I’m sure you’ve heard people say that “time is precious”.
While this is a true statement, unfortunately, most people continue to waste their time on things that don’t really matter or things that don’t support their goals and dreams.
Stuff like constantly checking social media feeds, gossiping and procrastinating.
This time wasting is usually done subconsciously. In other words, people — perhaps including yourself — don’t even realize that they’re practicing unproductive behavior.
The good news is that there are some quick and easy methods that you can adopt that will make you a master of both your time and your life.
And the best news?
I’ll be showing you exactly how to benefit from these methods in this article.
Wasted Time Is Wasted Life
At work, you’ve probably noticed that many people waste valuable time through being disorganized.
Their inbox is full of unread emails. Their desk is cluttered with junk. And their presentations at meetings are often rushed and unprepared.
These people are not lazy. In fact, often they are incredibly hardworking and committed to their job. However, through their lack of organization, they throw away their time and energy.
At home, many people waste time on endlessly searching the web and binge-watching the latest Netflix shows. Social media is also a massive time killer. For instance, if you spend just an hour a day looking/interacting with social media, that will equate to 15 full days of your year. In that time, you could have learned how to meditate or begun to retrain for a change in career.
While it’s fine to spend some time on social media and watching TV — if you want to get on in life — you should make sure that a portion of your home time is given over to staying fit and healthy through proper diet and exercise. Home time is also ideal for learning new things through books, videos and courses.
Just imagine how much more productive someone would become if they learned to be organized at work and disciplined and creative at home. The answer is a ton! But it’s not just their productivity that will be boosted. Perhaps more importantly, the person’s self-esteem and confidence will be increased too.
If you recognize yourself in any of the above examples, then don’t worry, as I’m going to explain now how you can become a master of time.
How to Take Back Control of Your Time
Mastering your time is essential if you want to be in control of your life and destiny.
Fortunately, time management is simple to learn and easy to implement.
The first thing you need to understand is how to prioritize your tasks and responsibilities.
For example, what’s the first thing you always do when you log in for the day at work? Do you go through all your emails?
If you do, you might be surprised to know that going through all your emails is not the most productive start to the working day. Instead, you should spend the first 5-10 minutes of your day making a list of what tasks and projects you need to complete. Once you have your list, you should then sort then into order of priority. Urgent tasks at the top of your list, non-essential tasks at the bottom of your list.
When you do this daily, you’ll notice four positive things that occur in your life:
- You’ll always hit your deadlines
- You’ll get more work done
- You’ll feel in control
- You’ll be relaxed and free from stress
And it’s not just work stuff that can be prioritized in this manner. You can do the same for your personal stuff such as preparing meals, doing your laundry and walking your dog.
You just need to decide at the start of your day/week what are your MUST HAVES, SHOULD HAVES and GOOD TO HAVES.
Your essential tasks such as buying food and preparing your tax returns would go into the first category; tasks such as cleaning your home and filling up your car would likely go into the second category; while tasks such as chatting with your friends on Zoom would fall into the third category.
I also recommend that you create your to-do lists based on your life purpose. That way, everything you do will be aligned towards achieving your goals.
Another strategy to help you master your time is to consider this comparison between time and money:
The majority of people choose to focus on money — specifically, trying to earn as much money as they can — rather than focusing on time. However, if you think about it for a moment, money comes and goes, but when time passes by you can never get it back. Plus time is also strictly limited, as each of us only gets to spend a few decades on this planet.
A further thing I’d like you to consider is quality versus quantity.
Your quality of life is defined by your quality of time. Your minutes make your hours and your hours make your days. So how you spend each moment is critical to how you live your life.
To help you put your focus on quality of time and quality of life, ask yourself now these questions:
- How much time in a day do you spend being angry, anxious or unhappy?
- How much time in a day do you spend connecting with a loved one as opposed to just being in the same room as them?
- How much time in a day do you spend doing things you really don’t enjoy?
- How much time do you allow for improving yourself each day, week, month or year?
If these questions highlight weaknesses in how you use your time, then please feel don’t feel bad about it. Instead, start taking actions to address the issues. This will put you on the road to being in charge of the quality of your time and life.
Remember: Time is finite, so instead of wasting it, make the most of it!
If you need more help with managing your time, then I highly recommend you check out this Ultimate Guide on How to Stop Procrastinating.
A New You
Mastering your time will enable you to master your life.
You’ll go from being an average achiever to a super achiever. And this won’t involve any extra work on your part — it’ll just require you to adopt a new organized approach to all areas of your life.
You won’t have to wait years to see the results either. In fact, I’d expect you to see positive results within just a few days. And once you see these results for yourself, you’ll naturally want to keep going with your new time management approach.
With your new mastery of time, you’ll be more productive at home and work, you’ll be mentally and physically fitter, and you’ll be happier and more satisfied with your life then ever before.
This transformation will literally create a new you!
“Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” — Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
As the quote above so powerfully states, don’t let time pass you by. Instead, begin right now to take positive action.
Featured photo credit: Rodion Kutsaev via unsplash.com
