Improving your time management can be done in three simple steps.Review - review how you spend your time now for at least a week. Any more than 5 minutes spent on an activity should be recorded.Remove - remove or reduce any periods of unproductive time. This may be hours lost scrolling on social media or getting drawn into boxset marathons.Replace - replace that unproductive time with focused blocks of activity to achieve your goals.

3 Steps To Better Time Management

<img width="1024" height="1024" alt="Manage time" src="https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Clock.png?fit=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" srcset="https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Clock.png?w=1080&amp;ssl=1 1080w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Clock.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Clock.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Clock.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Clock.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Clock.png?resize=600%2C600&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i1.wp.com/spurplanners.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Clock.png?resize=100%2C100&amp;ssl=1 100w">Too much to do and not enough time. It’s a common thought that hits many of us on an almost daily basis. Just keeping on top of basic tasks around the home and work can feel impossible, let alone anything else. It doesn’t have to be that way though. You can learn how to manage time better. Learning how to manage time effectively can reduce stress and create new opportunities for you so it should be on your list of skills to master.If you feel like you are always missing appointments, running late and wondering how others seem to coast through you are not alone. With more calls on our time than ever sometimes it can be hard to know which way to look. Don’t worry though, there are some simple steps you can take to start learning how to manage time better now.<div>"Either you run the day or the day runs you."</div><div>Jim Rohn</div><h2>Three Simple Rules</h2>There are many different techniques that can teach you how to manage time better, or at least an element of your day. You don’t need to learn them all to get started and make a real impact though. Here are the three simple rules you need to learn how to manage your time better;<h3>Review: </h3>When was the last time you reviewed how you had spent your day? Not if it was a good or a bad day but literally how you spent each minute of your day? Most people never have. If you don’t know how you are spending your time how do you know if you are spending it well? Think of your time as currency or an investment. Would you spend money on a car without ever having seen what it looks like? No, yet most of us spend our time with no view of what it looks like.Doing an audit is essential and it isn’t complicated. Just follow these simple steps;<UL><LI>You can use pen and paper, an app, or a printable. We have a free printable <a href="https://spurplanners.com/free-time-management-resources/" dir="ltr">here.</a>&nbsp;</LI><LI>Record how you spend your time for anything over 5 minutes. Do it in 1 hour blocks for the whole day.</LI><LI>Be honest. It might not make pretty reading but that’s OK. This isn’t about feeling bad now, it’s about feeling positive about the great changes you will make. You are taking positive action.</LI><LI>Do this for at least a week to get a wide picture of how your time is spent.</LI></UL><h3>Remove: </h3>How do the days look that you have captured? There are a lot of statistics about how people spend their time but some of the most relevant that may surprise show that according to <a href="http://dovico.com/" dir="ltr">Dovico.com</a> we spend over 3 hours a day, every day, on our phones and only slightly less watching TV. That’s over 6 hours a day!When evaluating how you spend your time look out for unproductive time like social media, TV, coffee breaks and emails. This isn’t to say you should not do any of these things. You need to be aware of how long you spend on them though. Then you can decide if you are investing your time wisely.Other things to look out for are basic tasks that take a longtime. This could be the weekly food shop, cleaning the house or sorting out the family finances. Streamlining these regular tasks will give you back hours each month.Aim to cut out time that is totally wasted and reduce time spent on tasks that offer little or no value for the time spent doing them. For example, if you plan your weekly shop before you go it will take less time and you will spend less – win/win.<h3>Replace: </h3>When you have identified activities to reduce or remove you can replace that time. This is the real key point of how to manage time better. You are now taking out low value tasks and replacing them with high value tasks.What counts as high value is personal but we would encourage you to be bold. Don’t just replace an hour of TV time a day with an hour of YouTube time. Replace that hour with half an hour of exercise and half an hour to plan your weekly meal plan and shopping list. Understanding how to manage time better is a crucial component of building the life you want.You must have a process in place that allows you to filter through all the things we need to do in a given day and focus on the important tasks.<h2>Now You Take Control.</h2>Now you understand where your time was being spent and how it could be spent for greater value you can take control. Start to plan your days in advance. Each evening sit down for 10 minutes and plan your next day. Consider;<UL><LI>What time do I need to get up? Now set your alarm for that time.</LI><LI>Am I doing exercise? Get your exercise clothes out and ready.</LI><LI>What meals are we having? Do you have the ingredients? Can you pre-prepare any to save time tomorrow?</LI><LI>Do I have any appointments/commitments? Write these into your day plan immediately so you won’t forget.</LI><LI>What are my top 3 tasks to complete? Schedule them in starting with the toughest first.</LI><LI>Am I active in managing my wellbeing? Do you need to schedule time to meditate, read, listen to podcasts?</LI></UL>This creates the structure for your day. You will see we haven’t scheduled every minute of the day. That is on purpose. A full 24 hour period rarely runs as hoped. If you schedule every minute of the day then when something doesn’t go as planned it risks throwing everything else out.Instead, plan your core tasks. You may have more than listed above, that is OK. Schedule them in as needed. Leave some blank time though. You can use this as down time when needed or you can use it to pick up more irregular tasks like buying birthday presents, helping your children with a school project or household chores.It really is as simple as that to start understanding how to manage time better. Just remember;<UL><LI>Review</LI><LI>Remove</LI><LI>Replace</LI></UL>Then you are set to build your new effective routine.Please let us know how you get on and don’t forget to check out our other articles on time management and productivity. <h3>Share this:</h3>

Learn how to manage time better. Time management is crucial to achieving your goals and to increase productivity.

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Productivity

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Time Management

Too much to do and not enough time. It’s a common thought that hits many of us on an almost daily basis. Just keeping on top of basic tasks around the home and work can feel impossible, let alone anything else. It doesn’t have to be that way though. You can learn how to manage time better. Learning how to manage time effectively can reduce stress and create new opportunities for you so it should be on your list of skills to master.

If you feel like you are always missing appointments, running late and wondering how others seem to coast through you are not alone. With more calls on our time than ever sometimes it can be hard to know which way to look. Don’t worry though, there are some simple steps you can take to start learning how to manage time better now.

There are many different techniques that can teach you how to manage time better, or at least an element of your day. You don’t need to learn them all to get started and make a real impact though. Here are the three simple rules you need to learn how to manage your time better;

When was the last time you reviewed how you had spent your day? Not if it was a good or a bad day but literally how you spent each minute of your day? Most people never have. If you don’t know how you are spending your time how do you know if you are spending it well? Think of your time as currency or an investment. Would you spend money on a car without ever having seen what it looks like? No, yet most of us spend our time with no view of what it looks like.

Doing an audit is essential and it isn’t complicated. Just follow these simple steps;

<ul><li>You can use pen and paper, an app, or a printable. We have a free printable <a href="https://spurplanners.com/free-time-management-resources/">here. </a>  </li><li>Record how you spend your time for anything over 5 minutes. Do it in 1 hour blocks for the whole day. </li><li>Be honest. It might not make pretty reading but that’s OK. This isn’t about feeling bad now, it’s about feeling positive about the great changes you will make. You are taking positive action. </li><li>Do this for at least a week to get a wide picture of how your time is spent. </li> </ul>

How do the days look that you have captured? There are a lot of statistics about how people spend their time but some of the most relevant that may surprise show that according to <a href="http://dovico.com/">Dovico.com </a>we spend over 3 hours a day, every day, on our phones and only slightly less watching TV. That’s over 6 hours a day!

When evaluating how you spend your time look out for unproductive time like social media, TV, coffee breaks and emails. This isn’t to say you should not do any of these things. You need to be aware of how long you spend on them though. Then you can decide if you are investing your time wisely.

Other things to look out for are basic tasks that take a longtime. This could be the weekly food shop, cleaning the house or sorting out the family finances. Streamlining these regular tasks will give you back hours each month.

Aim to cut out time that is totally wasted and reduce time spent on tasks that offer little or no value for the time spent doing them. For example, if you plan your weekly shop before you go it will take less time and you will spend less – win/win.

When you have identified activities to reduce or remove you can replace that time. This is the real key point of how to manage time better. You are now taking out low value tasks and replacing them with high value tasks.

What counts as high value is personal but we would encourage you to be bold. Don’t just replace an hour of TV time a day with an hour of YouTube time. Replace that hour with half an hour of exercise and half an hour to plan your weekly meal plan and shopping list.

Understanding how to manage time better is a crucial component of building the life you want.

You must have a process in place that allows you to filter through all the things we need to do in a given day and focus on the important tasks.

Now you understand where your time was being spent and how it could be spent for greater value you can take control. Start to plan your days in advance. Each evening sit down for 10 minutes and plan your next day. Consider;

<ul><li>What time do I need to get up? Now set your alarm for that time. </li><li>Am I doing exercise? Get your exercise clothes out and ready. </li><li>What meals are we having? Do you have the ingredients? Can you pre-prepare any to save time tomorrow? </li><li>Do I have any appointments/commitments? Write these into your day plan immediately so you won’t forget. </li><li>What are my top 3 tasks to complete? Schedule them in starting with the toughest first. </li><li>Am I active in managing my wellbeing? Do you need to schedule time to meditate, read, listen to podcasts? </li> </ul>

This creates the structure for your day. You will see we haven’t scheduled every minute of the day. That is on purpose. A full 24 hour period rarely runs as hoped. If you schedule every minute of the day then when something doesn’t go as planned it risks throwing everything else out.

Instead, plan your core tasks. You may have more than listed above, that is OK. Schedule them in as needed. Leave some blank time though. You can use this as down time when needed or you can use it to pick up more irregular tasks like buying birthday presents, helping your children with a school project or household chores.

It really is as simple as that to start understanding how to manage time better. Just remember;

<ul><li>Review </li><li>Remove </li><li>Replace </li> </ul>

Then you are set to build your new effective routine.

Please let us know how you get on and don’t forget to check out our other articles on time management and productivity.

How To Manage Time Better - Spur Planners

3 Steps To Better Time Management

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