“Managing to have a sense of humor makes it a lot easier to manage people” Steve Wilson

Do you have problems managing your time? I am sure that almost everyone encounters this problem: how do I make more time for myself, my job and people I love. First of all, you need to understand and learn how to identify the jobs that are most—and least—important, focus your time on the most critical task, and avoid time wasters.

Learn about how you spend your time, as well as about using goals as guideposts, scheduling your time, controlling time wasters, and putting your schedule into action.

In this article you will find basic and productive steps to manage the priceless asset called “time” and learn how to prioritize your goals. Have a look and try to implement some of the presented ideas to your daily life activity.

1. Analyze How You Currently Spend Your Time.

For at least one day and preferably a week, use a time log to record the things you do. Note each activity and how long it takes. Tally your activities into categories. Take each category and total the number of minutes spent on it each day. Divide the result by the total number of minutes in your day. (An 8-hour day has 480 minutes.)

This tells you the percentage of time that you spend working on that activity. Determine whether the time you spend in each category matches your key responsibilities. Evaluate your time usage in terms of payoff.

2. Review Your Goals.

Review your organizational, departmental, and personal goals. Consider the priorities that you have assigned to each goal, and ask yourself whether you are attempting too much. If the answer is yes, try adjusting your priorities.

3. Break Your Goals Into Manageable Tasks.

Review each of your goals individually, and list all of the key tasks required to achieve each goal. Put the tasks in sequential order. Estimate how much of your time each task or activity will require. Establish a deadline for the completion of each task or activity. For more complex activities set up milestones along the way to track your progress.

Assign priorities to each task, based on the priority of the goal that each task supports. Note which tasks need to be completed in a sequence, and which may be done at any time before or after a particular stage is reached.

4. Schedule Your Time.

Take your top priority tasks and block them into time slots over several weeks or months, using a scheduling tool that allows you to take a daily, weekly, and monthly perspective. Schedule important work or activities that need creativity and intelligence during your peak energy period. Schedule only part of your day, leaving time to deal with crises and the unexpected.

Combine tasks and consolidate similar activities, where possible. Identify tasks to work on when you have unexpected free time. Use to-do lists to break daily tasks into further detail. Keep your schedule easily accessible. Check on your progress throughout the day to see if you are on target.

5. Identify Your Time Wasters And Outline Strategies To Deal With Them.

Review your time log and identify the types of things that prevent you from keeping to your schedule. Work with one time waster at a time. For each time waster, brainstorm strategies that match your personal style. Experiment with the strategies you develop and keep the ones that are realistic. Make sure to add those time wasters you cannot control back into your schedule.

6. Implement Your Schedule.

Once you have analyzed your time and time wasters, and scheduled your time, you are ready to implement your schedule. Carry your to-do list with you during the day. Review your schedule at the end of the day. Reward yourself for tasks completed on schedule and make any adjustments needed during the rest of the week. Handle unexpected tasks quickly and return to your priority tasks.

As changes occur, modify your weekly schedule to compensate. Remember, new habits, like adhering to a schedule, are hard to adopt at first. The more you do it, the more automatic it becomes.

7. Evaluate Your Schedule And Make Adjustments.

After you have been using scheduling tools for about one month, monitor the implementation and results of your schedule. Ask yourself the following: Are you completing the tasks you set for the week? Are you making progress on achieving your goals? Do you feel better prepared and focused? What was the impact of not doing some tasks? Modify your schedule based on your analysis.

Most important, you should do everything you can to avoid interruptions that waste your time or take you away from your primary goals.