Highly effective business people and organized, productive, people in general. Don’t really manage their time. They manage themselves. When they make the plans for their days, they do so by focusing on their most important priorities and principals. They take into account what the most valuable things, to them, are. Which need be done. These kind of people, know, what the most valuable things are. They know what, the most important priorities are, in their lives. They get things done and they manage themselves by always, putting, first thing first. Doing this will be a way to save time, will help you to be organized and to keep organized. Time Management by Putting First Things First will stop you from feeling you haven’t done something. That’s just the start of the problems, that will be solved, by managing your time this way.
The Opposite to putting first things first
The opposite of this, managing self, is to be dis-organized, and to work in an ineffective and unproductive way. Dis-organized people see everything they need to-do, by similar importance. As Stephen Covey says, “they get caught up in the thick of thin things”. They use their time, most often putting second things first, even third things first. They don’t get the important things done.
Planning Prioritising and Creating Schedules
In order to be able to have, good time time management skills, it’s important to work out what the most important things to you are. Once this is done, you can say no to the other things. The problem most people have in trying to manage their time is that they are inundated by urgent things. Everyone is so busy, if you don’t have a schedule where you have planned and prioritised your work, each day you will be flat out putting out fires and being caught up in critical and urgent activities. That’s me. My time is spent everyday handling all the tasks that are due that day. Doing things on their deadline date. Not having time to make plans and organize things properly because of being caught up in no1 priority things all the time.
Getting Things Done
When not caught up geting things done, that are priority no one, most peoples time, including mine, is spent doing things that I label as priority 3 and 4 things. Mucking around, watching TV, chatting on-line, reading magazines. This is the time, when we should be taking care of the things that I call number 2 priority things. These include planning and organizing to take care of all the different tasks that we do in order to be organized. Planning and prioritizing are so important when it comes to successfully managing our time.
How to Change the way you manage yourself
In order to Get things done, and become Organized, Efficient and Productive in all you do, you need to work out first, what the first things are too you.
In this article, “If you don’t know where your going, how will you know when you get there?” I’ve shown you exactly, how to do that. How to work out, what the first things are for you.
Once you know what are the most valuable things to you are, in your life, managing time becomes easy. Getting things done, is easy. You begin to priorities all your work, based on what the most important things are too you. Before we go on, learning the very best, quickest and easiest ways of managing time, you need to do the exercise, that I mentioned above, in knowing where your going.
This exercise, will help you to make a map of your first priorities, in each area of your life. For me those area’s are:
- Responsibilities to and looking after myself
- As a wife and mother
- As the homemaker and organizer of our home
- As a daughter, sister and a friend
- As an employee
- As the writer and publisher of my own blog
Make sure to get this exercise done and be sure to check back for the next article in this series of ways to save time, in the way, that you manage your time. Working out what your priorities are and creating schedules to handle all of your priorities.
Here’s a little story I found for you to read.
It will help you understand what I mean about the importance of putting first things first.
time-management
Five More Minutes !
While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground. “That’s my son over there.” she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide.
“He’s a fine looking boy” the man said. “That’s my son on the swing in the blue sweater”
Then, looking at his watch, he called to his son. “What do you say we go, Todd?” Todd pleaded. “Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes”.
The man nodded and Todd continued to swing to his heart’s content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called to his son. “Time to go now?” Again Todd pleaded, “Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes. “The man smiled and said, “O.K”
“My, you certainly are a patient father,” the women responded.
The man smiled and said, “My older son Tommy was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never spent much time with Tommy and now I’d give anything for just five more minutes with him. I’ve vowed not to make the same mistake with Todd. He thinks he has five more minutes to swing. The truth is, I get Five more minutes to watch him play.”
Life is all about making priorities, what are your priorities? Give someone you love five more minutes of your time today.
Author unknown.
My Point
By managing the most important things in your life and doing first things first. You can always be certain that you are getting done, the work, that is most important. This is the way to get things done. This is the way to great time management. Be organized and work out the most important things, today.
That way, you will always have time, to put the real first things first, which are always our most important relationships. Becoming organized in this way, will take away guilty feelings, and stress. Organizing and time management by focusing on your values. On the things that are most valuable to you.
Comments and Sharing
If you enjoyed this article, please pay it forward, by sharing with your social media groups. Leave me a comment to tell me you’ve done the exercise from the previous article, and we’ll move on with this series of organizing our time articles.
