Time Management Tools

What tools should I use to help me master time management skills?

We all know what time management is. We all want to accomplish more, be more efficient and more goal oriented. But for many of us, effective time management is very elusive.

Why is that? Part of the problem is motivation. What motivates you? Without a clear understanding of exactly WHY you are doing what you're doing everyday, you'll forever be lost in the cycle of doing more and gaining less. Ask yourself these questions:

• What is it you are trying to achieve?
• How will it make you feel when you achieve it?
• How will it make you feel if you don't achieve it?

Putting your thoughts on paper is one the most effective ways of "planting" information in your brain.

Fifteen minutes of planning goes a long way in organizing your day.

Here is a quick mental test that you can do to see how well you have attempted to make positive results out of your time management: Think about the last ten days, and ask yourself this question: "How many minutes per day did I spend directly planning any of those days?" Now before you start calculating how well you "planned", keep in mind that time in the shower doesn't count, nor does the thinking you did while jogging, or while you were driving. Of course those are wonderful thinking times, but I'm referring to highly concentrated periods of thought where you sat down in a quiet room, closed your eyes, and visualized the entire day's planned activities, and their successful outcomes. So, how much time did you spend?

If you can follow the time-tested advice of spending fifteen to thirty minutes at the beginning of each day planning your time you'll be able to actually free up time throughout the rest of the day. You must be consistent and loyal about it 7 days per week,but I guarantee you - you will see results.

What are some of the benefits of time management?

• Clearly defined tasks with deadlines
• Increased focus on more important tasks
• Less time spent between projects
• Greater sense of accomplishment
• Overall sense of success at the end of the day

One of the best free tools for time management is the Simpleology course. It takes the 15 minute planning session and makes it much more efficient (and fun, too!). Besides the lessons, there is also free desktop time management software to help you stay on track all day long. If you need help staying focused, go to the online forum and ask some questions. Someone there is always willing to help.

Proper time management can dramatically improve the quality of your life and increase the amount of work that you get done. There are a lot of tools to help you and you can pay a lot of money for organizers and planners, but the best one in my opinion is Simpleology.