What is Time Management? – Meaning, Purpose and Techniques

What is the meaning of  ‘time management’?

Time management means organizing our time efficiently. It refers to the ability to use our time well. If we have good time management skills, we are able to complete all of our projects in time, and to avoid wasting time when we could be using it for something worthwhile.

Time management refers to the practice of apportioning our time so that we get all of our tasks done. It is the process of thinking about what we need to achieve, and how much time we have to achieve it in.

Time management involves, therefore, spending the right amount of time on the right things. It is something we can do over relatively long or relatively short periods of time.

Good time management is not just about getting all of our work done. If we are good at managing our time, we can make sure that we use our leisure time as well as possible too.

Ways of managing time well: Some things that we can use to help us to manage our time include journals, calendars, automatic reminders on our computers and to do lists. These all enable us to remember what we need to do – and when. Being able to visualize our time in the form of a list or a spreadsheet is very useful! But, it is also important that we do not be overly programmatic in the way that we organize our time. We want to have enough flexibility in our schedule to be able to be there for our friends when they need us, for example, or to take advantage of any unexpected opportunities that arise in our lives.

The gift of time: Even if we do not have any money, we can still give people the gift of our time. We can use our time to listen to them, to share a laugh with them, to do something helpful for them – or just to spend some quality time with them in general! So, good time management is also about ensuring that we have time that we can spend with others as well.

Other benefits of good time management: Another key benefit of being able to manage our time well is that we reduce the amount of stress in our lives. Few things are as stressful as rushing to meet a deadline, working through the night and feeling that if only we had more time to work on the project, we would have been able to produce something of much better quality. And, in general, time management skills enable us to achieve much more in our lives!

Purpose of time management.

There are many ways that time management can help us in our lives. The behind developing time management skills are as follows:

1. Saving money: using time efficiently makes our work more profitable. As the saying goes, ‘time is money’, and in many contexts this is very literally true.
2. Meeting deadlines: time management is an essential skill if we want to meet our deadlines.
3. Achieving our goals: we can only achieve our goals if we have enough time to take all of the necessary steps towards them.
4. Enjoying our leisure time: when we manage our time well, we find that we have plenty of time left over to relax in.
5. Courtesy: it is courteous not to keep other people waiting whilst we try and finish other tasks.

Effective Time Management Techniques.

It is easy to manage time effectively when you use these techniques below.

1. Be realistic about what you want to achieve and how much time you have to do it in. Time management plans should always be achievable, and we should always be able to carry them out without having to cause ourselves undue amounts of stress or sleeplessness. Rather, we should feel less stressed, and sleep better, because we are managing our time so well.
2. Make a plan: use a diary or calendar to manage your time. Have a clear idea about what you should be doing at any given time – and make sure to add in plenty of time to relax and spend time with your loved ones alongside all of those work projects.
3. Prioritize: what activities are your priorities? Spending time with your family, for example? Or, perhaps studying is your current priority? Knowing what your priorities are will help you to see where you need to apportion most of your time.
4. Take stock regularly: pause at regular intervals to check that you are on track, and if you are not, be prepared to make some adjustments to your style of working.
5. Delegate tasks: working as part of a team can help you to use time efficiently. If everyone is given a task to do and everyone works on their tasks at the same time, the overall project will be completed more quickly than if you attempted to do all of the tasks single-handedly.
6. Do not waste time: think about all the activities that you do that waste your time (such as browsing idly on the internet) and try and cut down on them.
7. Remind yourself of the value of time. We all only have a fixed amount of time on the earth, and once we have used up some of our time, we cannot get it back. Staying constantly aware of this is a brilliant way to motivate yourself to use your time well.

We could all be a little bit better at time management. The handy guide above will help you to hone your time management skills.

Conclusion

Once you start to manage your time carefully, you will no doubt be surprised by how much you can achieve in a single day. And, as all of the days add up, the achievements will add up too. Managing our time well reduces the stress in our lives, and helps us to get the perfect balance of work, rest and play.

If you find time management a little difficult to start off with, then why not try making a list of all the things that you need to do. Then, sit down with your journal or your calendar and work out when you are going to get all of those things done in the coming days, weeks, or months. Make sure to set yourself realistic deadlines, and to leave yourself some time for rest and relaxation as well.

That’s all there is to it: time management is easy when you know how!

Also read: Why is Time Management Important? How to Manage Time Effectively?