15 Tips to Manage Your Time Better

Time is finite. No matter how hard we try, we can’t create more of it, so we must manage the hours we have in the best way possible. You need to minimize distractions and maximize your focus.

Here are 15 tips to manage your time better:

1. Create time boundaries and stick to them, such as being home by a certain time, not working on Sundays, etc.
2. Use a calendar management system—establish a daily routine.
3. Avoid taking on more obligations than you can handle – learn to say no.
4. Hire an Executive Assistant and use them proactively to schedule/protect your schedule and manage administrative tasks.
5. Create a daily “to-do” list and prioritize action items as best you can.
6. Be more realistic about deadlines and the effort required to complete something (and always build in a cushion).
7. To get them out of the way, do the things you don’t want to do first thing in the morning.
8. If you don’t know how to do something, seek help and/or think it through first—learning while doing can waste a lot of energy.
9. Always ask yourself if you are the best person to take on a particular assignment/activity or if someone else is better suited to it.
10. Try not to do too many things simultaneously – it’s been proven that multitasking doesn’t work.
11. Schedule free thinking time, or it won’t happen.
12. Only check your email/voicemail/text messages at specific times during the day. Don’t give the impression that you are always accessible and instantly responsive (and don’t expect this of others).
13. Minimize non-productive activities (e.g., excessive commuting, troubleshooting your own computer problems, office gossip, etc.).
14. Seek out, befriend, and learn from other people who use their time well – they are always easy to identify, and exposure to them will rub off on you.
15. Focus on quality, not quantity, time with the people you care about, and be fully present in those moments.