2 Tips for Efficient Time Management

Hi there!

Thank you for visiting my latest blog post 🙂

While this blog is a bit on the short side, that doesn’t mean it’s any less important. In fact, today’s topic ‘time management’ is actually very important and something that a lot of people (including myself) struggle with!

Time management

Have you ever experienced the feeling that you’re working the whole day but that you still don’t finish all the tasks that you set out for yourself? Did time just fly by and are you not really able to say what exactly it is that you did the whole day? That there’s just not enough time in the day and that everything can just be too much for you to juggle? Well, then it’s time for some serious time management!

What is time management?

Okay, so what exactly is time management? It’s actually very simple: find a way to distribute your time across your tasks as efficiently as possible. Sounds easy enough, right? However, as I said before, this is actually very difficult for a lot of people.

Since I was starting up an affiliate marketing business besides running my own webshops there were so many tasks I needed to complete during a day, so I struggled with my time management too.

I really needed to find out how I could efficiently manage my time. In order to do that, it’s important to first understand how you’re managing your time right now and what your most important tasks are.

I would love to share the two tips that really helped me 😉

Tip 1: Determine your tasks

Write down all your tasks. When you do that you will get an amazing overview of all the tasks on your plate. Take a couple of days to do this because you will probably have more tasks than you initially might have thought (or hoped!).

Once you have a complete list of all your tasks, determine which of these tasks are the most important. Which tasks do you absolutely have to complete on a given day?

You might have already heard about the 80/20% rule. This means that 20% of your work and time determines 80% of your results. You need to find your 20% that form the most important tasks and really focus on that!

Tip 2: Keep track of your daily activities

Another great tip that I can give you is to write down everything you do for one week. Be as detailed as you can possibly be!

For every half hour, write down what you did during those 30 minutes. Bonus tip: set an alarm every 30 minutes (e.g. on your mobile phone), because you already know that time flies and this way you won’t forget 😉

I did this as well and I have to say that the alarm going off every 30 minutes was pretty annoying… After all, you’ll be interrupted from your hard work every 30 minutes and have to stop and think about what you did during that time (which takes a bit of time too).

However, it really did make it so much clearer for me what exactly it is that I do during the day and how much time I spend on certain things. And that is what I wanted, so the annoyance is definitely worth it 🙂

Some things that I found out were that I’m really working too many hours. I thought I was taking long breaks, but found out that I’m also working a lot during my break. I determined that there were certain tasks that took way too long and that I can perform them much more efficiently. Also I found out that I spend quite a bit of time on a market place platform, without even realising it. Finally, I noticed that I was doing a lot of tasks together. That divided my attention. By now always focusing on one thing and finishing it, I can work much more efficiently.

And, although this wasn’t the case for me, writing all of this down can also make you realise that you work less hours during the day than you thought or that you spend a lot of time on your couch that you should have spent on your work. Or maybe you find out that you spend quite a bit of time on social media, without even realising it. What ever your findings are: be honest with yourself.

These exercises really helped me to prioritise certain tasks over others, and even change my approach to some tasks to ensure that I spend less time on it (and do it more efficiently). It also made me realize that it’s important to take real breaks. A short break without interruption gives me much more energy than a long break with interruptions 🙂

I’m sure it will help you too!

Conclusion

So to give you a quick recap: Find out what you do during the day (what your tasks are) and then determine which of these tasks are the most important.

Don’t forget that you’re still building your business and that it’s normal to use some of your free time to really get that off the ground. However, make sure you spend that time as efficiently as possible!

When you make that investment in yourself, I’m sure you will be rewarded with success 😉

So just go for it! Make it happen!

This blog went on a bit longer than I initially planned, but it was really worth it. I hope it will help you as much as it did for me!

Let me know what your greatest struggles are with time management.

Until next time!

Sandra