If you’re reading this now, you’re probably someone who wants to improve their time management skills.
Congratulations! You’ve come to the right place.
It’s a huge topic these days, but why exactly is effective time management so important?
In this post, we look at some of the main reasons why I think managing time well is an important and worthwhile pursuit.
If I had to choose just one main reason why being able to manage your time well is an important and crucial life skill, it would be that, contrary to the popular idiom, you do not have all the time in the world.
The clock is ticking and regardless of whether you put a monetary value on it or not, every second of your time is extremely valuable.
It’s valuable simply because it is a finite resource of unknown quantity.
And, as such, it should be managed with care, because once it’s gone, it’s gone, baby.
That’s it.
You can never get that time back.
And you can’t store it and save it for later use.
The time you have is the time you have right here, right now.
Whoa, so that is quite heavy, right?
So, if you’ve never really considered how important it is to manage your time well each day, then I hope that this fact alone will help you to start considering it.
And if you’re somebody who prefers not to have the whole brevity of life picture weighing on your mind, here are eight good reasons why time management is so important on a more practical, day-to-day basis.
1. Helps you to prioritize
There’s an old saying that I am certain you will know, which is “if a job is worth doing, it’s worth doing well.” I am not sure who said it, but I’m sure if you Google it, you’ll probably find claims that it was Mark Twain or Aristotle. 😉
I’ve known of this saying since I was a kid and until recently, I only ever thought about it within the context of the way it is most commonly defined, which is, if you’re going to commit to something, go all in.
And that is a decent philosophy to live by. I’ve always been a big believer in giving things your full effort whenever you can.
However, it occurred to me recently that the first part of this saying, “if a job is worth doing . . .” is highly relevant to time management and the prioritization of tasks. When you have a task in front of you, you need to ask yourself the question,“Is it actually worth doing?”
If it is not worth doing, it goes into one of the bottom two quadrants of the Eisenhower Box.
READ: What Is The Eisenhower Box? >>>
Then you can focus your attention on the jobs you consider worth doing and spend your time doing them well.
So, it is not just about doing everything to the best of your ability, but it is also about where you choose to invest your time.
Managing your time well means managing and prioritizing your tasks well.
You can read more about different strategies to help you prioritize your tasks here.
2. Helps you to be more productive
It doesn’t matter if you’re a student, at work or a stay-at-home parent, better time management will help you achieve more in your day.
We have already established that time is a limited resource, so you might as well get some good stuff done.
And better time management can help you in other aspects of your life too – even things like losing weight more effectively.
3. Stops you wasting time
The flip side of productivity is wasting time.
I think we’re now clear on the fact our time is limited, so don’t fall victim to the time vampires that suck the time out of us like Dracula sucks blood. Start by considering the amount of time you spend on Social Media – the biggest time suck of the 21st Century to date.
There are apps you can use to track the time spent on these platforms and you can use them to help audit how you spend your time each day. If you’re really serious about improving your time management, I’d suggest that you start with an audit – it might just shock you (a little).
READ THIS: How To Audit Your Time >>>
I will be reviewing various apps, so check back for more info or if you’d prefer to receive notifications of new posts by email, you can subscribe.
4. Boosts confidence
Being on top of your tasks and in control of your schedule can be a massive boost to your self-confidence, which in turn can make you more productive, so it becomes like a virtuous cycle.
Why is this?
Well, think about things from the opposite perspective, i.e. being poor at time management. The knock-on effects of poor time management often include:
~ Being late for meetings
~ Missing deadlines
~ Being disorganised
~ Producing sub-standard work
~ Impatience and frustration
~ Being indecisive
~ Having unfinished tasks
~ Always “fire-fighting”
~ Frequently working overtime
There are many other examples I could have included in this list, but the point is, it must be hard to have confidence in yourself when you’re leading a life like this.
Improving your time management can turn this around, which by default, will make you feel more confident.
MORE READING: 20 Signs Of Poor Time Management >>>
5. Helps you be more punctual
Being late all the time is unacceptable to a lot of people. It’s definitely one of my pet peeves, particularly because it is something that can be avoided with the implementation of a few simple time management strategies.
CHECK OUT: How To Stop Being Late >>>
6. Reduces stress levels
Although stress is caused by your reaction to things that happen to you rather than the things themselves, without a doubt, you can massively reduce the effect stress triggers if you have your schedule under control.
READ: How Time Management Can Reduce Stress >>>
7. Work-life balance
A great ‘side-effect’ of good time management is that it helps you to achieve a much better work-life balance.
When you don’t manage your time well and fall into the trap of always ‘being busy’ (which is not the same as being productive), time spent with family, pursuing personal interests or looking after yourself can quickly get hijacked.
But prioritizing and protecting time for family, fitness and personal pursuits is crucial in maintaining balance in life.
It’s not all about work, work, work.
LEARN: How To Achieve A Work-Life Balance >>>
8. Becoming more successful
Being more punctual, more confident and less stressed can help you to be more successful. It also changes the way others perceive you, which can have hugely positive effects on both your career and personal life.
It’s as simple as that!
JUMP TO: Time Management Tips From Successful People >>>
Time Hack Hero Takeaway
In simple terms, time management is so important because time is limited and knowing how to manage it well will make your life better!
Good time management is a skill that anyone can learn and implement. It’s really just about forming habits and using systems to effectively organize your days.
We have numerous articles on Time Hack Hero to help you do this, so check them out and if you want to receive email notifications when new posts are published, click the button below to subscribe.
[Featured image credit / Canva]