LifeManagement101, Issue #013 -- Manage Your Time Effectively
January 30, 2008
Dear subscriber,

Do you get frustrated because you cannot do everything you need to do almost every day? Good time management is a tough skill to master; however, you can do it if you work hard enough.
Make a schedule plan. As you wake up each day, think about what you need and want to do that day. Choose a time for each duty. Decide how much time you will need to spend on each task and stick to your timetable. Focus on completing what must be done before you do what you want to do.

Assess everything you do. If you notice you are not doing something quickly enough, think of ways to improve your efficiency. Stop doing things that do not yield the return you expect. For example, I recently quit doing particular online surveys for which I never received the payment that was advertised.

Focus on the little things that are included in your daily routine. For example, if you carry pencils, pens and other items in a plastic bag that seals, you should change the bag when it is no longer fresh because you will lose time if you continue to use that bag once it becomes too hard to seal easily. When you open your mail, open the envelope from the side.

Do not continue to use the computer or study once you become tired. You will waste time if you try to read while nodding off and nearly falling asleep. Step away from your computer and rest for a few minutes at least once an hour. To keep your brain fresh and learn your school material better, take a break from studying once every thirty or thirty-five minutes.

Do not study too much. If you can grasp your material easily, you should only spend a little time reading your text books on a daily basis and devote the last two or three nights before a test to studying all your notes.

Try to sleep at least seven hours every night and take a daily nap that lasts ten to thirty minutes. You will think better and do mental tasks quicker if you are not sleepy.

Use your computer keyboard as though you were a switchboard operator. If you must correct a word in the sentence you are currently typing, hit the 'End' key after you fix the error. Hit the 'Home' key to move from the middle or end of a sentence to the beginning. Hit the 'Tab' key to navigate from one box to the next on survey forms. When you log into your account on a web site, hit the 'Enter' key after you type in your password. Hit the 'Page Down' key or 'Page Up' key to navigate through a document or web site.

Make your transition to another web site quicker. If you want to return to a web site you previously visited on your computer, click the arrow on the right end of your browser bar to pull up a list of the sites you have visited and click the name of the site you want to visit. If you cannot click the link to a site that is provided in your mail, copy and paste the link into your browser and hit the 'Enter' key.

Do not read every word in your literature. Your focus should be to glance at your material as much as possible.

Avoid typing a particular piece of information repeatedly. If you must deliver a certain message over the Internet on a regular basis, save that information to a file on your computer or any portable device you have such as a CD or Flash drive.

Cut back on doing particular things. If you are held back by regularly doing a particular task that is not too necessary, reduce your frequency and duration for that task.

Do not spend too much time thinking about tasks. Quickly begin doing whatever you decide to do.

Do things simultaneously. For example, it is a good idea to fold clothes while you watch television.

Todd Hicks owns Skill Development Institute, an enterprise that provides a keyboard typing lesson and academic study guide. He has a communications degree and lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Todd has also written many articles and posted them on his web site. http://www.ktaassde.com

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