7 Time Management Skills

7 time management skills:

• Structure
• Schedule
• Goal setting
• Plan of action
• Prioritizing
• Decision-making
• Delegating

Structure

Keep the BUSINESS in your home business or home job by setting up a home office. A separate room for your office is ideal but at the very least a desk is critical. This is where you will keep your business materials organized and set up boundaries to keep it your office space (Nothing says chaos like having a small child with sticky fingers sort through your papers!). Keeping these boundaries will help you separate family and business/job. When you walk into your ‘office’, you will be better prepared to get down to business.

Scheduling

Schedules need to be done weekly. Schedule in the time do a weekly schedule every Sunday. Take 5 different color highlighters, your goal sheet and Plan of Action (POA) and then schedule family time and business time. Scheduling is critical to business/job success. You must work when you have scheduled in time to work your business or when you're scheduled to work. If it isn’t on your schedule, DON’T DO IT. Remember, scheduling = success!

Goal setting

Goal setting allows you to choose where you are going in your business/ your plans for moving up on your job. By knowing precisely what you want to achieve, you know what you have to concentrate on and improve upon. Goal setting gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation. By setting clearly defined goals, you can measure and take pride in the achievement of these goals. You can see forward progress in what might previously have seemed a long pointless grind. By setting goals and achieving them, you are able to see what you have done and what you are capable of. This will give you the confidence and self-belief that you need to achieve higher and more difficult goals.

Plan of Action

This goes hand in hand with goal setting. You’ve set your goals, now you need a business plan to help you reach them. Just like a road map gets you from Chicago to LA, a POA will help you ‘map’ out your plan to reach each of your goals.

Prioritizing

You have to make choices in your business/ or on your job. What is important to you in your business/job and your personal life? Are you willing to sacrifice in the short-term to reach the long-term goals? What is truly important? Remember quality time is what counts both personally and professionally.

Decision making

Every day we make decisions. We choose whether we are going to sleep in and not make all of our dials, we choose to let our children watch TV or do their homework, we choose to be successful or not. Make some decisions for yourself. Decide what your goals are, what your plan of action will be to reach each of those goals and DECIDE that you will follow your plan through the end of the month.

Delegating

This is key when dealing with your family. When setting your priorities you may have to sacrifice some of your old priorities by allowing your family to take on responsibilities. Perhaps you are someone who loves a spotless house but you need that same time to work your business. Instead of an all or nothing attitude, you choose the 2 most important rooms in your house, schedule in 2 hours to clean them spotless each week and then delegate the rest of the chores to your family. Realize they will not do them exactly like you would, but they are involved and are helping you reach your goals by alleviating your time to work your business. Make sure you reward your family for helping out.