Time Management Skills

Practical and proven skills that give you more time

Time Management Skils -

What Time Management Skills do you need to help you feel like you have more hours in the day?

We believe there are 4 core time management skills you need to develop. These skills are like a foundation. There are other tools and techniques that you will use depending on your personal style and preferences.

We strongly advocate that you need to create your own system or structure that suits YOU. What is best for you may be very different from what suits your friend, your boss or your parents!

Here are What we believe are the 4 core time management skills:

1. A mindset of Self-Management not Time Management
2. Use a structure
3. Whole in ONE
4. Use a trigger

“Interesting,” I hear you say (well that is what most people tell me when I list these core skills.) And then they ask “what do these have to do with time management?”

Great question. Let me give you an overview of how these skills fit in (for more detail you can click on the links for each of the time management skills).

1. A Mindset of Self-Management

The term Time management allows us to think that we manage time -- BUT time can’t be managed! The typical mindset on Time Management is about applying techniques and tips – things outside of you. But the first step you must take is to realise you have to manage yourself (self-management) for any approach to work.

Time is! It just is! 24 hours a day. 1400+ minutes every day.

More about Self-Managment

2. Use a structure

My coaching experience has made one thing very clear – every effective person has some form of structure. By structure I mean a way that you look at a block of time. Usually this is a week, though it can be a month, a day, a quarter or a year depending on your style and your role (note: I discourage anything less than a week).

Structure allows you to gain a sense of control and yet is also INCREASES flexibility.

More about Using a Structure

3. Whole in ONE

Now I have got you thinking – about golf and that maybe we can’t spell! Actually what I referring to here is having your whole life -- appointments, tasks and key notes in ONE place.

Every person I speak to today has multiple places for notes and appointments. This is one sure way to waste time! I strongly suggest you do not have different places for personal and work appointments and tasks. Your whole life needs to come together as one life and you need to SEE IT in your structure as ONE Life.

Get your WHOLE life in to ONE place.

More about getting your whole life on one place

4. Use a Trigger

Time Management Skill 4 is Use a Trigger. What does a trigger have to do with time management skills and finding more time? Heaps! One of the biggest challenges people face when trying to use a structure is to remember to use the structure. This is where I have found a trigger makes a massive difference.

So what is a trigger? It is something you already do that you link to your time structure. The most common tool for creating a structure is a diary. People who have not been using a diary much struggle to remember to use and refer to the diary every day.

Use your trigger to remind you to use/refer to your diary or time management system.

More about using a trigger

Of course these are not the only skills that will improve your time management. We believe these are the four time management that form a foundation to build on.

Here are some examples of other more traditional time management skills you might need to develop:

Saying NO -- see our time management at work page
Planning
Focus
Prioritizing

We are in the process of writing a page for each of these skills and many more. Check back soon and get lots more information.

More great Time Management Information
Lots more time management tools, tips and resources to help you save time

Time Management Skills -- The Time Management Tao site has great resources to help you balance your life and manage your time.

Time Management Quotes -- Time Management quotes that inspire. Famous people on time. Quotes about time that make you laugh.

Even more Time Management Quotes -- Needs a quote for your site, article or book. Look through our pages of time management quotes

Time Management Articles -- A comprehensive library of time management articles with information that really saves you time.

Time Management Books -- Reviews of time management books to save you time working out which books you should read.