time management

Have you ever had a day when, by the time you fully woke up it was time to go to bed again and all you can do is to sit and wonder, “Where the heck did my day go?” You’re not alone, it happens to me too. This is a common occurrence for those who can’t manage their time properly. The good news is, there is a cure for the chronically mysterious “missing day” syndrome, and it is called, TIME MANAGEMENT. Yes, it’s true. You CAN manage your time so that it works for you, not against you. How? It’s easier than you think. You only need a time plan.
A Time Plan - making the day work for you. Working from home is completely different than working in an outside profession. Not only are you the boss, but you are also the secretary, janitor, accountant and advertising consultant. You run the entire ship; from top to bottom. It is easy to get lost in the trivial work that most company heads have an employee to take care of, such as stuffing envelopes or running errands. It’s not an ideal situation for most, but you can make it work for you if you follow these tips:
You must have a full and complete business plan. I recommend a 5-year plan, one that breaks down goals for each year and how you plan to reach each of those goals. The library is full of books on this subject, check a few out and get that plan down onto paper. You need to visually see where you want to be each year and how you will get there.
Evaluate your time. This can be accomplished by logging each day, for an entire week. From the moment you wake up, until the minute your head hits the pillow, you will note what you did within each waking hour. Include when you getting ready for your day, cooking, cleaning, talking on the phone, working, playing on the Internet and watching TV. At the end of the week, review your journal and highlight the areas of time that you felt weren’t productive. You may often spend too much time watching daytime TV, snacked too often, played solitaire on the computer or put too much into “busy work” (the mundane work that can be put off till later but you do it anyway as a way to make yourself think you’re not procrastinating, when you really are). On an index card write down your biggest time wasters and when you catch yourself doing them, stop and take a deep breath and get working on something from your to-do list.
Try to have one or two “errand days” where you hit all of the places you need to be that week, rather than doing them everyday. Every Monday I run to the post office, the bank, the printers, the library and the office supply store. I have a schedule and I stick to it. I do not leave the house during business hours on any other day unless it is for an outside meeting. By having one day set for errands, I save myself hours of running around town.
Keep an “I did it” list. This corresponds with the to-do list because when you cross off the completed projects from one list, you will add them to the other list. Each week you will not only see what you need to do, but you can pat yourself on your back for what you did do.


Use calendars. Post meetings, to-do’s, project deadlines and other reminders onto the calendar along with personal commitments such as doctor appointments and meetings with the kid's teachers. Calendars are excellent ways to keep your day organized. Use them!
Schedule time for yourself. A stressed out body will give you an unorganized mind. When you do not feel well, you cannot function properly. Daily exercise and/or stretching will energize you and help to boost your energy and productivity. Also try deep breathing, candles, mood music, and adequate sleep, vitamins, drinking lots of water and sitting in the great outdoors during lunchtime.
Last but not least, when you're organizing your time and your business, be sure to put aside some time for relaxation. Make time for your family. You must not involve yourself in anything to an extent that you exclude other people - particularly your loved ones - from your life. Taking stock of the time you waste each day, and from there, reorganizing your activities is what it's all about. It's a matter of becoming more efficient in the use of your time. It's really easy to do, and you will not only accomplish a lot more, you will also find greater fulfilment in your life.

by,
Nurul Aisyah Ramli