Time management strategies
Get the most out of life

When it comes to time management strategies and creating a schedule, it is important for you to consider all aspects of your life. So don't just focus on how to be more efficient at work.

Consider how to implement time management strategies that will allow you to have more personal time not just more efficient work time. If you don't allow time for yourself, you will quickly get burned out, stressed and overwhelmed by the demands that life places on you. At the same time, if you don’t set time aside to spend with your family and friends, your personal relationships can quickly begin to deteriorate.

When looking into methods for effective time management be certain to consider both your business and personal schedules. That way, you can implement the time management strategies that will be most beneficial for you and your unique situation.

Think BIG!

Time management strategies are ways of thinking about the things you need to do in your day to day life. The best place to start is to think big.

No really big !

Think of all the things you've got planned for the next year. I'm not thinking about the scheduled meetings at work or day to day events, I'm thinking one off. So for example when are you going on vacation? What are your plans for Christmas, at home or with relatives. Are you planning a barbecue for friends or perhaps the local church? What are the once off events that you're thinking of?

Get those events and write them down. Try to think through every month. Don't worry if you aren't sure exactly when you'll go on holiday just put it in the right general area of the year.

Use color to help you get a focus on different types of events. A color for vacations, a different one of anniversaries and so on.

Planning Help

I've included a free set of planning forms to help you.

These forms enable you to create a yearly plan. You can either print it out from a browser or download it as a PDF to keep and use now and in the future.

You can click on the link Time management strategies which will open up the PDF file in a new tab or a new window depending on your browser set up. Alternatively you can open the forms by using the button under Strategy on the left hand menu.

You can save the PDF from the newly opened window or tab.

In case you're wondering the backgrounds all depict area in Scotland.

Armed with this free set of planning forms go ahead and fill in all the months. You should be able to fill in events for most of the months. Make sure to include special occasions and any major work things. When you're done you'll have a fabulous view of your prospective year.

Take your year and pin it up somewhere that you'll see it every day. In case you're wondering the views in the backgrounds are all places in Scotland.

Now you have a view of the year you need to think in strategy terms. I guess you found like most people that thinking of things got harder towards the end of the year. That's okay since the reality is that beyond about 6 months it's incredibly hard to predict what is actually going to happen.

6 Month View

Since 6 months is often called the time management strategies "planning horizon". That's just a fancy way of saying it's about as far as you can see into the future. Imagine it like a road, you can only see so far ahead but as you journey down it you can keep seeing a bit more. For you it might be less or might be a bit more. It's important to think of what works for you since whatever you're planning horizon is will help determine how often you review your yearly plan.

Yes that's right you need to review the plan. You know how things change. Something unexpected comes up and all the events change. So you need to review. There is no point in reviewing every week or even every month since things don't change that often. Instead take your "planning horizon", 6 months, and divide it in 2. That figure is how often you should review your plan.

So if you're using a 6 month horizon you should review your plan every 3 months. You'll find that the review will only take a short while but the benefits will be great. Almost every review you'll be able to add more detail to the coming 6 months. You'll start to feel that you're controlling the direction of your year. You'll feel in control.

Now you've started to get time planning strategies under control. You've a year plan that is broad and now you're working on a 6 month plan that is continuously updated. You're in a healthy position to really take control of your life. But before you rush off we should discuss how to move this strategy work into your day to day work.

If you've read Personal Time Management you'll have found out already about planning in detail for only 2 months at a time. You take your 6 month planning horizon and look intensively at the next 2 months. You focus on them to make it possible to cope with keeping lots of detail in mind at any time.

Since you now have the yearly and 6 month time management strategies you'll find planning out the 2 months feels great. Normally you'd be worrying about whether you'd really understood your plans or whether you should stop and figure out about time planning strategies. Instead since you've built the yearly strategy you'll find that you have a method that works, keeping everything in place.