Top Five Benefits of Time Management
“The two most powerful warriors are patience and time”. - Leo Tolstoy
Time. We hear so often that time waits for no man, time is running out, there’s not enough hours in the day and time is money. All of these are true for most, but like you, the business owner, time is probably the most precious commodity you have. At times it feels like there are not enough hours in a day and that you seem to be chasing your tail or playing catch up every day.
How can you make the most of your time and what are the benefits to you in managing your time.
One point to remember is that delegation is an important part of time management and we will look at how that benefits you later. It’s important to note that Accent on Training can take some of the strain off you by managing your social media marketing.
Time management is the management of your time. Now, not to sound preachy or patronising, but, you must remember that time is a finite resource, there are only 24 hours in one day, and there are many things that we need to do in a day that take up time, so in order for you to be effective, productive and prosperous, you need to manage that resource of time well.
Poor time management leads to many negative emotions and can lead to illness, so not just for your financial future, but your physical and emotional future it is imperative you manage your time.
An effective and efficient time management strategy helps leaders, entrepreneurs, and small business owners attain their goals. As well as this, time management also relieves stress, improves your work-life balance and increases your health and happiness exponentially.
In this article I aim to show you the importance of having an effective time management strategy by outlining the benefits of time management and my top five skills for improving time management skills.
What is time management?
Time management is the systems you use to manage and organize your time. Good time management allows you to maximize your time and allocate that finite resource in order to be more efficient in your working lives.
The reason for having to manage your time is to maximize the time you spend on specific tasks that allow you to complete your objectives in an expeditious manner.
Effective time management frees you up to work smarter and not harder, in other words, time management enables you as to reach greater levels of productivity and performance.
Why you need time management.
Simply put, you need to manage your time in order to be efficient in your productivity.
Without time management, you would be running around trying to keep all the plates spinning in the air but knowing that one day they will start to fall, and once that happens you will not be able to stop them.
The lack of time management leads to an imbalance in your work-life balance and an imbalance in work and life leads to several negatives in your body, both physical and emotional.
An imbalance in your life leads to increases in stress and dissatisfaction, decreases in alertness, productivity and satisfaction and a depressed immune system.
This is why you need to have balance and you get balance through your effective time management.
The benefits of time management
The benefits to managing your time effectively are very simple. Good management of your time enables you to accomplish more practical tasks leading to greater results in a shorter timeframe. This ultimately leads to improved focus, increased productivity, reduced stress and frees up your time to spend it with people that matter to you.
Reduced stress
How many times have you been at your desk and you know you have a project to complete, a presentation to prepare for, a report to write and a site visit to carry out, all due tomorrow. You have known about these tasks for a week, but, as we say in Ireland, you put them on the long finger because there were other important tasks to complete first?
As you sit there, staring at the computer screen, you feel your heart thumping in your chest and your mind is running wild. Your stress levels have gone through the roof. This is a result of poor planning on your part. You have screwed up in your scheduling. You have made a mess of your time management!
Imagine you could turn back the clock two weeks and prioritize your task, allocate time each day and set yourself goals on what and when to achieve them. How would you feel today? Would your stress levels be sky high? No. You would feel in control and know that you were working smartly to achieve your goals.
Your stress would be lower and you would feel more confident in your ability to do your job and be an effective member of your company.
Good time management leads to reduced stress, which in turn leads to increased confidence.
"Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent, and not enough time on what is important". - Stephen Covey
Improved focus
Managing your time effectively allows to concentrate on specific tasks at hand without having to juggle an ever-increasing to-do list.
If you think about time as food, then poor time management is like stuffing food into your mouth all at once. If you were to put a whole burger in your mouth at once, you couldn’t chew properly and you run the risk of choking, but there are longer term problems with that too. If you chew poorly, the digestion of the food doesn’t start soon enough and poorly digested food leads to stomach pain and major discomfort.
Poor time management is similar. You have a mountain of work to complete in a short period of time and you run the risk of making mistakes, which could be costly. You also run the risk of not being able to achieve everything in the time given which increases your stress and may result in a poor performance report from your bosses. Finally the long term effects of poor management can lead to you losing your job or possible health problems due to the elevated stress levels associated with poor time management.
If you take small bites of that burger and chew it well, the digestive processes start in the mouth, the stomach readies to receive the food and you will feel fuller sooner so there are positives to eating small bites. The same is true for your time management and your focus. If you schedule your tasks you can prioritize the important tasks and complete those first, with greater accuracy and energy and you will also have more energy and focus to complete additional tasks throughout your day. Small bites of prioritized work increases your focus.
Greater productivity
A greater focus on the tasks at hand lead to you being more productive, both in the short and long terms.
By prioritizing your goals you reduce your stress and therefore you are more focused on what you do so you can be more productive.
Planning your day, your week and your month allows you to identify priorities which in turn frees you up to be more productive.
Decreased procrastination
Procrastination is the result of confusion, stress and loss of confidence. When there is no clear plan to your day, it is very easy to overlook important tasks and become distracted thus setting you up to procrastinate.
The opposite is therefore true. If you have clear goals and a plan, it is more difficult to become distracted and procrastinate because you know exactly what you need to do and you have planned your tasks to not be overwhelmed by the task at hand.
Improved work-life balance
An improved work-life balance could probably be the most important benefit of time management. By achieving a better work-life balance you feel more confident, relaxed, less stressed and happier and can therefore meet the challenges of your working day more effectively. One of the most important benefits of time management is a better work-life balance. If you achieve a better work-life balance, you can be more productive at work and have more time to spend on your most important relationships.
The benefits of time management include improved confidence, improved capability and improved concentration. Being clear with your time and where your time goes can help you be more focused in your work and therefore more productive which in turn can allow you more freedom in doing things for you, such as spending quality time with family and friends.
Accent on Training can help you with your time management by taking some of your responsibilities, like social media management to free you up to be more productive in your work.
Accent on Training have been helping companies improve their social media presence and engagement through bespoke marketing strategies. If you need any information or assistance in designing your website, contact us for more information.
Jonathan Moore is the founder of Accent on Training, a Social Media Management, Brand design and website design agency based in Seoul, South Korea. For nearly ten years, he has helped clients in developing their businesses online, branding their business, website design, and bespoke social media marketing solutions.
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