It has come to that time of the year, when we have lots of things on our to do list. And we know that organizing for creative people can get a little overwhelming. But we gotta' remember that our creative business is still as important as shopping for gifts. Effective goal setting for your creative business begins and ends with time management.
Hey Guys, the concept of time management has been in existence for more than 100 year believe it or not. Unfortunately the term "Time management" creates a false sense of hope in what a person is able to do. Time can't be managed, time is uncontrollable and we can only manage ourselves and our use of time.
Actually the change in time, gave me an exta hour. So instead of sleeping, I get up and work on a few things.
Time management is actually self management. To prefect the skill of time management we need the ability to plan, delegate, organize, direct and control every aspect of our lives. Sounds like a lot, right? But really we have to first understand what happens to our time during the day.
You must be able to balance your time in the best way possible in order to achieve your goals. Most creative entrepreneurs fail to achieve goals because we “lack the time”. That is why I decided to write more on time management after reading the FOCUS ebook . In this article I will share the 15 common time stealers and then give you 4 self-management strategies to move ahead.
15 Common Time Stealers
Note the ones which are causing to be the major obstacles to your own time management.
- Interruptions for example the telephone or TV (these are also distractions)
- Interruptions, for example, guests
- Meetings
- Tasks you should have had someone else do for you
- Procrastination and indecision
- Acting with out total information
- Dealing with other people’s issues or problems
- Some sort of personal crisis, for example, family member is sick or injured.
- Unclear communication
- Inadequate knowledge
- Unclear objectives and priorities
- Lack of planning
- Stress, anxiety and fatigue
- Inability to say "No" to anybody with a request
- Personal disorganization
There are quite a few isn’t there? Fortunately there are strategies you can use to manage your time in a better way and be more in control and reduce business related stress.
Self Management Strategies
There are many ways we can manage our time. I have listed some strategies you can use to manage your time in a better and more efficient manner.
1. Always define your goals as clearly as possible.
Do you find you are not doing what you want to do just because your goals have not been set properly yet?
One of the factors which make successful and happy people stand out is their ability to work out what they want to achieve and have written goals which they can review often.
Your long term goals should impact on your daily activities and be included on your "to do" list. Without a goal or objective people tend to just drift off personally and professionally.
2. Analyze your use of time.
Are you spending enough time on the projects which although may not be urgent now but are things that you need to do to develop yourself or your business?
If you are constantly asking yourself “What can I do to make things easier for me right now?" it will help you to focus on 'important tasks' and stop reacting to tasks which seem urgent (or pleasant to do) but carry no importance towards your goals.
Try getting and using a personal calendar, setting reminders on your computer, cell phone or palm pilot.
3. Have a plan.
How can you achieve your goals without a plan? I don’t even think that's possible. It it's crazy if you don't have a some type of plan.
Most people know what they want but have no plan to achieve it except by sheer hard work. What’s the point in doing hard work when you don’t know how to apply it?
Your yearly plan should be reviewed daily and reset as your achievements are met. Successful people make lists constantly.It enables them to stay on top of priorities and enable them to remain flexible to changing priorities.
Hey I thought I was OCD- but I now know that I only have successful people traits. Good to Know!
4. Action plan analysis.
Problems will always happen when you set a plan. The value of a good plan is to identify them early and seek out solutions immediately.Good time management enables you to measure the progress towards your goals because "What you can measure, you can control". RIGHT ON!
Self management is not a hard subject to understand, but unless you are committed to building better time management techniques into your daily routine you'll only achieve partial (or no) results and end up right back where you started.
This starting at zero drives me CRAZY!
You have to commit to managing your time better and remember to include time for yourself. The lesson that you need to learn is that the more time we spend planning our time and activities the more time we will have for those fun activities.
By setting goals and eliminating time wasters and doing this everyday you may find you will have extra time in the week to spend on those people and activities most important to you.
"Because I need all that extra time to look for my future husband." lol
Well, Creative Entrepreneurs, I hope as you are planning your shopping trips, you also plan your next business moves. If you have any great suggestions you would like to add, then leave them in the comment box below.
Taking Average and Making it Fabulous!
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