Time management is very much about managing how you use the fixed amount of time that is available in the day. All of us have exactly the same amount of time regardless, you cannot decide that today you will have 27 hours or that tomorrow only needs 20, the Earth revolves at the same speed regardless of your deadlines and desires.
Having a schedule of your meetings and appointments is standard practice for most people and is important for time management, but few people take the time to schedule all the tasks they have for the day. This is a highly effective way of improving your efficiency and ensuring that you are constantly on task towards your goals.
Once you have identified the key tasks you have to complete during a day it is vitally important to then schedule them into your working day so that you know every minute of the day what you are supposed to be working on. This includes scheduling when you will check your emails and correspondence, and when you will allow others to interrupt you.
Always allocate between 15 and 30 minutes between each task to allow for interruptions and overruns. It is important to allow for a degree of flexibility in your time management, whilst at the same time ensuring that your time is used efficiently and effectively.
You can schedule your time any way that suits your work style, some use an online diary system, others a page per day diary, whichever is your preferred style, it is important that you have an organised daily system for allocating your time. Time management is about using your time in the most effective way available all the time.
This is a system that doesn’t only work for your work life, it can also be highly effective at ensuring that you get the most out of the time you have away from work. If you have children, then allocating time to play with them, time to read to them and time to put them to bed, can be effective at building a routine that they will appreciate and respect.
Time management is about creating a life worth living, one that allows you to achieve the things that are important to you and to spent time with those people that are important to you.