Survival Guide
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Time Management Skills
Andre Walker
Axia College of University of Phoenix
An important skill that most people do not have, but could benefit from mastering, is time management. Time is our most valuable resource. As one text puts it, “We have time, keep time , buy time, save time, waste time, kill time, pass time, give time, take time, and make time” (Whetten, 1995, 113). Time also cannot be replaced. Once time is gone, it is gone. Yet every one of us has the same amount of time each day. But it is how efficiently and effectively we use it, that makes the difference between those of us that are well prepared, and those of us who are unprepared.
An everyday example of mismanaging our time, is forgetting something that we meant to buy while at the grocery store. Yet the small amount of time that it would have taken to make a grocery list, could prevent a person from having to return to the store to purchase what was forgotten earlier. In this real-life example, it is likely that more time was used to return to the store, than it would have taken to make the list.
Some of the most effective tools for mastering time management are: activity logs, setting goals, prioritized to-do lists, and schedules. If one is unsure of whether or not it is managing its time wisely, make yourself an activity log. A daily activity log should record each task, no matter how large or small, that one has done for the entire day. The log should also record the time one started the task, and the time one ended it. After one has completed a few days of activity logs, review them to see if one can improve on its time management skills. The logs will show if, where, and when one is wasting its time. Once one has identified its problem, one can begin the process of fixing it.
To begin mastering time management, set a goal. Goal setting is the process of deciding where one wants to be in its future. Once one has set its goals, one can begin to take the actions needed to achieve them.
Next, make a prioritized to-do list. Prioritized To-do lists can be made for daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly goals. They should list everything that one wants to get done, beginning with the most important and ending with the least important. Keeping these lists will help one to become better organized. They ensure that one will not forget things, and that the tasks are accomplished in order of priority.
Now that one has made its to-do list, set up a schedule. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary Unabridged defines schedule as: a body of items requiring to be dealt with usually at a particular time or within an indicated period. In this instance, making a schedule is the process of planning out ones time, to accomplish the things on their to-do list, so that one efficiently and effectively achieves its goals.
The benefits of mastering time management skills vary based on the place in which they are implemented. Implementing good time management skills in the workplace can translate