A Simple Time Management Plan That Works

Time Management Tips - Prioritizing

Given the few hours you have to work with each day, it is imperative to prioritize the tasks you need to complete. Give the important tasks (the rocks) the room they need and put them in the bucket first.

Keep in mind, you can adjust the contents (not the order) of the bucket each day. You do not have to develop a rigid schedule. You will find that by prioritizing your tasks, your stress levels will decrease and your life will, in fact, be simplified.

Time Management Tips Simplified

• Determine what's most important in your life and how to weed out the less important tasks.
• Remember that you are in complete control of your time—time does not control you. You decide what to devote the majority of your time to.
• Your bucket can be filled to the brim each day and you will still be able to live an enriched life, because you've filled it with the things that are most important to you.

Time Management Tips: Points to Remember

• The simplest time management tips are the most effective.

• Setting priorities is important to effectively manage your time.

• "Fill your bucket" with "rocks" first so your most important items have ample room.

• Add additional tasks according to a mixture of "pebbles, sand, and water." Remember that balance is a factor in effective time management.

Resources for Time Management Tips

Calendar and Time Management Software

Prioritizing Effectively

Time Management Tips

Working With Your New Time Management Plan

This is where it gets pretty interesting.

Did you find that what tasks you thought were "reds" were actually yellow or orange?

Each day you are now going to "attack" your list, starting with the "red" items. Stick to them, get them done, and then move on to the yellow tasks, allocating 15 to 20 solid minutes to starting, working on, or completing each task. Cross things off with a black or brown marker as you complete them.

The next morning, revise your list. "Yellows" may now have moved up to "red" status and maybe "greens" and "blues" fell off the list altogether.

If more tasks spring up, give them a color. Just because someone wants something done "right now" doesn't mean it can't wait a day or two. Our minds have a way of making us believe we must do everything right now, but that usually isn't the case.

Learn to honestly examine the items you include in your time management plan before assigning them colors.

Over time you will be able to look back and see all the great things you got accomplished, on time, and didn't stress you to the point of your brain freezing.

Things to Remember With a Time Management Plan

• KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Don't make your time management plan more complicated than it needs to be.

• Be realistic when assigning colors to tasks in your time management planner.

• Take a careful look at what items truly need to be "red." Maybe they're really yellow or orange.

• Devote a full 15 to 20 minutes to red items in your time management plan daily. It's amazing what you can get accomplished in that span of time.

• After a month, look back at all the tasks you completed and give yourself a pat on the back!

Additional Resources for Creating a Time Management Plan

Organizing a Time Management Plan

Study Guides and Strategies for a Time Management Plan