Time management is a skill everyone needs to master to be successful in today’s busy society. We are constantly and simultaneously pulled in different directions, trying to manage work, family, friends, activities, and personal time. Often our schedules become overwhelming, leading to stress, depression, anxiety, and other physical illnesses. The Oxford dictionary defines time management as “the ability to use one’s time effectively, especially at work.”[1]

Time management relates to keeping track of what you must do and how much time you must do it in. It is also about managing one’s energy, focus, and priorities to optimize how one spends their time each day. Calendars are the most common way people manage their time. However, a calendar is for appointment management, not task management. The website, www.strategiclifetools.com, emphasizes the importance of scheduling one’s tasks. Scheduling forces you to prioritize each of your tasks and estimate how long they will take. This increases the odds that a person will take care of the important tasks first. There are also key psychological benefits to scheduling one’s tasks. Scientific publications identify this benefit as “implementation intentions.”[2] This theory suggests a person psychologically commits to tasks in a way that does not happen when tasks are not scheduled.

Personal time also needs to be managed. Busy professional people often get caught up in work with constant access to emails and the like. Children, family, and friends also demand their own time which can leave a person feeling tired and irritable, while growing increasingly dissatisfied with life. Individuals need to be mindful of self-care and taking time for themselves. When a person makes their to-do lists, they need to include activities that promote self-care. Examples of self-care include, scheduling a massage or sending the family on an outing so one parent can get some alone time. Mel Robbins of Success Magazine[3] advises people to do just that. Turn off the phone, the tablet, the pc, and the television and just relax with your favorite book. Remember to put it on your calendar! There are several applications that can help you better manage your time. Gmail and Outlook have free task and calendar features which promote better time management habits.

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Asma Al-Bibi, Staff Accountant  

[1] “Time Management | Definition of Time Management in English By Oxford Dictionaries”. 2018. Oxford Dictionaries | English. https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/time_management.

[2] “Overwhelmed with Your To‑Do List?”. 2018. Strategiclifetools.Com. https://strategiclifetools.com/time-management/.

[3] Robbins, Mel. 2018. “Mel Robbins: Taking Time Out”. SUCCESS. http://newstaging.success.com/article/mel-robbins-taking-time-out.