Ten Common Mistakes In Time Management

Time management is one of the biggest worries of many people. Often, not knowing how to properly manage the time available causes stress and dissatisfaction, but good control can help to fulfill all the obligations and also include extra activities.

When organizing one’s time, a number of common mistakes are made; correcting them will improve the management of the time available.

You are all able to better manage your time, you just have to identify the mistakes you make.

Mistake # 1 – Not making use of a “to-do” list

If you have ever experienced the feeling of failing to do something important, you will understand the need to use a nice and tidy “to-do” list. It is important that this list is organized by priority, that it shows the commitments indicating the exact time and moment in which to carry them out. There are many technological tools that can help you in this area.

Mistake # 2 – Not having personal goals

It is important to have a goal to walk towards, no matter how simple it is. Setting personal goals is essential to managing time well, because in this way you will have a destination to arrive at. When we know where we want to go, we can manage our priorities, our time and our resources to get there. Goals also help us decide what is worth investing our time in and distinguish these important activities from mere distractions.

Mistake # 3 – Not setting priorities

It is not always easy to prioritize, especially when we are faced with a large number of tasks that all seem urgent. However, it is essential to learn to privilege certain duties in order to better manage time.

Mistake n. 4 – Not knowing how to control distractions

Identifying actions or circumstances that distract you is essential to being able to control them. Email, telephone, instant messaging apps, TV or radio are some distracting elements that make you lose focus; a great deal of time is wasted with them.

To manage time effectively, you need to minimize distractions and manage interruptions intelligently. For example, you can set aside a daily amount of time for reading e-mails and replying to messages and then turn off the chats and the phone or reject calls, unless it is a matter of urgency.

Managing breaks well improves concentration and, consequently, productivity.

Mistake # 5 – Delay or procrastination

Delay, or procrastination, occurs when you postpone tasks to be done and do others, convinced that you are doing something useful, when it is not. Often the problem consists in the fear of starting to carry out the obligation and then you start to go around it, without actually doing anything and wasting time.

Mistake # 6 – Wanting to do too many things

When you are unable to say no, the number of tasks and commitments increases more and more. This can lead to bad results, stress and low morale. It is essential that everyone is in control of their time and that they learn to say no or, at least, to decide for themselves when to do the required activity.

Mistake n. 7 – The need to feel perpetually busy

Some people need to be busy all the time and have a lot of hustle and bustle in their life. This attitude is not synonymous with “effectiveness” and, moreover, it causes a lot of stress; it is necessary to reduce the speed with which one moves day by day.

Mistake # 8 – Being “multitasking”

This trendy word represents the everyday life of many people: writing an email while talking on the phone, preparing lunch while replying to a message, eating while reading something urgent on the tablet. Although it is thought that time is best used in this way, the reality is that productivity and effectiveness are reduced, since 100% of the resources available are not dedicated to individual activities. The best thing, then, is to stop multitasking and focus on one task at a time.

Mistake # 9 – Don’t rest

It’s impossible to focus and be productive at work or study without taking a moment to rest and recharge your batteries. Rest allows you to think creatively and work effectively.

Mistake # 10 – Scheduling commitments inefficiently

You have to know each other well to know which are the moments of greatest performance; you have to accept your own pace in order to organize commitments.

“Do you love life? If you love life, don’t waste time, because time is the good that life is made of “

Benjamin Franklin