I wear a lot of hats. I’m an entrepreneur, a pastor, a student, a husband, a father, and a recently-new member of the grandfathers club. On top of all that, I’m constantly working to improve my health and help others with theirs. That’s a lot of different things to juggle all at once, and if I’m not careful, I can allow myself to get overwhelmed.
I’m sure you wear a lot of hats, too. Maybe you work or go to school. Plus you’ve got your family and friends to keep up with. Then there’s your hobbies. Your relationship with God. And you can’t forget about your health! In reality, we’ve all got a lot going on, which makes managing our time well a very important part of our lives.
The truth is that our time is precious. It’s a gift that we’ve been given, and we need to learn how to use it well. In everything we do, we are spending time. We’re investing it. And if we’re smart with how we invest our time, it will pay off well for us.
On the other hand, if we’re not intentional about managing our time, or if we waste it on things that don’t matter, we’re going to find ourselves in trouble. We’ll get behind on our work. We’ll lose touch with people we care about. We’ll become unhealthy, disconnected, and disjointed. And no one wants that, right?
Managing our time well is key to staying healthy, and so this week, I’d like to offer you three tips for time management that I use in my own life.
1. Set up a routine.
One of the best things I’ve ever done for my time management is sit down and intentionally plan out a routine for both my evenings and my mornings. Before, I just sort of went to bed when and how I felt like it and got up the same way. Now, I have a clear idea of how I’m going to start and end my days in order to set myself up for success.
A bedtime routine is so important. Have you ever looked at the clock at night and thought, “How did it get so late? I need to get some sleep!” I’ve been there, more times than I care to admit. I’d stay up late and drag my exhausted self to bed for a few hours of poor sleep before I had to get up and start playing catch up. That’s no way to live!
Now, I’ve got a set bedtime routine. I know when I’m going to start winding down for the day, including turning off my screens to give my brain some time to relax before bed. I know what I’m going to do to prepare for a good night’s sleep and the day ahead. And I know when I’m going to lay down and give myself plenty of time to sleep before I have to get up.
I also have a routine in the mornings. I plan out when I’m going to get up, what I’m going to do, and how I’m going to get out of the house in plenty of time to accomplish what I need to do. One of the key parts of my morning routine is sitting down for a healthy breakfast, which provides me with lots of energy to stay alert and accomplish my tasks for the day.
Having a morning and evening routine in place gives me structure for how I’m going to start and end my days. And this structure sets me up for success in the middle. I cannot recommend to you enough the simple practice of putting in place a routine for your mornings and evenings. It will make all the difference in the world if you just stick to it.
2. Block off your time.
But what about the rest of our time? After all, there are 24 hours in a day, and we want to use them all well. That’s where blocking comes in handy. It’s an old trick and might seem a little basic, but if you’re not doing it, you really are missing out on using your time to its fullest potential.
Treating your day like a blank canvas with no structure or plan won’t get you very far. You can’t just do whatever you want to do or whatever comes to your mind in the moment. There has to be some sort of plan in place if we’re going to stay on top of all the different things we have going on in our lives. (Remember that long list at the top?)
That’s why I plan out my days in blocks of time. If I’ve got a task I have to accomplish one day, I go into my calendar beforehand and plan out when I’m going to start it and how long I think it will take. I dedicate all of that time to that particular task so that I can focus on it and get it done. Then, I block off the next section of time for the next task, and so on.
If I’m making sales call or installing a shade for someone or planning a coaching session with a client, I go into my calendar in advance—sometimes I’m booking appointments two or three weeks beforehand—and block off the time for it. I consider how long it will take me to travel to the location, the amount of time I’ll actually spend there, and where I’ll need to go next. With all of that in mind, I choose the right time to take on that task and put it in my calendar. That way, I know I’ll get it done with plenty of time and zero distractions. That’s what blocking time is all about.
Some tasks are small and can be done in one short block. Big projects take more time, so you may have to block off time on multiple days to work on them and make sure you accomplish them in time.
If I know a task is going to take eight hours to complete, I can break it up into two four-hour blocks or four two-hour blocks or even eight one-hour blocks. As long as I plan ahead and give myself enough time, I can stay on top of it.
One thing to keep in mind when blocking off time is that our attention spans are limited. Our minds are not meant to stay totally zoomed in on one thing for hours on end. So we have to also block off break times and give ourselves a little bit of flexibility.
Trying to power through will only lead to headaches, slowdowns, and poor work and health. No one wants that. So be sure to block out some necessary downtime, too.
Blocking time is crucial to managing it well. If we have an evening and morning routine but no plan for how we’ll spend the hours in between, we’re going to end up wasting them. So buy a calendar or pull up the calendar app that’s already on your phone, and start blocking out your time today.
3. Remember what matters.
Finally, we have to master the art of prioritizing. With everything we have going on in our lives, there’s no way we can do it all at once. So we must come up with a system for determining what needs to get done first and what can wait.
It’s a really delicate thing to balance. I know that if I’m not careful, I can let my schedule become overrun with work and leave no time for my family. So I have to be intentional about prioritizing family time and learning when to put the work down and leave it until tomorrow.
At the same time, if I’m not getting my job done when I say I will, I’m going to start running into trouble and losing business. So I’ve had to learn how to maximize my time, get done what I need to get done, and still leave time in my day for the things that matter most.
It might take you some trial and error, but if you work at it, you can find your balance, too. Everyone’s priorities are different. Knowing what matters to you is important. So clarify your priories and then build your schedule around them.
These are just a few of the most essential tips I have for time management. I’ve done a lot of studying on this topic, and I have more to share, but these three tips will get you a long way if you’ll implement them. Your time is precious, and I hope that you’ll manage it well using what we’ve discussed today.
How do you manage your time? Do you have any tips for me? I’d really like to hear them, so reach out on social media and let me know.
Thank you for reading this week’s post. If you haven’t yet, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter. There’s a new issue coming out very soon with information you won’t want to miss. Until next time…
To your fitness!