EFFECTIVE PLANNING OF YOUR TIME
General Posts • 26th Jun, 19
EFFECTIVE PLANNING (TIME MANAGEMENT)
Are you like me, finding that no matter how we try, we can’t seem to finish tasks on hand. At times I feel like a hamster trapped on a ferris wheel that does not have a beginning nor an end.
I was chatting to a friend about how time is slipping by and not being able to finish things we start. She seemed rather frustrated too. She felt that she is not utilising her time correctly.
That conversation got me thinking, why so many of us are struggling with this issue, no matter how hard we try, the day just seems to get shorter.
Leaving us stressed, exhausted and frustrated.
I pondered on this for a few days and decided to use a technique we use at Nia Dance, it’s called a body scan. Once in the middle of a class we use this method to check for a tightness or tension in our body. I used this technique and went back a week and drew up a time log.
I spent a week logging my activities for each day. From the time I awoke up to the time I went to bed. I wrote down everything I did for that specific day. I have a fairly long day, I wake up at 4am and go to bed at 10pm. I am awake for almost 15 hours of the day. All I could say to myself was OMG!
Below is the log I kept. I decided to do this only from Monday to Thursday.
|
TIME |
TASKS ON HAND |
TIME SPEND |
REMARKS |
|
4:00-4:30 |
Brushing my teeth, taking the dogs outside, making tea/coffee |
30 minutes |
|
|
4:30-5:15 |
Spending time with my husband and pets. |
45 minutes |
Would not give this time up |
|
5:15-6:00 |
Preparing sandwiches, tidying up of kitchen etc. |
45 minutes |
|
|
6:00-6:30 |
Exercise |
30 minutes |
|
|
6:30-7:15 |
Shower & change for work, prayer and meditation |
45 minutes |
|
|
7:15-7:45 |
Feed my pets and attend to their needs |
30 minutes |
|
|
7:45-8:00 |
Leave home for work |
15 minutes |
|
|
8:00-16:30 |
Work |
8 hours |
Mondays leave at 4 |
|
17:00-18:15 |
Yoga Class-Monday |
|
|
|
|
Teach Nia-Tuesday |
|
|
|
|
Date Night -Wednesday |
|
With my husband. We make this a special day of the week. |
|
|
Yoga Class-Thursday |
|
|
|
18:30-19:30 |
Preparation of dinner and dinner |
1 hour |
|
|
19:30-20:45 |
Family time, watching tv etc. |
1:15 hour |
|
|
20:45-21:15 |
Shower etc. Ready for bed |
30 minutes |
|
|
|
|
14hours,45 minutes |
|
If I look at the above, I have only 30 minutes to spare to do anything else.
After “honestly” writing everything down, it looked like I was a hamster trapped in a ferris wheel. If I got up late on any of the days, my life would be in crisis.
If you noticed I did not add Friday and the weekend. If I followed this routine every day of the week, then I would have to seriously look at my life style. I was on my way to inviting stress into my life big time.
Fortunately for me I finish work at 14:30 on Friday. I have dedicated 2:30 hours of on a Friday for self-care. Whatever I need to do for myself be it going to the mall or the salon etc.
Saturday mornings I choose to teach at my Studio (Nia dance). From Saturday midday to Monday morning is leisure time for me to do whatever I choose to do. I spend some of that time catching up on my sleep.
Taking the above into account, I am very lucky, I should not have a problem with time management. This I would not have known, if I had not starting keeping a log.
If you feel that you are run of your feet and the days are not long enough to finish everything, below are a few points
5 ways to start managing your time effectively
- Like me start a log and track your time for a week.
- Be honest with yourself and record everything you do for the day. If something is not planned for, record it.
- Once you have completed a week’s daily log. Make time to actually sit down without any distractions and go through it.
- Make sure you allocate enough time for sleep, if you don’t have any free days.
- If you are over your head and not having any time for yourself, then you need to look into how you are going to change your life style gradually.
EFFECTIVE PLANNING (TIME MANAGEMENT)