Time management mistakes: how to take control

The ability to organise your time is extremely important in any area of your life. Missed deadlines or unfinished tasks can set you back several steps. When you manage your affairs competently, all your responsibilities and tasks will be completed on time.

Today, in the blog of LLC «ElectraQuix», we will look at common time management mistakes that are important to avoid. Businessman and self-development expert Brian Tracy, whose materials we used in writing this article, will help us with this.

Goal

The first mistake is to act without setting a goal. This is critically important for effective time management. When you don't have a goal you want to achieve, it's very easy to lose focus and blur your priorities. But when you have long-term and short-term goals, and they are written down, you set yourself a direction and a benchmark to strive for. When you know where you are going, you can allocate your energy and resources correctly, and you will easily understand what is worth spending time on and what will only distract you.

To-Do List

The second thing that many people fail to do to manage their time is keep a to-do list. Setting goals is your first step towards developing time management skills. But without a to-do list, it will be much more difficult than it could be.

Making a to-do list will help you prioritise. Research shows that when we write things down, we absorb and remember information much better than when we just listen or read. That's why you'll remember what you've written on your to-do list better, even if you don't look at it. Once you've written down your tasks, you won't forget that you need to complete them during the day.

Lists will be useful if you prioritise your tasks. Make sure that the most important tasks are at the top of the list and that you know what actions are required to complete them. This will allow you to allocate enough time to complete the tasks without unnecessary fuss.

Time

Avoid time deficits. Sometimes, when thinking about upcoming tasks, we may feel that we don't have enough time and that we have too much to do. Instead of motivating ourselves, we put things off until ‘better times.’ This may give us a break at that particular moment, but in the long run, the consequences will be unpleasant.

By putting things off, you don't give yourself enough time to complete the task, and as a result, you rush and fuss. Ultimately, this can affect the quality of your work. To prevent this from happening, plan a to-do list, make a schedule, and stick to it. Allow for breaks in your work so you don't burn out.

Refusal

The fourth thing many people need to do to improve their time management skills is to stop constantly saying ‘yes’ to others. Everyone has had moments in their lives when they felt overwhelmed with work. When we take on more projects than we can physically handle, or when we say ‘yes’ to too many plans, we don't leave enough time for ourselves and our priorities. Therefore, it is very important to understand what kind of tasks are better to say ‘yes’ to.

It is also extremely important to set boundaries for others and show that some tasks will be more of a priority for you than others, especially when it comes to requests from others. If you agree to take on someone else's work, make sure you really have enough time to do it. After all, you don't want to earn a reputation as someone who works hastily and produces mediocre results.

One task at a time

Finally, the last thing to avoid when managing your time is working on several tasks at once. When you feel that a task is difficult to complete, think about what is preventing you from doing it. Often this is because something is distracting you while you work. Perhaps you have your phone in your hands, or your thoughts are on some other project, or you are talking to someone else at the same time...

When you eliminate distractions and focus entirely on one task, you will see how much faster it can be completed. Do not try to do everything at the same time. Let your attention be focused on one thing, then you will be able to complete each task efficiently and with the least amount of errors and problems.

Earlier in the LLC «ElectraQuix» blog, we wrote about important skills that need to be developed today.