It may seem ironic, but one of the biggest wastes of our time can be trying to keep our schedules in check. With a series of different applications and methods available regarding time management, many of us soon find that we spend a lot of time scheduling out plans, but rarely have time to carry them out. 

To ensure you make the most of your time, you must eliminate the hurdles that restrict you and focus on actions that are time efficient and effective, including the following. 

Set Goals (And Review Them Daily) 

Although small goals can be achieved easily, they may not be the best way of managing your time. As such, ensuring your goals are big allows you to be more efficient moving forward. 

Of course, you still need to be realistic, but dreaming big ensures that obstacles can be overcome as time passes. There will be times when goals don’t go to plan or change in an instant, which is why they should be reviewed daily.  

Reviewing your goals daily ensures you retain focus and you can concentrate on all aspects of your goals, be it professional, personal or a mixture of both. 

What Are Your REAL Priorities? 

What is considered a priority can be subjective, but a vast understanding of how to prioritise tasks can make all the difference, especially among those wanting to make the most of their time. Although there are many ways to achieve this, one of the most common is that detailed in Stephen Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”

Covey breaks down goals into a ‘Time Management Matrix’ that consists of the following elements. 

  • Urgent and Important 
  • Important But Not Urgent 
  • Urgent But Not Important 
  • Not Important Nor Urgent 

In most instances, you would focus on ‘Urgent and Important’ tasks, but this could be detrimental when wanting to stop wasting time, as 90% of your time will be spent on one task. Shifting your focus to tasks that are ‘Important But Not Urgent’ ensures all tasks are receiving focus. However, to ensure that you always get the most value from your time, you must be organised.

Don’t Underestimate the Value of Time When Getting Organised 

When shifting our focus regarding tasks, it is understandable why we undervalue time. For example, only having one hour a day for specific tasks may cause some to overlook or forget the project, but this could mean you’re wasting several hours a week. 

Would a project benefit from several hours of focus? Definitely yes, but it’s essential you understand the value of time and the possibilities available to ensure you can reach your goals within a faster time frame. 

An hour a day invested in a project is preferable to no time at all, and you will be amazed at the progress you can make when making the best use of your time. 

In addition to making the most of the time you have available, there can be other steps taken to ensure you free up time in other areas. 

Avoid Anything That Truly Wastes Your Time

If you’re trying to attain goals in your professional life, then you should be aware of tasks that are carried out daily that can eat into your productivity. Social network updates and text messaging are two of the biggest time killers in the modern world, and there is often little reward in the end. 

This isn’t to say you should avoid social interaction and leisure time, but if you have goals that aim to improve your career, then eliminating these time-wasting tasks is integral 

Making the most of your time may seem difficult at first, but taking some time to make changes to the way you use the time you have available can make all the difference.