time management strategies

In order to manage time effectively, you need to know where your time actually gets spent. One helpful way of determining your actual usage of time is to track your time. This is one of the most important part of effective time management. and is is one of the essential time management techniques that you have to put to use. The approach here is similar to making a schedule, but it works in reverse. Instead of writing down the things that you are planning to do, time logging is a process of noting down the things that you have already done. Doing this is sort of a get- to-know-yourself exercise because this process will highlight many of your habits that you might unknowingly neglect at the moment.

For example, some people realize that every time they plan to do math homework they end up watching television. Instead of revising for that Psych test, they play Internet poker. Other people just can’t seem to follow their schedule until the week before finals.

Whatever your time habits may be, tracking your time will help you adjust and fine-tune your time management practices. Having specific information about your time usage patterns can function as another important point of reference for monitoring your progress. The following are several ways to track your time. Take a moment to do this – it will really help you open your eyes and take charge of your time.

1. Time tracking is fairly simple. At the end of every hour jot yourself a quick note about how you specifically spent your time for that hour. The note needn’t be long - one sentence or less will do. If how you spent your time doesn’t match an already planned activity, simply enter a comment as to what you really did during that time. This way you will be able to reflect on patterns that emerge in the way you use your time and make the relevant adjustments to increase your productivity.

2. Some may find it useful to modify the planning page to facilitate tracking time. The modifications are easy enough: have two columns on your paper for each day of the week. In one column, write down the plan you are trying to follow; in the second column, make notes on what you actually did with your time. The side-by-side comparison is very helpful and is an effective way to figure out where you are not using time in the way you have planned.

3. Another great way to make changes and get results from your time management strategies is to summarize your use of time by time categories such as: sleep, study, work, travel, etc.

Estimate how much time you think you use for the various activities listed and enter these in the “expected” row of the summary sheet. Feel free to include any additional categories that might be helpful. Then log your time for one week on an hourly basis. After the week is over, summarize your time by category for each day, add up the values for all seven days of the week, and record the totals in the “actual” row of your summary sheet.

Summarizing your usage of time enables you to discover how much time you really spend in the various areas of your life. It is almost certain that you will see a notable difference between the number of hours you expected to use in some categories and the actual number of hours you spend.

If you find that you spend more time in one area than you wanted, and less in another, the weekly summary of your use of time clearly indicates which activities to reduce to find the extra time you need for that neglected area of your life. Indeed, you will find that time tracking by activity will serve you well as one of the most helpful time management strategies that you can employ as you implement it in your everyday routine.

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