UNIT THREE – SCHEDULING YOUR TIME

Your time is valuable, so you should treat it that way. Your schedule can get busy and it can seem like there are not enough hours in the day.

,When that happens, we just need to take a step back, and manage our time effectively.

When we schedule our time and resources in a way that benefits and aids in becoming better organised, there’s nothing that we can’t accomplish!

HAVE A MASTER CALENDAR

It may seem like a good idea to have several calendars for every area of life, but when you use more than one at a time, it’s easy to get them confused. With multiple calendars, you can run the risk of double booking or missing important appointments.

Instead, create one calendar and put is somewhere you can see it every day, such as one on the fridge or hanging on the door.

Write all your personal reminders on it, including deadline dates, appointments, events and reminders.

When you use one calendar for everything you do, you are not only able to manage your time better, but you can get rid of the paper reminders you have posted everywhere.

SETTING DEADLINES

When scheduling our time, deadlines provide a sense of structure and balance for us. While every person responds to deadlines differently, there is a key tool to better time management.

By setting deadlines, you are putting a concrete need in your schedule, and it will prevent it being forgotten or lost in the near future.

They give us a sense of accountability when it comes to things we either want, or need to get done.

So whether you write them on a calendar or program them into your mobile device; the next time you plan to do something, set yourself a deadline first and stick to it!

TIPS WHEN SEETKING DEADLINES

• Keep your deadlines within arms-reach – write them down where you will see them.

• Set periodic reminders – give yourself reminders that a deadline approaches.

• Pad your actual deadline a little bit – give yourself some extra wiggle room

LIMIT OR REMOVE TIME WASTERS

A time waster is something that can distract you or is taking you away from the task at hand.

They can occur at work or at home. Removing or even limiting some of the ‘wasters’ can improve your concentration and help you to stay focused on what you need or want to do.

They can include personal time wasters, such as checking messages or stopping to talk. They can even be as simple as wasting extra time to look for that extra file.

Practise cutting or limiting one thing that distracts you the most, such as other people; or stopping one task to begin another task.

Give yourself a set time so that you will not allow anything to distract you or take you away from your current duty. You will be amazed how these small steps will improve your time management!

COPING WITH THINGS OUTSIDE YOUR CONTROL

There are many things in life that we cannot control, such as an illness, rude or mean people, and especially the weather. We can however, learn to cope with them on a daily basis and adapt ourselves to them. You can control how your react to certain circumstances and setbacks!

When we are faced with something we realise we cannot change or control, the key to dealing with this is to, first accept it.

Example: once you have accepted that you cannot change the fact that it rained on your moving day or that someone rear ended you in the traffic; you can learn to cope with them by remembering the things that you can control!

You can control whatever alternative plan you have for your moving day,and you can control how you choose to respond to a rude driver.

Focusing on what you can control rather than what you can’t; will help you feel more empowered and less likely to allow other obstacles to overcome you!