Learn what are the three elements no one is talking about on time management, and discover the basic idea is to manage time.

To manage time, the main element in it is discipline. Remember, your time is… yours.Everyone has duties: kids, family, a demanding boss, home tasks, etc. The real reason why you are not doing what you want, it is not because there are so many tasks, but because you are not managing what you do, to make time for yourself. Let’s say, you need to clean the house and you want to read a book on Wayne Dryer. Why not you using audio self help (audiobooks) to read, while you are cleaning the floor? It is not that you need to put your full attention in a simple task. It is using your time wisely to change your life. Another example, you want to practice your golf swing’s, but you need to take care of your kids. Why not taking your kids with you, and teach them how to play? Or the most common example, “I want to have time for myself”. Then, you need to use the calendar and mark when are you going to have this time, and what you need to do before to make it happen.

Here are quick guidelines on the steps, tools and concepts nobody talks about, to help you manage your time.

Steps to Manage Time

1. Before organizing your time, examine your daily routine including meals, travel, work, appointments, etc. how much time does it take for each task. Now decide how much time you need, when you want to work on your goal, and how that goal fits in the rest of your activities.

2. Set goals and make priorities. This gives you a sense of what has to be done and when.

3. Do important things first. Important things become pressing and you use up more of your time when we avoid doing them.

4. Manage time by saying “no”. There will be many interruptions and request for your time. Anything that is not in your schedule, can be scheduled later.

5. Start and stop specific activities at predetermined times. This enables you to concentrate on the task at hand.

6. Try to do all the activity one time only. Don’t leave it right on the middle.

7. make “to do” lists and schedules.

Tools to Manage Time

These are some of the tools you can use to manage time, which are available to download and print here:

- daily to do list – get in the habit of making a daily to do list that combines your scheduled activities and the important things you want to do that day. After listing what you want to do, called the most important items and make sure you give them priority over less important items.

- weekly schedules – to decide what is important, you need to know your week’s schedule. Stark each week by making a schedule. Field team work time, study time, important events, etc.

- monthly schedule – a monthly schedule can help you look more broadly at what you want to accomplish. The task you list on your monthly schedule can be incorporated into your weekly and daily schedules.

At the end of each day, week or month review your schedules. Observe how well your time schedules work for you. Make adjustments as needed.

Three Unaware Elements to Manage Time

To manage your time, it is also important to talk about three elements most people ignore: that is, concentration and distraction and one tasking.

- improve your concentration: this means to stay focused on what you want and what you are doing. Generally speaking, most of us are aware of the fact that we do not have enough time to the many of the things that we will want to do with the limited time we had. We failed, however, accept the fact that we can do only one thing at a time, particularly when time is limited. Seems there are many things competing for our time, it’s often hard for us to concentrate. Accepting the fact that we can only do one thing at a time can improve our concentration when we seek to work on the tasks to get two hour ago.

- minimizing distractions: before starting any task, set up your space or that environment you need to do it. For example, when I am writing my book, I like to be in a quiet space without music, and I pray before writing, to find inspiration. Find out, by observing your behavior, where are you wasting time. I know lots of people spend at least two hours on youtube, looking at funny or music videos. Also, working with a TV on is not optimal. Music is okay, if it allows you to concentrate. A cup of tea or coffee is also okay, but if you are hungry, better go and it’s something before starting.

- working in one task at a time: multitasking doesn’t work. In a research published in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance — Rubinstein and his associates David Meyer, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Evans, Ph.D., determined that for various types of tasks, subjects lost time when they had to switch from one task to another. If you work in one task, you are focusing your brain to work on it, more efficiently than doing a lot of things at the same time.

Using this guidelines will allow you to change your life and your time.

P.D. Please check out the tools and video we have for you to organize your life. There is no cost, it is to help you start changing your life.

image credit: beck f

About the Author

Anton Cela is a self development author and consultant. Phillip Cela is a recognized university teacher and speaker on motivation, leadership and self help. Find more about their work on “The Change Your Life Phenomenon”, a world-wide-movement to help people change their lifes at Change Your Life Phenomenon.com You can send us an email or follow “The CHYL Phenomenon” on Twitter.