12 Tips for Time Management

Image from Awakening Center

Editor’s Note: A version of this article previously appeared at AnnMehl.com.

Recently, in my work as a business coach, I was asked to give a presentation at a company offsite on the subject of “productivity and time management.”

In order to prepare for this, I polled a number of friends and colleagues — ordinary people whose work styles I admired — on their individual work habits. Nobody I spoke to felt like they had enough time. It’s as if we’ve all become the proverbial “plate spinners,” those talented jugglers rushing from plate to plate in order to keep each one spinning in the air.

Based on my interviews, there were a number of themes that emerged from those who managed to successfully juggle their many labors. Here, in condensed form, I offer you these 12 time management “principles” in hopes that some of them may also be useful to you.

1. Spinach first. Your mom was right. Always tackle the most difficult task on your plate first thing in the morning when your energy and concentration level is at its highest. Get to the hard stuff as early as you can. The longer you put it off in favor of easier, lower priority matters, the bigger that mound gets (and the worse it tastes). Keep the main thing the main thing.

2. Think sprint, not marathon. We are not designed to “park it” at a desk for eight hours at a stretch and get all of our work done. Short, uninterrupted bursts of concentration are the key to knocking out good work. Get a kitchen timer, or stopwatch. Set it for 45 or 60 minutes, and don’t stop until you hear the buzzer. You’d be amazed at what you can accomplish in one good uninterrupted hour.

3. Be selfish. Once you have prioritized your to-do list, you must put that ahead of all others’ lists. When you are able to get your own work done, you are in a much better position to support others with their projects. But your work comes first. Always.