This week on Intent, we want to hear your best time management tips and advice. What can we start doing every day to manage our time more effectively to get the most out of our busy lives?
For some of us, it is a matter of regularly using a daily planner. For the rest of us who try every year to use a daily planner but ditch the practice by the end of January, it is a matter of finding another habit that works with our personal rhythm: writing things down on a wall calendar, making a morning to-do list, using internet tools, or even sticking Post-It notes on your bathroom mirror. 
Then there are the little improvements we can make in our daily schedule that can significantly improve the quality of our day and how we use our time. Waking up just 15 minutes earlier can be the only change you have to make to experience the difference between a calm morning and a stressful morning. Promising yourself to reduce your internet time by 10 percent may suddenly open up gaps in your time to pursue hobbies and spend more time with loved ones.
There are also particular time management tips that can apply specifically to work, exercise, relationships and other important areas of life. How can we make more time for ou relationships? What are some efficient ways to manage an overwhelming work load and still have time left over to enjoy life? What are some time management strategies to really make sure you make time for yourself to exercise and stay in good health?
Here are some quick time-management tips to get you started on your intent to use your time more wisely:
- Get the little tasks out of the way first. It will help you build momentum to tackle the bigger tasks you are inwardly dreading.
- Don’t underestimate the power of taking mini breaks throughout the day. Taking a 15-minute walk to clear your head and get your heart pumping is more efficient than not taking a break and then taking twice as long to finish a task because you are feeling tired and sluggish.
- Reward yourself for getting the tasks done that you don’t want to do or have been putting off. Positive reinforcement–like little (healthy) treats–work for big kids, too.
Join Intent’s mission this week to inspire others with ideas and activities that will help us manage our time. Tag your blog posts "time management" and we will be featuring the best weekly content at the end of the week. If you simply want to share a quick idea in the comments below, we want to hear that as well. We can’t wait to read your contributions!
I think for having control over our time and how we spend or utilize it, we need to strengthen our "will power" first.
we need to start from a very small plan and do it on a certain time no matter what. Through that, we face the smaller version of the obstacles that usually change our way to aimless actions that waste our time during a normal day.
Even if the small plan is "to take three deep breaths at 9:00AM" everyday,we might still face our 1st obstacle: Forgetfulness ,2- attachment to other situations ,when we know it's time to do the Plan but we can't let go the other job for two minutes, 3 -Not giving enough value to our own decisions (as if we'd rather let someone else plans for our time) .
As we spot out the reason for the lack of good time management, we can start to set the bigger plans especially the ones that work better for us like those you had suggested above.
YumI***Just*Do*It*…is a favourite of mine…beachgirl
Beachgirl,
I like "Just Do It" also as a way to break through the mental barrier of procrastination. But I've found out that it means different things to different people. I'm trying to help my younger son, in college in Boston, to structure his day and manage his time. Finally, I just told him at times you have to "just do it." He reported back to me that he had: He met an attractive young women in an elevator at ground level; by floor three her back was to the wall and he was "planting his flag." I just shook my head, and secretly felt jealous. The only out of the ordinary thing that I did in an elevator was get into a fistfight. Now I spend my free time prowling cities looking for buildings with elevators.