
What Planner should I use?

Choose the Right Planner Size

There are a wide variety of planner sizes out there: pocket, compact, classic, and monarch. If you do a lot of business and take a lot of notes, the monarch may be for you. If you do a lot of business, but not enough to carry around a 8x11 planner with you, the classic or compact planner may suit you best. Otherwise, go for the slim, pocket-sized planner. There isn't a lot of writing room, but just enough to write down "To Do's" and appointments and main information you need.

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
What type of calendar can I use?

Have the Proper Planning Tools

Invest in a planner that contains the necessary tools to successfully plan your goals and continually refer to them.

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
How can you better organize your schedule?

Updating your planner

Remember to make it a part of your routine to update your planner/organizer. Use this time to review your goals, track your progress, and reward yourself.

   
What Planner should I use?

Handheld or Paper?

A handheld planner is for those who like to have access to a lot of information at their fingertips. You can have your dayplanner, your address book, your calculator, other programs (like a daily newspaper, Excel spreadsheet, Word documents, etc.), Task List, and other tools in one tiny planner that fits into the palm of your hand.

A paper planner is for those who like to see everything at a glance, who like to be able to create forms and enter information on paper, and who like to have space to write down their thoughts, notes, etc.

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
How can I keep a meeting within a time frame?

Daily Tasks: Set Time Limits

In business there are certain tasks that must be accomplished each day. We need to do these tasks timely so that we can move on to the rest of our day. For instance, checking email, meeting with the office/ staff, daily marketing efforts, and so forth are all tasks that are we consistently do on a daily basis. In order to accomplish these tasks and get started with the work we scheduled for the day we can set time limits.

Time limits are a great time management tool. By setting time limits you will be able to accomplish your task quickly allowing you to move on to your next task. Simply set aside a certain amount of time for each daily task.

   
How should you organize your schedule?

Schedule

.

   
How do I increase efficiency?

Use your energy at the right time

Are you a morning person or a night person? Your efficiency may increase if you arrange your tasks as much as possible around the rhythms of your body. Try scheduling top-priority projects during your peak hours, routine work during your "low" time. The key is to start now, no matter what!

   
What is information should be included on a calendar?

Uses for a HUGE Calendar

Get a HUGE calendar with big squares. When you are making an appointment, you have room to note the time, the contact, the phone number, and directions. You can also add any added information, such as taking all mri films to the doctor. If you must call to cancel, all the information is in front of you.

   
How can I keep a meeting within a time frame?

Keep it Short!

Today, business can be convoluted with details, explanations and conversations. To keep things moving along try to be as brief as possible, without compromising the content of what needs to be said or the comprehension of that content. The quicker your communication, the quicker you can get to the actual work that prompted the communication.

   
How do I increase efficiency?

Schedule Exercise Time

Since workloads tend to be heavy & stressful - you can minimize the effect by paying attention to your personal needs.

You should make sure that you take the time to treat yourself to regular exercise. Doing so - helps to alleviate stress and makes for more energy to deal with your work life.

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
Why should I prioritize?

Prioritize Your Tasks

Make sure that you set your priorities on your daily "To Do" list so that your most important tasks are done first. Those that aren´t as important can be moved to another day if left unfinished. Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
How can I accomplish my goals?

Planner Selection - Goals

Select a planner for the new year that has a section for writing and tracking your goals.

Copyright © 2002 Linda M. DePaz

   
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