Time Management - Is 24 Hours Really Enough?

We all wish we had more time! More time to spend with the family, more time to lie in bed, more time to be young, more time for leisure, more time for a lot of things. Wishing there is always more time is an indication that time at hand is not been used to its best potential.

We can look at time either as a visitor in a rush or as an agent that can work to our advantage. Whatever time is to us, one thing is certain - time will keep ticking and life might have to play catch-up. There will come a time when tasks can't be completed as quickly, the train will have to be missed, bedtime will have to be earlier and schedules will have to change. If one is not careful, this can happen sooner than expected if time is not properly managed.

Track Your Time

A lot of people tend to argue that they are productive with every minute and no time is ever wasted. Well it might seem so if one does not have life goals that need to be accomplished. But for those who want more from life, think of the time spend chatting around the coffee point or the quick peek through the newspaper gossip column before you look at your to-do-list for the day.

By taking a stock of idle minutes, an hour or two can easily had been put to better use in a day. That is time that could have been spent researching about your business idea, reducing your workload or making contacts with potential clients.

Whether you are an employee or self-employed, being efficient is equally important. Some leisure activities will have to wait if you have deadlines to meet. If you have avid interests then carve out time for your favourite activity outside of time for the things on your business or work to-do-list.

Practice Time Management Strategies

We all love to be like the work colleague or business associate that always seems to do everything on time. They have a family, volunteer for community work, go dancing once a week, undertakes a distant learning course and still finish their workload on time. These people have learnt the art of time management and they practice those strategies daily by apportioning enough time to each task, say NO when necessary and minimize time wastage.

The people who prioritize their daily tasks are those who are able to live life aligned with their goals rather than aligned with other people's plans. If every time you pass the coffee point, you stop for a chat or you open your inbox to read and action low priority email first, then you are not making the most of your allocated twenty-four hours. Without prioritizing our time, others will fill our time with their own needs by loading us with their unwanted tasks.

Is 24 Hours Passing You By?

If you wake up every day wishing you had more time or go to bed wishing the same, it is an indication that you are not making the most of your time awake. Everyone is entitled to 24 hours in a day but the difference is what each person gets up to in those 24 hours.

By tracking your time starting with your morning routine, you will be able to identify the time wasters and work at eradicating them. This also helps beat frantic mornings and panic nights. Making time to plan ahead can help you streamline your working hours so you can be more efficient, productive, reduce time wasters and gain more time doing the things you love.

Time is an essential commodity to a solopreneur and must be monitored and maximized. Temi is a business consultant at http://www.businessfirststeps.co.uk and helps people develop their talents into viable business concepts through a range of products and services.

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