| SolveYourProblem
eLearning Series: Time Management
How Can I Manage My Time Better?
( 50 articles in this series )
Multiple
Deadlines: How To Pace Yourself
Time management is one of the most valuable
skills a human being can learn. Our lives are structured so
that we frequently have to face more than one deadline at once.
With so many deadlines hanging out on our horizons, we frequently
get stressed and feel unable to cope with the pressure. Effective
time management skills, though, can help you pace yourself.
The
first thing to do in order to pace yourself is to spend
some time planning and organizing your schedule. While it may
seem like a complete waste of time to sit around thinking about
what you are going to do, it really can be time that is well
spent. If you do not take this measure of time for yourself,
chances are you might fail at your task. Be sure as you are
planning that you do it in a way that will be effective for
you. Some people like desk calendars with colors and bright
pictures. Other people use the pile method. Whatever works
for you, go with it.
Along
with your planning, you should spend some time prioritizing. Some deadlines will obviously be closer than others. Those
are probably the ones you need to focus your energy and effort
on. Moreover, some deadlines are probably more important than
others. You must decide, in an organized fashion, which deadlines
are the most important and which are the closest in terms of
time. Those are the deadlines that need to be at the
forefront of your mind. Push the others aside while you meet the ones
you have decided to focus on. As you are doing this, consider
eliminating urgent short term tasks. These little guys can
have some long term consequences, so getting them out of the
way so you can focus on larger deadlines can be a real weight
off of your mind. A list can come in handy in the prioritization
process. You can make your list as often as you feel you need
to. A daily list could be made each night before you go to
bed or each morning as you wake up. It is important, though,
to combine this with whatever other method of organization
you have chosen. It is also essential to be flexible with your
list, as a new deadline may crop up that has to fit in between
your other deadlines. Flexibility is one of the keys to good
time management. Getting frustrated when distractions crop
up is a leading cause of stress. Stress, in turn, causes you
less productivity. Using lists are great visual reminder tools,
as when you have completed one of your deadlines, you can cross
it off your list. That will certainly give you a bit of a boost.
When you finally get ready to start working on your deadlines,
take your body into consideration. Different people work well
at different times of the day. Decide when your best time of
the day is and capitalize on that. If you are a morning person,
get up a bit earlier, make yourself a pot of coffee, and work
to your heart's content. If you work best in the late evening,
turn off the news and get going. Understanding your body is
one of the best ways to pace yourself. If you enjoy working
late at night, do not try to force yourself to be as productive
at five in the morning as you are at ten at night.
Be
sure when you start to work on your deadlines that you
are completing them correctly the first time. Having to constantly
revise your work can be annoying and counterproductive, as
it can interfere with other deadlines that have cropped up.
Figure out how to meet the deadline correctly the first time,
and then do it, even if it means a bit more difficult work
on your part. You will be glad to have completed the work well
the first time so you do not have to deal with it a second
time.
Be sure that you avoid
procrastination at all costs. If you
simply feel overwhelmed by a task, thinking about how overwhelmed
you are will not get you any closer to finishing the task.
Try breaking it into bite sized pieces. Work on it for, say,
fifteen minutes at a time. Before you know it, you will have
completed the task.
Do not forget that task completion calls for a reward
session.
Offer yourself a treat when you have met your deadlines. You
deserve it for all of your hard work. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
> Home > Time
Management Articles
: Main Page
|
