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Nowadays, employers and bosses have trouble attempting to better
manage their time. Frequently swamped with several simultaneous
tasks to complete, it often seems impossible to be able to complete
them on time. The work tends to eat into one's personal life as
well. Good personal time management is necessary in order to deal with this problem. If you are able to manage your time well, you will find that you won't have any trouble meeting last-minute deadlines. Why Do People Have Poor Time ManagementAn important factor for success is good time management. Complacency based solely in the belief that just because you have succeeded in the past under similar situations can lead to stress, pressure, and even failure. Even if that belief is based on previous success, you should not necessarily expect to achieve the same sort of success with your current projects. You can avoid the stress and added pressure (and the potential of outright failure), by examining your time management practices and making whatever changes are necessary. These changes may include changing your scheduling habits, improving your ability to prioritize and generally becoming more efficient in your work. The Different Aspects of Personal Time ManagementEffective time management involves a number of different factors. Most managers are aware of one or two but very few are aware of them all. The primary factor is keeping track of your activities. Time management is exactly what it says. You have to keep track of what you're doing and how long it is taking you to do those things. Some of the activities pertain to basic managerial tasks, while others are almost exclusively related to project planning and execution. By writing down your activities and the amount of time they take, you should be able to reduce or even eliminate wasted time. It will also enable to you know whether you can accept additional projects and tasks or not. By improving your time management skills, you'll be able to get your tasks done at the office, and to leave all the stress at the workplace instead of bringing it home with you each night. All it takes is a change in habits and a little self-discipline to make things work. Another factor in improving your time management (and reducing the stress and pressures of meeting deadlines) is to make sure the project scheduling -- not just time but resource requirements as well -- is well-thought out. If there are tasks that can be successfully delegated to subordinates or workplace peers, the scheduling and planning will show you if you will need to delegate any of these tasks or not. Doing the work yourself will help you know that the tasks are being given the proper consideration. However, trying to do it all yourself when the schedule clearly shows that that is nearly impossible to do so is a huge mistake. If the scheduling indicates that you should delegate, then delegate. It is a huge mistake to think that you can accomplish everything if the plan clearly shows that you can't. Remember, good time management is designed to help you avoid stress, pressure and potential failure. Bad habits can lead to lost time and lost opportunities to get the work accomplished. Good time management involves eliminating bad time-wasting habits, and adopting good time-efficient ones. However, this shouldn’t mean you have to eliminate all breaks. Everyone needs breaks in the day to clear one's head and re-energize one's body. Taking a couple of breaks each workday is actually a good habit -- going "cube-hopping" to pick up on the latest office gossip is not. So, examine your workplace habits and practices. Eliminating the bad ones and instituting good ones will undoubtedly improve your time management. Personal time management can be easy. Develop good habits, learn to schedule the required tasks, learn to prioritize your assignments, and take better care of yourself to maximize your ability to accomplish. In this way, you can manage time successfully. |