How to Manage Your Time Better

Time management is one of the most difficult tasks that adults struggle to master. With so many things demanding your time, it can be a challenge to keep to a steady schedule. It takes extra organization and planning ahead to stay on task, even when life throws challenges your way. Below are some tips on how to manage your time more efficiently, both as an individual and as an employee.

1. Always Leave Early

It was reported by the data company, Inrix, that the average American wastes 42 hours per year in traffic. Often times, these traffic jams can lead you to be late for work or important events. That’s why it’s always a good idea to leave early. This leaves you some extra time in case you hit traffic or some other obstacle. Also, if you know that there is usually heavy traffic at a certain time and you can leave early to avoid it, you should.

2. Keep a Daily Planner

Daily planners allow you to plan out each day of your week and see what obligations you have coming up. Taking time to fill these out each way can make managing your time much easier. You can work out a plan to fit everything in and know what is coming ahead of time. It also helps you not to forget about important engagements.

3. Put Your Alarm Across the Room

One issue with time management that many people have is being able to get up in the morning. If you’re the kind of person who repeatedly hits the snooze button just to end up running late, this tip is for you. Put your alarm clock across the room from you so that you’re forced to get up to turn it off. This is a great motivator to push you out of bed, and it keeps you from simply pressing that snooze button over and over.

4. Suggest Synchronized Clocks

Synchronized clock systems in your workplace can help you to better manage time at work. They can get all of the clocks in your building synced together so that everyone is functioning on the same time frame. This means that it’s easier to track breaks, overtime, and when people clock in and out for the day. Relying on your cell phone to clock in can make you late if your phone isn’t running at the same time your work clocks are. Talk to your boss about utilizing synchronized clocks for better time management.

5. Set Alarms and Reminders

The calendar in your phone most likely has an option to set alarms and reminders for events. Utilizing these can help you to stay on track throughout your day and week. Reminders set ahead of time can clue you in when it’s almost time to change tasks so that you don’t get distracted and forget. It’s easy to get invested in something and not realize how much time has passed, so this is a great system to check yourself.

Time management can be relatively easy, but you have to put the work into it. Taking a moment to set notifications on your phone or write out a weekly schedule can save you a lot of trouble in the future.