Time Management

This subject is a deal breaker that determines who's successful and who's not. Managing time is vital when you are trying to reach your goals. This is something that I struggle with most, I mean, who doesn't?!?! Some people who think there is not enough time in a day to get everything done is wrong. That is nonsense. Everyone is the world has 24 hours in a day. Crazy right?! Believe it or not, it's true.

We all know how much time is in a day, but until someone actually points it out and says "millionaires only have 24 hours in a day too, and they find time in  their life to get everything done so they can be successful." So now that we know people who are successful in life are on the same time clock as us, we can now determine what it is they do to become that way, and that is managing time!

WAKE UP EARLY
I have come to realize that sleeping in late is not an option if you plan on moving up in the world. I have a raging two year old who always manages to get into everything every minute of the day he is awake. If it's not him, it's the dog. One way or another I am constantly stopping what I am doing and diverting all of my energy on chasing my son around the house, putting him in time outs, or chasing after the dog whenever he decides to chase people's cars (including the mailman) down the road. Okay, I may be ranting some, but the point is, the only thing that makes logical sense is for me to wake up a couple hours early, in order to get things done, without distraction. The more you focus on ONE thing at a time, the quicker you will get it done, therefor you are already saving time! So for me, that means that waking up at 5:30AM instead of 9:00AM is worth it in the long run. Definitely easier said than done, I'm still working on it.

FORM GOOD HABITS
One of the important things to do is to form good habits. Everyone has habits. The problem is, they are usually bad habits.

"Good habits are the key to success. While bad habits are the unlock door to failure." - Og Mandino

You have to learn to replace a bad habit with a good one. Like with me, I am replacing my bad habit of waking up late, with a good habit of waking up early.Well, trying to at least! Or, instead of checking facebook first thing in the morning, I read my personal development book first. You can already start to see how good habits are key to time management. It takes 21 days to form a habit. That's less than a month. Everyone is capable of forming good habits. The assignment below will help you see what some of your bad habits are that you can replace.

MAKE A LIST OF PRIORITIES AND EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES
Get a blank sheet of paper and draw a line straight down in the middle. On one side, write at the top "priorities" and on the other side write "everyday activities". On the priorities side, make a list of things you want to achieve in a year, or 5 years, or 10 years, etc. So for example, you want a promotion at your job, or you want to pay off your mortgage. Or maybe something small like being able to spend more time with family. Then on the side where you wrote "everyday activities", make a list of everything you do daily, whether it be working, playing video games, facebooking (we are all guilty), or watching TV. Once your done, evaluate the things on your everyday activities list. If there is something listed up there that is not moving you closer to something on your priorities list, then put an X beside it. These are bad habits that need to be cut out and replaced with new, good habits that actually move you toward your priorities.

BUY A DESK CALENDER

Not a binder calender, not a little calender book, not your phone's calender, or not one that hangs on the wall in your kitchen, but a hard, flat desk calender that well, lays on your desk. Right in front of you where you can SEE it everyday. On this calender, you will write down EVERYTHING that you have to do.From going grocery shopping to going bowling with your friends, or even spending time with your family. This is important because it is written down in ink where you can see it instead of you storing it in your head where you're most likely to forget about it and overlap plans. Also, plane one day a week where you sit down in front of the calender and write down everything you have planned to do. Make it a family event. That way everyone knows that anything they want to do they have to write it down first.

MAKE A DAILY TO-DO LIST

I love daily to-do list because you can check off things you do as you do them. It is a great way to see how much you have accomplished in a day and to see where you need to most improvement. Also, it keeps you motivated and you're more likely to want to zip down the list to get everything down rather than winging it and forgetting things. The plus side to a list? You will soon realize that the things you once procrastinated on doing, took less time to do because you actually DID it, and you have more time in the day to do whatever you please!

I would recommend reading "Eat that Frog". It can help you learn how to manage your time better and accomplish goals. I hope some of my tips can help you out with your everyday life. It may take some time getting use to, but in the end, it's worth it!!