Time management skill is a necessity:yYou may often wish for more time, but you only get 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds each day. How you use that time depends on skills learned through self-analysis, planning, evaluation, and self-control.

1. Know How You Spend Your Time: Ask yourself the following:

• Did everything you needed to do get done
• Which tasks require the most time?
• What time of day when you are most productive?
• Where is most of your time devoted to?
• Having a good sense of the time required for routine tasks can help you be more realistic in planning and estimating how much time is available for other activities.

2. Set Priorities
Managing your time effectively requires a distinction between what is important and what is urgent (MacKenzie, 1990). Experts agree that the most important tasks usually aren’t the most urgent tasks. However, we tend to let the urgent tasks dominate our lives. Covey, Merrill, and Merrill (1994) categorize activities into four quadrants in their Time Management Matrix: urgent, not urgent, important, and not important. While activities that are both urgent and important must be done, Covey et al. suggest spending less time on activities that are not important (regardless of their urgency) to gain time for activities that are not urgent but important. Focusing on these important activities allows you to gain greater control over your time and may reduce the number of important tasks that become urgent.

3. Create A To-do List
Creating a “to-do” list is an easy way to prioritize. Whether you need a daily, weekly, or monthly list depends on your lifestyle. Be careful to keep list-making from getting out of control. List manageable tasks rather than goals or multi-step plans. Rank the items on your “to-do” list in order of priority (both important and urgent). You may choose to group items in categories such as high priority, medium priority, or low priority; number them in order of priority; or use a color-coding system. The goal is not to mark off the most items but to mark off the highest priority items (MacKenzie, 1990). A prioritized “to-do” list allows you to set boundaries so you can say “no” to activities that may be interesting or provide a sense of achievement but do not fit your basic priorities.

4. Use a Planning Tool
Time management experts recommend using a personal planning tool to improve your productivity. Personal planning tools include planners, calendars, phone apps, wall charts, index cards, pocket diaries, and notebooks. Writing down your tasks, schedules, and items to remember can free your mind to focus on your priorities.

5. Get Organized
Disorganization leads to poor time management. Research has shown that clutter has a strong negative impact on perceived well-being (Roster, 2016). To improve your time management, get organized.

6. Schedule Appropriately
Scheduling is more than just recording what must be done (e.g., meetings and appointments). Be sure to build in time for the things you want to do. Effective scheduling requires you to know yourself. Your time log should help you to identify times when you are most productive and alert. Plan your most challenging tasks for when you have the most energy. Block out time for your high-priority activities first and protect that time from interruptions.

7. Delegate: Get Help from Others
Delegating means assigning responsibility for a task to someone else, freeing up your time for tasks that require your expertise. Identify tasks others can do and select the appropriate person(s) to do them.

8. Stop Procrastinating
People put off tasks for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the task seems overwhelming or unpleasant. To help stop procrastination, consider “eating the big frog first.” A quote commonly attributed to Mark Twain says, “If it’s your job to eat a frog today, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the big frog first.” Unpleasant tasks we procrastinate completing are “big frogs.” Complete these tasks as your first action of the day to get them out of the way. Another option is to “snowball” your tasks by breaking them down into smaller segments, completing preparatory tasks, and eventually completing the larger task at hand. Whether you choose the “big frog first” or “snowball” method, try building a reward system for completed tasks to help stay motivated.

9. Manage Time-Wasters
Reduce or eliminate time spent on these activities by implementing some simple tips.

• Take advantage of voice-to-text features such as transcribed voicemails or to make notes or draft emails and text messages when you are on the go.
• Avoid small talk. Stay focused.
• Take any necessary action immediately following a call.
• Impose screen time limits and regularly monitor your digital wellness.
• Schedule breaks from your devices.
• Set aside a specific time to view and respond to emails, but don’t let it accumulate to the point it becomes overwhelming to sort.
• When someone comes to the door, stand up and have your meeting standing to help keep it brief.
• Start and end the meeting on time.
• Prepare an agenda and stick to it. Use a timed agenda, if necessary.
• Don’t schedule meetings unless they are necessary and have a specific purpose or agenda.
• Use recording software or designate a note-taker.

10. Avoid Multi-tasking
Psychological studies have shown that multitasking does not save time. In fact, the opposite is often true. You lose time when switching from one task to another, resulting in a loss of productivity (Rubinstein, Meyer, and Evans, 2001). Routine multi-tasking may lead to difficulty in concentrating and maintaining focus. Do your best to focus on just one task at a time by keeping your area clear of distractions, including turning off notifications on your devices, and setting aside dedicated time for specific tasks.

10. Stay Healthy
The care and attention you give yourself is an important investment of time. Scheduling time to relax or do nothing helps you rejuvenate physically and mentally, enabling you to accomplish tasks more quickly and easily. Unfortunately, poor time management and too much screen time can result in fatigue, moodiness, and more frequent illness. To reduce stress, reward yourself for time management successes. Take time to recognize that you have accomplished a major task or challenge before moving on to the next activity.