Do you ever feel completely overwhelmed? like there are not enough hours in a day? Are you someone who scrambles with deadlines, or perhaps someone who procrastinates until the last minute? Or maybe you just have a hard time keeping organized which in turn makes you sometimes miss out or forget tasks that needed to be completed.
Often times we find ourselves on the run, completing task after task, and on occasion it's common to become overwhelmed, burnt out, to forget to complete something, or simply run out of time. Time management is an important skill, however without practice and some education around it, it can be a challenge. Time management skills, tips, and tricks allow us to complete tasks more efficiently without missing things, running out of time, or burning out first. They also allow us to use our time more efficiently leaving us with more free time and the ability to stress less about the million things we have to accomplish in a day, week, month, or year.
There are a variety of ways to help us maintain a more manageable schedule thus using our time in a less stressful, more efficient manner. List making, prioritizing tasks, and having deadlines even for simple tasks can help alleviate stress and anxiety that a lack of efficient time management may cause. It also helps if you understand the task at hand, what it entails, and how to complete it. You may already write lists, or maybe you have always thought about it but never started. By writing a list you are less likely to miss something and more likely to feel less stress from your day. It's harder to forget to complete something of importance when it's written down in front of you.
Writing and maintaining to-do lists is important if you are going to beat the overload from trying to keep a work life balance. You will find yourself becoming more organized and reliable when you are using your to-do list efficiently. Write down your daily tasks, identify which are the most imperative to complete, and start with those at the top of your list.
Start with everything you need to complete on your list. Take some time to process what needs to be done. Run through your list, prioritize the tasks in order from most important. Try numbering them, or putting a star or other symbol next to the high priority tasks so you know to complete them first.
In using your to-do list, go in order from how you identified what was most important, and work your way down the list. Everyone's list will look different, we all have different lives and schedules. Don't compare your list or others to what you are trying to accomplish! this will not be beneficial and may leave you dreading the tasks.
Create your list for each day either the evening before, or first thing in the morning. Don't forget to add things for you to the list, the gym, eating meals, and taking a break from your tasks is important. Try to leave work at work and home at home. You can't control everything 100% of the time, however you can learn to utilize your time in the most efficient way possible.
Sample list for home:
Breakfast
Walk dog
Pay bills
Gym
Walk dog
Grocery Shop
Lunch
Laundry
Walk dog
Follow-up calls
Prep dinner
Walk dog
Dinner
Relax/Sleep
Sample work list:
Return voice mails
Meet with Patient
Meet with Patient
Team meeting
Lunch
Meet with Patient
Meet with Patient
Documentation
Check voice mail/Return calls
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