money

Everyone wishes they had more time on their hands. Once lost, it can never be found again and there is no way one can purchase time. As they say; time is money. But many people cannot manage time wisely. So how can we make sure we are not wasting time and money? Below are some suggestions that can help.

Be Organized

Prioritize

To do list

Know the most important things in your life. Prepare a to – do list outlining these important and urgent things you need to do. The list does not have to be very detailed. Write them in the order you want to accomplish them. But be cautious because what is important may not be urgent and what is urgent may not be important. For example you might have to pay for water bills, it is important but may not be urgent as there is still a week before cut off. And what may may seem urgent, like catching your favorite TV  series on time may not be important. Therefore you will need to balance these things. Be able to say no to less important things that come your way.

Plan Ahead

Planning helps you to use your time in the most effective way. Think ahead of the things you want to accomplish and set a time frame for them. The time you set for each task has to be reasonable and manageable or else you will never be able to accomplish them. You have to eliminate unproductive things from your plan. When you have some time left after finishing a certain task, then you can start on the next one on your list. If you start on the unproductive task in between your free time, you are likely to over do them and will  steal time for the next productive item on your list.And doing this is likely to add needless stress in your life. At some point you will have to alter your task as you will have completed others on the list. This will help you to keep using your time wisely.

 Abstain From Time Stealers

Avoid Procrastination and Indecision

Procrastination sign
Stop procrastination sign

Procrastination is a thief of time and one’s productivity. It can make you sick as at a later stage it will put you under a lot of stress and pressure. If you want to use time wisely it is best to avoid procrastination and to just start acting. You should not allow life’s uncertainties to make you indecisive. If you wait till you have every scrap of information before making a decision, you are wasting time because many, if not all decisions will have uncertainties.

Avoid Perfectionism

High standards are commendable. But sometimes setting the standards very high may lead to disappointments and sometimes even failure. Be prepared to make some mistakes and to learn from those mistakes so as not to repeat them in the future. However, if one is a perfectionist, he or she may not be eager to do things because of the fear of doing them incorrectly and such kinds of attitudes  will impede their progress.

Have Adequate Sleep And Refresh

 person sleeping
A woman enjoying her sleep

To some sleeping may be a waste of time. But that is not true as having a good night’s sleep aids in concentration and consolidates memories and thus helps you toward achieving your goal. Depriving yourself of sleep will have the negative effect. Have recreational activities in between. It will refresh your brain and you will have vigor to start on your tasks. When your brain is tired you will not use your time wisely as you will waste time being lazy and unproductive. If you do not give yourself time to refresh, you are going to reach your break point at a fast rate than you expected. When you were able to reach and accomplish your goal, you can reward yourself with what you want . This will help you to be motivated to take on the next task.

Stick to the Plan

It may seem and sound an easy strategy but it is quite hard to do. This is because there may be distractions around you. Or it may be that once the task becomes complicated, you may feel like leaving it for the future.When the task becomes boring, you need to get inspiration. You can find out what others did to accomplish their goals. But be careful that it does not take a lot of time, rather it should be a short time just to motivate yourself. When you have a task to complete, make sure you remove all possible distractions in the environment you are carrying it. This might mean that you may have to turn off your phone and be away from people. Avoid making in the moment decision making when the task becomes hard or boring but having a solid master decision. Remind yourself why you are doing what you are doing at that particular moment and stick to it.

Be Multi-tasked

Some tasks can be carried at the same time. For example, when the washing machine is running you can sort out bills. It would be killing two birds with one stone. However do not do this with complex and big staff because you may make mistakes and might have to repeat them again and  that would waste your time.