3 Simple Time Management Tips That Actually Work
posted on June 24th, 2007
Ladan Lashkari published an excellent article on her blog titled How to Have 72 Hours Every Day, and then tagged me to add 3 of my own Time Management tips to the list.
She gave some excellent advice on managing your time more efficiently. Honestly, it would be hard to top. So what I’m going to give you here are 3 very simple tips that will help you get things done in what little time you have to work with…
3 Ways To Beat The Clock
1. Duplicate yourself.
Outsource everything you can. Hire a housekeeper or hire a VA (I do both). Start small if you have to, but make this goal a priority. In the time you save not doing those tasks yourself, you should be able to earn what you are paying out for the services… and then some (and then a lot of some).
2. Create Deadlines.
Having a deadline is the number one way to get your best work done in the least amount of time. Without a deadline you might spend 3x the hours on a project (or more)… just because you can. Imaginary deadlines (or deadlines you create for yourself) work for some people, but for the true procrastinators out there - you need a real one. Involve someone else. Make a promise. Schedule an interview or a teleseminar. Trust me - your project/product will take much less of your time if you put the pressure on!
Other ways this can work for you: Hire someone (tip #1) even if you think you cant afford it yet. Now you have to push yourself to make the money before it’s time to pay out! Need to get your house in order? Invite friends over for the coming weekend. You’ll accomplish in 2 days what would have taken you 3 weeks 
3. Take Control
Dont let time control you. This is your life, so take the reigns! Dont answer the phone, dont answer the door, dont even answer email - until/unless you want to. Everybody wants a piece of your time, and as long as you are offering it… they’ll keep on taking it. Learn to say NO, and learn that you dont have to say anything at all.
There’s no real way to manage time. Time is a constant. There are 60 seconds in every minute, 60 minutes in every hour, and 24 hours in every day. Figure out how YOU can best spend every minute so that you are living the life you want to live. Period.
There you have it. 3 simple time management tips from a recovering perfectionist and perpetual procrastinator!
Best,
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Hi Lynn,
Great tips! I especially like your third tip. I agree we really should take control of our time and how we want to spend it in our own hands - not other people’s hands.
Learning to say “No” and feeling 100% comfortable about it is very important to success.
Ladan
Another great concept is funnel timelines where you visualize the outcome and then work the plan backwards
Those are great tips, I totally agree.
I also find that one of the best things for me is to use project blocks, planning the next day and preparing as soon as I am finished (keeping a file folder of anything I need ready for start up, that really helps first thing in the morning), staying focused on one or two major projects at one time until they are finished.
Otherwise I jump all over the place and never get anything completed.
It’s a challenge to stay balanced this way, but the more focused I am on one thing at a time, the more progress I make (it’s only logical :0)) and the greater that chance of actually completing the project is.
I guess one word to sum it up would be focus and sometimes iron will :0)
Very good tips. Number one is my big failing point. I can say no to people, but I feel the need to do everything myself!
My husband keeps trying to get me to hire a maid or at least pay someone to do the laundry (we do it all by hand here), but I have trouble turning even mundane chores over to others. Obviously I could be earning a lot more though, if I did give those things up.
I totally understand Genesis. I consider myself a “recovering perfectionist” lol and if this helps at all - one of my rules was that if I wasnt doing it myself, I couldnt worry over how it was done, or even how well it was done. Letting go is not easy at first, but boy is it a relief once you do!!
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