Our days fly by so quickly that without a plan, it is easy to lose the value of them completely. All of the tasks we need to complete are easily neglected for things that pop up and grab our attention. When this happens too often, we are allowing the day to control us, when to be effective and successful we need to be in control of our days.
Too often we work in reverse, taking care of what has already happened, rather than ensuring a desired effect the first time around. Whether you spend your time or waste it, once it is gone there is no getting it back. Therefore, it is essential to use your time wisely in order to achieve what you desire in life, at home, and on the job.
When you "participate" in your day, you are more efficient, less prone to stress, and caught up on tasks, leaving more time for leisure. The self help key to participating in your life is time management.
Time management begins with planning your day. Set a time each day or the night before to think about what needs to be done that day. Schedule this time just like an appointment and stick to it every single day.
Lastly, take your bigger projects and divide them into smaller more manageable tasks. They will get done quicker because you won't dread them so much, and your other, smaller tasks will not suffer because of it.
Planning may be key, but acceptance is important too, for even the best made plans can be thwarted by unexpected tasks. Realize that it is okay, deal with the situation and move on. It is so easy to put a small task aside to be completed later, not realizing the pile up you will soon be facing.
They usually only take a minute so handle them and move on. You will feel better, be more productive and suffer less stress. Much of your day can also be eaten up by over thinking the start of a new project.
Either finish it at the moment or schedule a more appropriate time and forget about it until then. Unless deeply focused on one project, handle as many as you can of the small, unexpected tasks as they come, rather than putting them off until later. This will prevent them from piling up and leaving you feeling overwhelmed.
