5 Tips for Time Management

Like any other full-time student and worker, I have my moments of procrastination because of wanting to be lazy still knowing I have things to do.
but lately, I have been incredibly inspired with time management as I am getting back into a full-time routine and a busy schedule. I know so many others that go through the same issue where they feel as if they don't have enough time to finish everything in one day. If I had a dollar for the amount of times I have caught myself saying "there is not enough hours in the day" I would be a serious millionaire! It can get super stressful trying to handle everything in one day and it seems that the issue with time management is balancing. By this, I mean balancing work, school, personal life, social life, at-home responsibilities, self-care and overall trying to get our lives together. Here are five tips I have learned over the years to make sure I make time for everything!

1. Prioritize What is Important to You

I know, I know. The "everything I do is important" is on your mind as you read this first one. But read that again and reflect. Each individual you know has different priorities than you. Some might have kids, be in school, have one or two jobs or all the above honestly. Identifying all of your daily tasks for the week and ordering them between urgent versus important is a great way to start prioritizing. I always start with my urgent at the beginning of the week and end with the less urgent (important) by Thursday. This helps get my things like homework, studying, my blog posts and work tasks out of the way before I can start enjoying the end of the week.

2. Plan Ahead 

Planning ahead applies to anything and everything whether if its making your lunch the night before or making plans to go out next week. Advanced planning also removes the stress of last minute moves and trying to get certain tasks finished hours before. Things like creating a to-do list on what it is that you need to complete for the day or for the week, voice memos, setting alarms and placing small reminder sticky notes in your everyday locations are great techniques to get your tasks completed on time.

3. Stay Organized

We always worry about sacrificing our social life, but keep in mind this is not a long-term or a forever thing. It is only temporary and there are ways to balance without over-doing it. I have learned to plan ahead and how to stay organized with life events. With so many things going on because of mandatory adulting, a planner (agenda) has saved my life and I learned this from my closest friends. Planning ahead reserves plans and dates so that there is always something to look forward to. A brunch, a girls night, a movie night or whatever it may be. For the past 10 months, my girlfriends and I have had a girls night every month and we plan the next date for the following month with a date that works with everyone's schedule. This not only gives time for my social life, but to also keep my friends close. I also like sticking to a daily schedule and timing myself how long it takes me to do an every day task so I can give an accurate amount of time for everything I do. Staying organized helps with not planning so much in one week, one day, or one weekend. Cramming everything into a small amount of time causes stress and anxiety. Check out my blog post on 
How to Deal with Anxiety

4. Just Say "No"

My ultimate goal at the moment is to start saving money and it starts with knowing when to cut things out, what to cut, and saying no to whatever it may be that I do excessively which is going out. As it starts to get colder, I want to

5. Don't Stress, Do Less.

If you feel something is taking more of your time than it should, do less of it. It's like taking a small break and coming back to it soon. It is better to keep your focus and concentration on what is important to you and valuable to your time. I personally do not like the feeling of my time being wasted when I know I could be doing my homework, finishing something up or focusing my attention on spending time with family because I rarely see them. It's crazy to think that from the time we wake up we basically have about 8-9 hours of pure daylight when most of it is spent at work or at school (unless you have a day off during the week). Take everything day by day and always remember if you do not finish everything in one sitting, you can always come back to it.

Prioritize your tasks so you can plan ahead, stay organized and say no when it's not the right time. Don't stress, do less.

xx,