Better Time Management = More Productivity

“Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’, into the future.”

Since this blog comes from a music-based company we might as well start off this week’s installment with song lyrics, right?  But honestly, that line from the Steve Miller Band song, “Fly Like an Eagle,” is still accurate all these years later.

If you’re someone who thinks there are not enough hours in a day and have something (or some things, plural) that you just can’t seem to get around to, perhaps it’s time to take a step back and evaluate where you are spending your time.

Don’t get me started on new year’s resolutions.  Instead, while we are still in the first month of a new year, use this instead as an opportunity to set a course for better time management in 2019.  Take a look at what could be holding you back from moving forward.

I was in a conversation with someone the other day who confessed that they could be more productive, admitting in the same breath that they spend too much time taking turns in a particular game they like to play on their phone.  We all know the saying about, ‘Admitting you have a problem is the first step.’

Don’t get me wrong.  This isn’t meant to be a blog about addictions.  But rather – and I’m going to sound like a broken record for repeating this (in this blog and on many episodes of “Now Hear This Entertainment”) – if you look around and see others getting ahead and getting opportunities that you wonder why you get passed over for, perhaps it’s more about being productive with your time.

I’m human, so I’ll admit, I have my moments where I catch myself wasting time.  I acknowledge it.  I beat myself up about it.  I challenge myself with, “Do you think (insert name of successful person I look up to here) is (insert time-wasting activity here)?”  And so, I’ll rally around that to put myself into the productive mode I need/want to be in.

We hear experts, talking heads, heck, even when we go to church on Sunday there is talk of the evils that smartphones can lead to.  “Idle time is the devil’s playground,” I think the saying goes.  So, to use the above example of the honest conversation I was on the listening end of, start with that.  Are you spending too much time with foolishness on your phone?

There are (ironically) apps you can use that allow you to continually log how you’re spending your time (i.e., sleep, eat, work, shop, internet, spiritual, games, transport, social media).  Employ that type of monitoring for a good, say, two weeks, and then look back and see how/where you were spending your time.  Of course, this is going to have to be on the honor system.  But, you need to be honest if you want to get results.

If you’re successful, you’ll soon be the envy of others who will say, “How do you manage to get so much done?!”

Share your time management tips – or (gulp) challenges – in our Facebook group!