Don’t Manage Your Time Well? These are the 7 Reasons and How to Change It.
It is the end of your working day. You look at your to-do list, and your heart sinks. Firstly, your crucial jobs are still outstanding. Secondly, you start feeling anxious because you know you have been working hard all day.
Whatever you were doing has not brought you closer to meeting your goals.
If only you had more time!
The truth is, we all have 24 hours in a day to do things that vary in complexity and importance. So, why some people can manage their days effortlessly, and you cannot?
These are the seven most common reasons why people do not manage time well and how you can change it.
1) Giving up on self-care
By taking care of your basic needs, like eating healthy, getting enough sleep and frequent breaks, you build the energy to do things throughout the day.
In fact, when planning your day, schedule time to meet these needs before you plan anything else. Do not feel bad that you are prioritising yourself over tasks.
With a strong body and mind and a satisfied belly, you will focus better and pick up the speed on your work. It will cost you less effort too.
2) Thriving on spontaneous
Spontaneity is good sometimes. But when you have a job to do, acting on a momentary impulse may lead to mistakes. Moreover, It will cost you more time and effort than needed.
To avoid it, consider what actions you need to take to complete your job. Apply the Pareto 80/20 Principle, stating that 80% of your results come from 20% of your effort and time.
Equally important, decide which actions and in which order will take you there the quickest. By doing this, you will create a simple step-by-step plan to help you do the job quickly and satisfactorily.
3) Attending to the needs of others before yours
By prioritising the needs of others above yours, you postpone meeting your needs. Employees who always say “yes” when asked for help by colleagues and bosses will run out of time to complete their jobs.
You will be more effective by taking care of yourself before you help others. So, before you drain yourself out and start resenting others, focus on your needs first.
Prioritising your needs does not mean disregarding everybody else. If you want to help others, allocate specific time in your schedule when you can do just that.
4) Doing everything yourself
People who struggle with delegating believe that they are the only ones who can do the job well or that it is rude to ask somebody else to do something.
Both types lose precious time on doing things that others are perfectly capable of doing. Improve your delegating skill by taking four steps.
Decide which tasks you will delegate. Communicate this clearly to the person you are delegating the tasks to. Explain how exactly you want them to do each task. Avoid taking jobs back.
5) Staying in control at all cost
Micromanagement slows you down. Controlling people usually fear loss or pain. They push for things to happen their way to feel at peace.
If you are this person, reflect on what you are afraid of and challenge your fears. Fear is false evidence that appears real and is based in the future.
Review the facts and ask yourself, what is the possibility of the thing you are afraid of happening? It will help you ground yourself and stop worrying about the future.
6) Perfecting everything you do
If you master things, you may struggle to complete jobs quickly and achieve your goals. Address your perfectionism by recognising when you tend to do it.
Ask yourself: How much does the task matter to you? What is the worst that could happen? If the worst happened, could you survive it? Will this still matter tomorrow, next week, or next year?
These questions will help you put things into perspective, worry less about details, and move to the next job quicker.
7) Overflowing with ideas
People with many ideas have an expanded sense of time. Due to the sea of thoughts, they lose focus, extending the time they do things.
If overflowing with ideas stops you from finishing jobs in good time, try these strategies.
Create an ideas list to record sudden thoughts pop-ups and come back to them later. Assign a specific amount of time for each task and focus just on that. When you notice your mind wandering, acknowledge it and come back to your job.
When you identify what stops you from managing time well, you can take small steps to make significant changes in your life.
Imagine you completed more work in less time. You are focused and feel accomplished.
Imagine that sense of pleasure after you did your most essential jobs. You are relaxed now.
Imagine you managed your time well and you achieved your long dreamed goal. Your self-confidence increased!
You can do it. Start these changes today.
