“Jeremy, your eyes are bigger than your stomach.”
My dad laughed as he sat across from me in the restaurant. We had been traveling all day, and I was very hungry. I wanted to order many things on the menu because they all looked good. But my dad said I could only choose one meal.
This story can teach us a powerful lesson about time management too. At the start of a new month or year, we often make long lists of goals we want to reach. Sometimes, we overestimate what we can accomplish which can lead us to manage our time poorly.
Everyone has 24 hours in a day – whether you’re a president, CEO, or busy parent trying to balance responsibilities at work and home.
At the beginning of the year, I was visiting with a friend who had ambitious goals. He had planned to learn to speak a new language. He also wanted to learn a musical instrument, write a book and get a promotion at work. Within two weeks he confided, that he had not started on any of those because he did not have time to get any of it started. The result – he quit EVERYTHING.
Overwhelm leads to frustration which can lead to discouragement. Discouragement is a dream stealer.
I write about time management because of people like my friend… …and also people like me.
That’s why I write about about time management As someone who has been through these struggles as a leader and family member myself, my goal is help others avoid feeling discouraged by sharing what I’ve learned over the years from personal experiences as well as advice gathered from other sources (such as reading).
You see I am a husband and a father of four kids as well as a middle manager for an organization. I spend a lot of time traveling to and from my offices. I often leave home at 6 am and arrive home at 6 pm with a full list of dreams and aspirations.
I want to share six ways I’ve seen poor time management go wrong! Some of these examples might be familiar to you but together we will learn some best practices to help prevent common mistakes.
I really do want to see you thrive and accomplish the things that matter most to you.
6 ways time management goes wrong.
Procrastination: We live in a time when it is very easy to waste time. We might watch TV, use social media, or do fun things instead of important tasks. Sometimes I have had to say no to fun activities because I waited until the last minute to start an important project..
Full Schedules: We sometimes make our schedules too full without any free time for ourselves or our family. This can lead to burnout and low productivity. So we need to make sure our schedule has enough balance.
Low/No priorities: Some tasks are more important than others but we don’t always take the time to identify which ones they are. We should find out what the most important tasks are so that we don’t spend too much time on less important things.
Multitasking: Trying to do many things at once is not a wise strategy! It often slows us down and leads to poor quality work. At home, I sometimes go into a quiet room so my child’s noise does not distract me from focusing on my work.
Ignoring rest: Taking breaks and caring for ourselves is very important! If we don’t rest enough or take care of ourselves properly then it could cause fatigue and other problems down the line including illness!
Vague goals: Setting goals efficiently matters as well! I have seen people set goals without a clear outcome of what success looks like. This becomes a problem because a lack of clarity can have you doing ineffective tasks. In order to achieve success, you must set clear realistic objectives with realistic timelines.
Do you see yourself having trouble managing your own personal life? Is there something specific you’d like improve upon ? My hope by discussing these common issues will help you become more effective in winning each day and finding greater joy in life.
One of the ways that I’ve become more successful is by using tools that challenge me to be better each day. One of those tools is Brendon Burchard’s Growthday. I love the site because it has journaling prompts, a calendar and several lessons to help you become more productive.
My favorite part of the site is the daily, weekly, and monthly reviews. These reviews provide targeted questions that drive me to be better and do better each day.
You can sign up for a free trial, 14 days to test it out. I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I do. You can sign up here.