You can’t manage time. It flows, ebbs, and chuggs along its own pace.
But then, everyone says you have to manage how you use your time. That’s great, but then, how do you actually do it?
What do you actually measure, and manage?
To get all the things you want done, what do you need to manage, instead of time?
Energy management
We all have energy as we start our days, and our energy ebbs and flows along with our day, at different times, and in different ways.
Think of yourself as a battery. You use your energy when you do stuff that requires it, and you recharge the battery when you do stuff that fills it up.
And it takes more than just eating and sleeping, to recharge our battery. It’s not entirely a physical battery that we have, but an emotional, mental, spiritual battery, as well.
Energy. Energy as a whole human being.
We have the most energy as we start our days. While you have the most energy, get the tasks and activities that would require the most energy, and would give you the highest impact, first. Then, work your way down through other activities with lesser importance.
Also, find time to take care of yourself, and to recharge your battery. People who operate at the highest level commit to taking care of themselves, not only physically, but emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, as well.
Every single day, commit to managing, and recharging, the energy that you have.
Priority management
Because if everything is a priority, then nothing really is.
We only have so much time, and we only have so much energy to do things, in a day. The key to getting everything important done, is to prioritize what is important, and get those done, first.
In a day, there are things that are important – those that will give us the most value for our time and energy, as well as those that contribute to getting the results and outcome that matter most to us. It is these tasks and actions that we should be focusing on, and not on those things which are not important.
Everything important has to get done eventually, but those that are of highest importance, have to be the ones that get done first.
Distraction management
Apart from ordering and prioritizing the important actions, part of what you have to manage would be the distractions that you get.
Distraction-proof your process, and your environment, so that you can focus on getting the important things, done.
If there’s anything that enables procrastination, it’s this – the inability to control your environment, and to allow all the options for distraction to be present, and accessible, at a moment’s notice.
Create reminders to stay on track – a list of tasks that’s prioritized, top to bottom, with what’s the most important at the top, going downward.
Also, too many tasks on your list can also be a distraction. List down the top 5 that needs to happen during that day, and focus on the first one until that’s done, then the next, then the next.
I work on a laptop, and it’s so easy just to open a new tab, start browsing, and distracting myself. Find ways to block those unproductive sites during the times when you need to be focusing on the important tasks.
Also, take control of your schedule, and block off time where you can be uninterrupted, and just focus on getting a specific action and task, done.
Willpower alone won’t get you through all the distractions. You have to prepare to avoid, minimize, and overcome them.
Commitment management
Don’t only manage what you do, but what you say yes, and no, to.
Best laid plans get derailed when we make commitments that we can’t fulfill, or don’t want to fulfill.
When we commit to things, events, tasks, and relationships, that aren’t really important to us.
And so we spend undue energy, time, resources, pain, maybe even pain, just to see the commitment through. Or we leave the commitment hanging, leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouth, including yours.
Either way, that scenario’s not ending well. The best way is to nip it in the bud.
Say yes when you mean it. When it’s a HELL YEAH! kind of thing. When it’s a yes you want to take, but you’re too afraid to take it, but you really want to. That’s a yes being covered in fear. Rescue that yes.
Say no when you mean it. When it’s not a HELL YEAH! situation, but more of a “meh”, or “oookkayyyy…” kind of thing. When it’s something you don’t really want to do, and you don’t see it as important for you, or it’s not even important for people you consider important and a big part of your life.
Because we really should be saying no more often. Especially to the wants, desires, and impromptu requests of other people.
Saying no to them, means saying yes to yourself.
Say yes to yourself.
Mission management
Put simply, is “what are you here on earth to do?”
“For what would you dedicate your life towards, and how would you do it?”
Most of us never get around to answering that question.
And when I mean answering, I meant really getting clear, specific, and actionable on the mission, on your life’s mission.
And so without those answers, and without a crystal-clear mission in mind, we end up wandering around, spending our time, energy, and resources, anywhere and everywhere, and hope for the best that we end up somewhere we like.
If you know your mission, and you manage it – I mean get crystal clear on it, and prune away the unnecessary – then everything else becomes easier to manage.
Because your energy, priorities, and commitments align to your mission, enabling you to power through any distractions, and make your mission a reality in your life.
What do you stand for? For what purpose do you live your life, and how would you live it?
Don’t just get handed a mission by other people, make one yourself! Detect your mission.
Live life by your own design.
Manage yourself
Lead yourself.
How do you expect to give what you do not have?
Create a life of alignment to your mission, your purpose, and the best decisions to manage yourself would flow freely.
As a side effect, you will find yourself having more time.
Doing more in the time that you have.
Living the life that you want.
How do you manage yourself to get things done? Please reply in the comments below!
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