Friday, June 10, 2011

How To Better Manage Your Time Each Day

"Cage Of Hours" A One Of A Kind Brooch in my Etsy Shop

In attempt to become more efficient with my time I have decided to get up earlier each day. Today I set my alarm for 6:20am I realized something very important that I should have done before taking this step. I should have gotten organized and had a plan. Because now I am up early but don't know what to do!

This got me really thinking about time management. It may not actually be about just adding more time to your day. It may be about using your time more efficiently. Having a schedule and a plan makes all the difference in the world. Without it, you are still just wasting the time you have.

In the extra time I have today I am going to write out all the things that I normally do in the morning. On a separate piece of paper I am going to write out all the things I need to accomplish each week. I am going to also add how long each task takes me and how many days a week I need to do that task.

I am going to organize this as a day by day list. I know that I need to blog at least three times a week. So, I am going to put "M-W-F: Write Blog" I also need to create a Treasury on Etsy on days when they get the most views. For me it seems Tuesday through Thursday so I am putting down on my paper "T-W-T: Do Treasury." I also need to do a collection on ArtFire. These take a bit longer and I don't know what the best days to do these are. So, for now I'll put "M-F: ArtFire Collection."

After I get all the things I need to do down on paper I will assign times to do them. Then I will create a single list with all the schedule. This will help me to get into a routine. Not everyone needs an outline, but it would sure seem that I do!

Do you have any tips or tricks that help you to be more efficient with your time? Please share them with a comment.

9 comments:

  1. Interesting proposition. I find time management really difficult--my schedule's never set, it's constantly fluxing from one week to the next. Organization is definitely key, I think!

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  2. Well, I try not to do production when I am not in the mood for it, because I rush and take shortcuts and don't end up with what I want. The other big thing is I get the most distasteful tasks out of the way first, like packaging orders and going to the post office.

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  3. While I agree with getting distasteful tasks out of the way early in the day, I always reserve the first early morning hour for what I love best. It gives me a boost mentally, and adds incentive for getting up early.

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  4. Remember to fit me in your schedule somewhere!

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  5. Wow - I'm impressed. I always do fiddly things (wiring legs especially) in the mornings, I really can't cope with that in artificial light in the evening. And photography I try to do in the afternoon, when outside light is good. And I try to avoid online promoting in the evenings, when I should be with the husband. But the key word is "try"!

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  6. I actually wrote a similar post on my blog a few weeks back about how i have to fill sticky notes with lists each night of the things I need to do the next day, else they don't get done.

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  7. Thanks for the comments. Time management is something that I am definitely going to be working on from now on. I will update my progress with all of you.

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  8. you are very right without a plan we do just end of wasting the extra time we have. this is something i need to get better at organizing my time.

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  9. So far, my plan seems to be working. I am going to have to tweak it a bit but I think I will be able to fit a lot in as long as I stick to the schedule.

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