The popular saying goes “you have as many hours in the day as Beyoncé”. While that is definitely true, why does it feel like Beyoncé is doing much more than most regular people? Sure, having money helps. When you have money, you can delegate tasks and afford to pay people to complete them.
Thankfully, you don’t need money to manage your time well. The CGS Team is sharing 5 ways successful people effectively manage their time. The great thing about this list is that anyone can do it! It’s simply a matter of putting in the effort.
Successful people plan out the week ahead.
To make the most impact with their time throughout the week, successful people make it a point to plan out the week ahead. Think to-do lists times 100. To-do lists are great, but they are only a part of it. Successful people identify what needs to be completed during the upcoming week and actually create a plan for completion. They assign hourly and daily tasks for each item that needs to be completed during the week.
More importantly, successful people focus on the most meaningful items. Anything that isn’t most meaningful gets outsourced, minimized, or ignored completely. Writers need to be writing. Make-up artists need to be doing make-up for clients. Sales people need to be selling. Anything else, like meetings and emails, just get in the way of what needs to be completed. We can’t always get out of meetings and emails, but allocate minimal time to such things.
Successful people strategically avoid distractions.
Distractions happen to all of us, and they can ruin the most detailed of plans. While most distractions aren’t serious, some may require immediate attention. Successful people are able to easily articulate the difference between trivial and emergency distractions.
If the distraction is trivial, or not very serious, successful people are able to avoid it completely and focus on the task at hand. If the distraction requires immediate attention, successful people getting taken care of as quickly as possible.
According to Inc., “Learning to sort out what is most essential is key to effectively managing your time.” Taking a strategic approach with your time will allow you to feel more productive and accomplished each day. Being able to ignore or quickly attend to distractions will allow you to drop feelings of frustration or negative associations with how much time is in a day.
Successful people have consistent morning routines.
Whether it’s going to the gym at 5:30am every day, or reading the newspaper with a cup of coffee before the day begins, successful people follow consistent routines every morning. Other common routines for successful people include meditating, journaling, envisioning a successful day ahead, and eating a nutritious breakfast.
Motivational speaker Tony Robbins takes an ice bath, completes breathing exercises, and expresses gratitude in 10-minute exercise. He chooses to start the day focusing on gratefulness, as opposed to letting fear and anxiety take over. While there is no one morning routine for everyone, finding what works for you to get you through a productive day will set the tone. Check out 7 Ways to Make the Most of Your Mornings for a few of our tips.
Successful people prioritize tasks and projects in order of importance.
Highly successful people are able to clearly articulate tasks and projects, and complete them in order of importance. This happens during the planning process specified above. Successful people have identified the task that will produce the most results and/or requires the most attention during the planning process.
This allows them to focus on the most important tasks, then work their way through the week based on other priorities. Successful people focus on getting the right things done, as opposed to getting most things done.
According to Lifehack.org, “In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey lays out a quadrant with the following categories: urgent and important, not urgent and important, urgent and not important, and not urgent and not important. The quadrant where you spend the majority of your time determines your life’s destiny.
Average performers live in the urgent quadrants. They are constantly putting out fires. On the other hand, highly successful people focus on activities that are important and not urgent. These activities don’t yield instant results. However, they produce massive long-term results.
Successful people work when they don’t have to.
To make the most of their productivity, successful people are working in typical “off times”. This could be mornings, evenings, or weekends. Whenever there is an opportunity to get work done, successful people take it. Many successful entrepreneurs have been known to work whenever inspiration strikes. They take advantage of the burst of inspiration so they can be at their most productive.
Each of the ways successful people manage their time can be done by anyone. It may not be easy in the beginning to build new habits, but it will definitely be worth it. Making the most of your day will allow you to get as much done as you can. We all have the same amount of time in a day, some people just maximize it more than others!
Related: 5 Ways to Increase Your Productivity to Get More Things Done
How do you effectively manage your time? Do you have any tips to increase productivity? Share your time management tips and concerns by leaving a comment below!
