The Importance of Time Management

It’s vital for each individual to understand the importance of time management and its overall effect on their success. A time management skill is a journey that may begin with this guide, but with attempts and practice can make you a highly proficient person to work with, help to reduce stress and boost productivity.  Deadlines compel our hand and force us to action.  It’s also about paying special attention to time management and gratifying your responsibilities to secure client approval.  Time management is an essential tool to getting the most out of your work, and it can have quite an impact if you’re not doing it right. Find out just how much of an influence time management can have.
 
What is Time Management?
 
Time management is the effective management of the right amount of time used for the right activities. Ideally, it allows people to allocate specific slots of time to activities based on their importance, and makes the best use of time given its limitations. Time management involves setting objectives, goals and deadlines, effective planning, prioritizing activities based on each one’s importance, delegating responsibilities, and spending the correct amount of time on the right activities. For effective time management, you should know which activities need to be prioritized and, which can wait to be done at a later stage and, how much time should be allocated for each activity.
 
Benefits of Time Management
 
Effective time management has a number of benefits for business, work and for life in general. Check out some of the benefits you can experience with correct and efficient time management.
 
Work smarter, not harder / accomplish more in less time. If you’re managing your time effectively, you may find that you can get more tasks done in less time. You will see how much work needs to be completed and what time you have to complete it.  Allowing you to effectively plan and complete projects more quickly.  Keeping a To-Do list will also help you work out your priorities and timings.
 
Remain on track. It keeps you on track and helps you to remain focused on your day-to-day work, long term projects, plans and personal goals. Time management allows you to have your goals visible and your time allocated sufficiently in order to meet them.
 
Keeps the balance. Time management creates a greater sense of balance in your life, as you know what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and how to correctly spend your time completing your tasks. By adopting this type of work ethos you not only remain in control and focused, you also allow adequate time for important breaks (lunch, tea) away from your desk.  Studies have shown that “As a general rule, taking at least 30 minutes away from your desk will help you be more effective upon your return” as, “You’ll come back to your desk re-energized, with a new set of eyes and renewed focus.”  Planning your day with breaks will also help you to break your work up into more manageable chunks.
 
The Effect / Impact of Poor Time Management
 
Poor time management can have a great impact on your work and, thus, your success. Here are some of the impacts you may experience from poor time management:
 
Time Wasted. You could be wasting time that you otherwise could have used to work on your activities or tasks. This can happen by not ignoring distractions, such as non-urgent phone calls, low priority emails you don’t need to respond to or unnecessary breaks that you don’t need to take.
 
Poor Work Quality. The quality of your work can greatly suffer if you are not managing your time effectively, as you may be rushed to complete projects at the last minute, choosing speed over quality thus impairing the work produced as a result.
 
Missed Deadlines. If you don’t have a schedule that prioritizes your activities, you may end up in a rush to complete tasks with deadlines fast approaching, making missing deadlines much more likely. Failing to meet deadlines can be devastating and damaging for your clients and for your business.  Time is also vital in its association with creditors or staff (remuneration).
 
Unproductive Work Flow. You will find that you are less efficient if you don’t plan your goals and stick to them each day. It will lead to an inefficient work flow that isn’t very productive and can result in sloppy work output and more stress which can have an adverse effect on your health.
 
Overall, “Time is wealth”, time slides like water for the entrepreneur.  The obedience to work hard, accomplish deadlines and grow your business can only be made by you the individual.  Obstructions that infringe on your time will always be around the corner so plan accordingly and delegate if necessary.  Don’t get confused over the tomorrow or about what happened in the past, learn to manage your time productively now and remain focused.  Tasks that cannot be completed can always be outsourced to an affordable Virtual Assistant to ensure you remain on track and deadlines met.  Obtain that work-life balance that you strive for without your business or personal life suffering as a result.  Adequate time management is key in achieving this.