Managing Our Time: Common Mistakes and Solutions
Your to-do list can be contained in a notebook, a smartphone, a word processing document, or whatever works for you.
Mistake #2: Refusing to plan ahead.
If people would describe you as somewhat spontaneous and unpredictable, planning ahead is essential. While this quality can add a great deal of fun to a party, it's not as appealing when it comes to time management. Trying to manage your time on the fly is sure to result in procrastination, missed deadlines, and even forgotten promises.
Planning ahead to manage your tasks and to-do’s allows you to create structure and get things done.
Mistake #3: Trying to do too much in the day.
We often have unrealistic expectations about what we can accomplish in a given time period. Setting yourself up with unrealistic goals is setting yourself up for failure, along with guilt, low self-esteem, and burnout.
Developing realistic expectations about what you can accomplish, and how long it will take, is not just helpful, it's necessary.
Mistake #4: Being a perfectionist.
Perfectionism is a vicious cycle. Perfect does not exist. As a result, perfectionists leave many tasks and projects unfinished. When we are stuck in perfectionism, nothing gets done because nothing ever seems good enough.
Instead of focusing on perfect, strong learners can determine in advance what will constitute a "good job" and stick to those guidelines.
Mistake #5: Speeding up instead of slowing down.
This may be the most important tip of all. When the pressure builds, we often respond to stress by kicking into high gear. The only sure things about this approach, is that it is not sustainable and will lead to burn out.
In all aspects of life, we work much more efficiently and effectively when we are calm and centered--not frantic and stressed. Take a deep breath and consciously slow down.