Time Management

One thing at a time and that done best is one of the oldest pieces of advice handed down from generation to generation. This would be ideal if life politely waited for us to get one task done before beginning another or sending another task our way. Unfortunately, life is not ideal all of the time.

So how do you not let time be your manager? Everywhere I turn these days, I find books, videos and articles surrounding me about how to manage my time in better manners. There are certainly benefits to all the age-old concepts of time management: blocking specific times for specific tasks, securing times for the most important things, daily routine, etc. But there can be downfalls to letting time be the master of your day. It can limit how long you will be focusing on something before it forcibly moves you to the next thing.

So what should I do? In my personal life I’ve tried to let my objective be my master and make time the measuring stick for how much more efficiently I can get things done. Sounds backwards I know, but isn’t it best to always finish the most important things to do, not to just assign them a time slot and hope for the best?

During these stressful holiday times, it’s always best to take a step back, take a deep breath, and realize that even if I don’t get something done during the time I have scheduled for it, if I take an extra five minutes to make sure that it’s done to the best of my ability, it’s worthwhile in the end.