As we all know, time management is the most important stepping stone to achieve success. But most often we fail to do this effectively. Some mistakes that we make in our time management strategies could be the reason for such failures. Mitigating such failures necessitates them being identified first.
Here are some mistakes often hindering the process of time management –
1. Working without a to-to list
We would have a lot of things to do. Some of them may not be as important as others. Choosing the most relevant things to do in a prescribed period is essential. Failing to do which will lead us to flounder our time in doing unnecessary things.
2. Lack of a focused goal
The absence of a focused goal or task is a chief mistake that people commit concerning time management. We would have many things to do, but we often fail to fix a specific task as our goal for a short period or long period. All of us have 24 hours a day, but this mistake may lead to the entire hours being wasted doing random things.
3. The absence of priorities
All of the things that we would have to do may not be having the same importance. Some of them will be more serious and urgent. Failure to prioritizing them accordingly will lead to the wastage of time without being made use of properly. The less important things being chosen to be done without the essential items left undone would cause time difficulty.
4. Inability in preventing distractions
Distractions stand first among the time killers. Social media, games, and the things going around our physical space may distract us. Trying to be insular to everything external to the work being done will help us to prevent distractions.
5. Work being done without deadlines
Lack of deadlines may prompt us to procrastinate the work eternally. Therefore, deadlines should be made for the work as a whole. Alongside dividing the entire piece into small portions and assigning individual deadlines is also preferable.
6. Multitasking
Doing too many different chores simultaneously will hamper time management. The persons concerned will feel like they are doing a lot of work, but their productivity in a fixed period is significantly less compared to doing a single work at a particular time. Multitasking must be avoided.
7. Procrastination
Putting off tasks that you should be doing now is the worst habit concerning time management. Procrastination will cultivate guilt inside us and will consequently affect our confidence. Also, we won’t be able to complete the work on time. Fragmenting the entire work into small portions may help us to overcome the tendency to procrastinate. Motivating oneself to take the initial step early itself will also help to control procrastination.
8. Burdening oneself too much
Committing to tasks more than we can do in a given period will only burden us. The pressure created may prevent us from doing any of the things properly. Being able to say no to the things we cannot do is an excellent habit if we manage our time correctly.
9. Taking no breaks
Some may try working for many hours incessantly under the pretext of avoiding time wastage. But people can’t focus on a particular thing for an extended period without giving their brain any relapse. Breaks are not a wastage of time. On the contrary, it will help the person to work more creatively and effectively.
10. Unrealistic schedules
Realistic planning is only going to help. The work should be scheduled practically with enough time for intense works. If the time is not proportional to the magnitude of the respective work assigned, not only does the schedule fails, but also it will demotivate the person concerned.
Also, time schedules should be made appropriate to our nature and rhythms. The most important work should be undertaken in the most productive personal time. Schedules being made without this being considered will affect the time usage sought to be managed using them.