An important time management strategy it to distinguish what is important, what is essential and what is critical. A common time management mistake made by many is to attempt to do too many things at one time. Time management, in the true sense, can be defined as doing the right thing the right way at the right time. When you are able to prioritise and delegate, time will not be taken up doing the essential but not necessarily time saving.

Putting first things first is the crux of time management. Do things in order of importance, and stop wasting time on the non-essentials. The 80/20 rule applies here. Eighty percent of your results will depend on the critical 20% of things that are most important. The key is to zoom in for what is important.

Identify things that can only be done by yourself, and no one else. These are the critical success factors in time management and your life. Ask yourself , "What one thing could I do, that I'm not currently doing, which, if I did it regularly would make the biggest difference in my life?" Then devote as much time as you can to activities that make a difference and contribute most to your happiness and success.

In your life, think of the most crucial thing that would make a difference. For example, in terms of managing your money, will it be to concentrate on improving your skills at your current job, or learning another skill so that you can prepare for the future, or tightening up on your finances so you won't be losing money?

For example, in a retail shop, what is the number one thing that will make a difference in their bottom line? To improve sales. In this case, a more effective time management skill and goal setting strategy will be to improve sales. They can brainstorm ways to do this. Rather than focusing on other things, like renovating the shop front so it would look nicer, which they've always wanted to do. But it is not effective use of time and resource at the moment.

How about the most effective way to spend time with your kids? Is it cooking meals and doing the laundry for them, or spending time to help them in their schoolwork? For example, the wshing or cooking can be left to someone else so it will allow you to be able to spend more quality time with your children. They can have their full stomachs and you at the same time.

Think and brainstorm all the things that only you can do. Then prioritize in the order of importance. This is the msot important skill of time management- identify things that do matter. So that you can have time for things that matter.