Just about everyone has heard of time management. Countless books
have been written on the subject and countless motivational speakers
pontificate on the idea. There are even television shows that
occasionally use time management as the main focus of a program,
either demonstrating how to do it, why to do it, and what happens if
you dont do it.
The problem with this overload of exposure and information is that
many people are still left wondering what they are doing wrong. They
try all the tricks, tips, and procedures that various experts urge them
to incorporate into their lives. Yet, they still cant seem to organize
their lives so that they are masters of their time.
Part of the issue is that people sometimes are not clear on exactly
what time management is and what it can do. As with many things, we
sometimes attempt to make this concept much more complicated than
it actually is. As a result, we become so rigid in how we attempt to
manage our time that we defeat our own purpose. So is it any wonder
that we decide that the effort is just not worth it, and go back to
simple reacting to what is happening around us rather than proactively
taking control?
If youve not completely given up on attempting to integrate sound
time management ideas and strategies into your life, keep reading.
Rather than attempting to rehash all the many concepts, theories, and
other complicated presentations of this simple principle, lets explore
the basics of time management and then come to some conclusions on
how to pick and choose the right approaches and the right settings to
make use of them.
Before we get into any theories on how to engage in time
management, its important to define just exactly what we mean by
the term. Once established, it will be easier to move on to what to do
and when to do it.