I’m sure you have heard over and over again about the importance of time management. I am here to tell you that time management is not only important but that it can drastically improve your life.
Time management can help you take your life from one filled with procrastination to one that is more relaxing and planned out. Keep reading to discover the importance of time management!
Improving your time management is one of the best ways you can improve your day-to-day life. This post will give you a summary of some of those improvements!
It can be hard to get started with time management since it is such a broad topic and a big change, but stick with it! Once you get started you will see the benefits almost immediately.
After reading through this post, the importance of time management will become clear to you and you’ll never look back.
This post is all about the importance of time management and 5 ways that it can help you improve your life.
Importance of Time Management
What is time management?
The first step to learning about the importance of time management is learning what it actually is. Wikipedia describes it as the process of planning and controlling your time to increase things like productivity. I would describe it the same way but with less of an emphasis on controlling your time. I believe that time management should be more focused on planning your time and doing your best to follow that plan, rather than strictly controlling your time. Being overzealous with your attempts to keep a tight schedule can lead to burnout and giving up on the time management dream. Instead, focus on trying your best. Nobody is perfect!
Utilizing schedules and planners is the best way to plan your time and get better at time management. I have a calendar in my kitchen that is filled out at the start of each week. I find that it helps me immensely with keeping myself and my schedule on track. By using little tools like this, you will improve your time management immediately.
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Why is time management important?
Now that you know what time management actually is, we can dive deeper into what makes it important. First of all, time management is a broad word that can encompass a lot of things. It affects your work, school, home, workouts, and anything else you may find yourself doing. Each of these things is affected in a different way. Your time management at work might dictate how much you get done in a day, but your time management at home affects how much sleep you get and how much time you spend with your family.
The true importance of time management is how it affects your day-to-day life. Basically, this can go in two ways:
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If you have good time management:
Managing your time effectively, and ahead of time, will allow you to see your day from a more “big-picture” perspective. You will find yourself with extra time and what feels like a lighter load, even if you are fully booked. This is because you know what you are supposed to do and when, and will be able to follow that schedule. If you fail to meet your daily plan, it is not a big deal. You can just reschedule for another day since you know what is coming up in your schedule.
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If you have poor time management:
It can be difficult to know what is coming up all week long and things can easily surprise you. If something does catch you off guard, it can often cause a collapse of your day. Things will inevitably slip through the cracks. Time can feel as if it is rushing by with no time to breathe.
The results of the first bullet point above demonstrate exactly why time management is important. It is the key to unlocking your potential to make the most out of your day and improve your life. Continue reading to hear some of the major benefits of time management!
Benefits of Time Management
There are many benefits that come from having good time management, similar to the ones described in the previous section. These benefits will help you make changes that will improve your life! Some of the benefits of time management that will improve your life are as follows:
1. Get more done
With good time management, you will have more time to do things all day. How does this work? Having good time management means making plans ahead of time and executing the schedule you create for those plans. Since your days will be planned out in a more thoughtful and intentional way, time won’t feel like it is moving so quickly and you will actually get more done.
Surprisingly, thinking about what you want or need to do next wastes a lot of time. After getting distracted or changing gears it can take up to 20 minutes to get back on track. If this happens a couple of times a day, you can quickly lose 40+ minutes of time. If you have good time management, wasting that time is much less likely to happen.
Those 40 minutes can be used for more productive activities! Or just doing what you whatever to do. The plans you make do not have to be complex. Just a short list of what you hope to do at certain times will do! Even with a simple plan, you will see results and get more done each day right away.
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2. Be a better employee
The second benefit of time management is that you will become a better employee. Time management in the workplace is pretty much the same as your own personal time management but with a defined start and end. Having defined start and end times can be a double-edged sword. Yes, you have a window to work in, but you also have to finish work within that window. That’s where time management fits in.
With good time management in the workplace, you can accomplish more work since you have a better plan for your days. One of the best scheduling tips for your workday is to work on scheduling your days on the previous day. By that I mean you should create a checklist or generally timed schedule for what you plan to work on and when before you leave on the previous day. You could even extend this to make up a lot of your workweek. With a general plan like this, you will know what you plan to do and when. If you share your schedule with higher-ups and colleagues, they will be able to plan accordingly.
Sometimes your plan will not work out. Things come up at work and priorities need to shift. This should be an okay and expected part of your schedule. As you plan things out, keep some buffer time in mind!
3. Be more present
As mentioned a couple of sections ago, with good time management, you do not have to waste time thinking about what you need to get done as you move through your day. If you are constantly thinking about when you need to go and do this or that, you can’t focus on the present. This may cause you to miss out on conversations or experiences. With good time management, considering your plans can be the last thing on your mind, so you can focus on what is happening immediately around you.
Another way to look at it is that your days can be spent doing activities instead of thinking about them. Your time will be used more efficiently and you will be more present. Give it a try!
4. Procrastinate less
Another benefit that demonstrates the importance of time management is that with good time management, you will procrastinate less. This one may seem obvious, but it is important! With good time management, you will have your time planned out in advance. That means there is less time and ability for things to slip through the cracks and end up happening later than expected.
Less procrastination is always a good thing since it creates unneeded stress in your day. Just that simple fact makes this one of the top benefits of time management.
5. Relax more
My favorite benefit of time management is that it will help you relax more. This one is less obvious but more important than anything else! The first way that time management helps you relax more is that it allows you to spend time doing instead of thinking. This will allow you to relax more since you will be rushing less and hopefully procrastinating less too!
The second way that time management helps you relax more is by getting thoughts out of your head and onto your schedule. Instead of keeping your thoughts in your head, try writing them down so you can have a to-do list in front of you. With a to-do list, you will not have to keep a bunch of thoughts in your mind and continually recall those thoughts so that you do not forget. Instead, your list will take care of your thoughts and you can focus on having a great, relaxing day.
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Hopefully, you understand a little bit more about the importance of time management now, and the role it can play in improving your life! If you have any questions or ideas, feel free to send them to us at ourteam@wellroundedyou.com. Thanks for reading!
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