Time Management Strategies

Hi all you beautiful friends!

Well jumping right in with our topic today on learning a much needed skill in today’s busy world: time management. How does lack of time management skills keep you from being productive? How much of the week do you spend stressing on all the things that you have to do? How about feeling stuck on your email inbox, where you feel like you have to be connected the whole time? How about the  indecisiveness, energy consumption, and brain power used on figuring out what to do? How about the distractions that we get from being on social media? 

Sometimes, us women wear being busy as a badge of honor. We get so busy being busy that we lose perspective on what kind of tasks are of high value and what kind of tasks are not. We put our efforts into spinning in our hamster wheels. The difference between efficiency vs effectiveness is getting a lot of tasks done vs. getting the right tasks done. Think about which tasks will move your business or career forward. 

Perfectionism is another thing that holds most people back from being productive. I should know, I am a recovering perfectionist. Taking the time to overanalyze a task instead of submitting it and moving on is another waste of time and prevents productivity. Instead, develop the mindset of “It’s good enough” and move on. What really matters is that you improve along the way, so learn to let go. This is like a muscle: the more you do it, the more you get used to it. 

Multitasking is another time waster. By being halfway towards one task and switching suddenly to another (realizing much later that you didn’t finish either one), you extend energy on switching tasks and not completing them. It’s an absolute strain on mental resources. 

Let’s discuss three of the most important time management goals that we all must have. 

1. Family & Personal Goals: how much time to spend with family. 
2. Business & Career Goals: the means by which we achieve our family goals.
3. Personal Development Goals: Your outer life will always reflect your inner life. 

A lot of times we find ourselves in conflict with these three goals. When that happens, I have three questions to ask yourself to keep yourself in check. 

1. What’s really important to me?
   You can ask yourself this question whenever you find yourself with too much to do and so little time. Your answer is what you want to be doing.
2. What are my highest value activities?
   What can I do to add the highest value to my life? What do I enjoy the most that gives me pleasure?
3. What’s the most valuable use of my time right now?
   Since you can only do one thing at a time, you must get organized so that you can get the greatest joy and satisfaction from everything you do. 

​If you can't measure it, you can't improve it. My secret weapon: a calendar. Track everything you do in your calendar and time block your tasks. Throw out your to do list. 41% of the items on your to do list are not completed. Structure and add routine to as many recurring tasks throughout the week so that you have time to focus on other tasks that are more important for you to make progress towards your goals. Also, scheduling tasks and deciding ahead of time frees your brain from finding excuses and procrastination, so it eliminates the need for brain drama.

Stay tuned for more great topics and tips that you can use in your life and business right away. If you found this post helpful today, be sure to subscribe because it will only get better from here. I cannot wait to connect with you here again next week!

​Visit my website elonaloparicoaching.com where you can find more articles and resources!