Many people struggle with how they should spend their time. There are some people who are good at it, while others are not. Can you use your time wisely?
It’s never too late to learn how to do it properly.
Spending your time wisely helps to determine which tasks are the most important, along with identifying your biggest time wasters.
Also, it can help with improving your delegation skills if you work in small or big groups. Along with that, you have a better understanding of time as being limited.
We all get the same 24 hours in a day- how people use those 24 hours is what matters the most.
In this post, I’ll give a brief example of how spending your time can add up quickly. Also, I’ll lay out five reasons why you should use your time wisely.
- Reasons To Use Your Time Wisely
- Identifies Which Tasks Are Your Top Priorities
- Identifies Your Biggest Time Wasters
- Saves You Time From Doing Unnecessary Things
- Improves Your Delegation And Teamwork Skills
- Time Is Scarce: Once You Use It, You Can’t Get It Back
Reasons to use your time wisely
Using your time effectively is something that can be learned over time. I find it astonishing to believe there are people out there who will spend an entire day doing one task.
Believe me, I used to be one of these people. I would spend almost a day working on a complex task- when really the work can only take a couple of hours to complete.
So the little things such as cutting down your time to a couple of hours can make a big difference. If you can learn how to cut down your time working on specific tasks, that can be a great skill to apply.
So let’s lay out some reasons why your time is important. what you get out of it can help you save the frustrations and headaches down the road.
Why you should spend your time wisely?
People are not aware that time is a scarce resource. in other words, it’s limited and it is your most non-renewable resource once you use it up you cannot make it up
Spending your time wisely can help figure out which tests are priorities and will identify your biggest time wasters it can help improve your delegation skills if you work in small or big groups.
Identifies which tasks are your top priorities
On a given day, you’re not going to be able to complete all the tasks that you have on your to-do list. Even if it’s a list of 10 or 20 things that you need to get done you may not have enough time to finish all of them.
So in tackling your daily tasks, it’s best to narrow them down to complete a few tasks. If you work on a few tasks (rather than a bunch of them), you’ll be more focused and likely to finish them all quicker.
It sounds like you’re not being as productive, but just completing a few tasks means you’re accomplishing some things in one day.
Also, there will be things that you’re going to need to do that aren’t on your to-do list so don’t feel the urge to have to check off everything on your to-do list.
Best tip: Focus on your most important tasks
Whenever I go about my day, I try to do my critical tasks first thing. These tasks are what I refer to as you’re most important tasks (or your MITS).
If you start off by completing your MITS first, it’ll be easier to navigate your day. Not only that, you’ll feel less stressed and frustrated if you end up holding them off until later in the day.
Identifies your biggest time wasters
You’d be surprised to see how much time you waste on things that are not important. Even if it’s as little as 10 to 20 minutes, that’s still a lot of time you’re throwing away.
For instance, if you check your email for a few minutes, you could very well end up checking it for 30 to 45 minutes instead. That’s happened to many people and no wonder why they feel frustrated in the end.
Sure there are emails you need to reply back to, but what’s important is you don’t want them to eat up your time. There are a lot of people who aren’t mindful of how much time they spend scrolling through email.
The same thing holds true for checking your phone. Even if the intention was for 2 minutes, it could end up being a half hour going through stuff on your phone.
If you start monitoring your time on these tasks, you’ll realize how much time you wasted.
I think the key is to monitor your time, so you know which tasks are your biggest time wasters.
Saves you time from doing unnecessary things
If you end up doing things that you were not meant to do, that’s eating up your time as well. I think many of us are guilty of going down this route.
Let’s give the example of a manager: A manager’s job is to not do all the tasks themselves. But in reality, they’re supposed to assign tasks for other people to do.
So a good manager knows how to delegate and assign tasks to the right people. A bad manager is someone who will end up doing most of the work that their teams should be doing.
Not only it shows that a manager does not trust their team when they don’t trust them. They will end up spending time on tasks that they’re not meant to do in their role.
A relevant article from notimekillers.com
Read next on “How Can I Start A Business When I Don’t Have Time? 5 Steps“, to learn how you can start a business with effective time management.
Improves your delegation and teamwork skills
Going off the previous point, good time management can help with your delegation skills. knowing how to assign tasks to other people can save you lots of time and frustration.
Also, it shows your intention to work on your team-building skills. Whether you’re working in a small group or a large one, it can help you get a better idea of how to develop good teamwork skills.
Learning how to delegate goes very well with effective time management. If you know which tasks are going to be assigned to other people, not only does that demonstrate good time management skills. but it shows you as someone who’s effective at working with other people.
Time is scarce: Once you use it, you can’t get it back
I said it before and I will say it again: Time is one of your most important assets in life. Time is your most non-renewable resource, so you cannot make up more of it once used.
Unlike with money, you can’t get any of your time back. One thing to point out is people take their time for granted, or think that it will always be there no matter what.
It’s also another reason why they value money more than time. If they can make more money, they think that’ll solve their problems.
What to keep in mind
But here’s the thing: time is scarce. The one thing about money is you can lose a lot of it but you can also make more of it as well.
The same meaning does not apply to your time. You cannot make up your time once you’ve used it. So I’ll keep saying it again: How you use your time is very important to how you live a fulfilling life.
Final Words
Understanding how to use your time can come a long way. For some people, time can be their greatest asset. But for others, it can be their worst enemy.
More importantly, understanding your time as a scarce resource can help you understand how you go about your day. Over time you learn quickly which tasks are important and ones that you need to put to the side.
The reasons discussed earlier can help you get a better understanding of time management. But as mentioned earlier, it can help improve your delegation skills.
In essence, you’re improving your communication skills while working with small or big teams.
How you spend your time can make a big difference in your routine. If it’s building a successful business or improving yourself as an individual, it’s well worth putting in the work and efforts to do so.
Your Turn: Are you being productive in how you spend your time?
I would like to get your thoughts on this topic. Are you someone who struggles with managing time?
Do you find yourself working on time wasters that eat up your day? If you manage teams are you somebody who does most of the work?
Do you believe that time is a scarce resource? Are you more aware of time is limited and that you should use it to your advantage?
Feel free to share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. I look forward to reading your responses and I’ll gladly respond promptly.
If you got value from this article, please bookmark this website to visit later for new posts every week. Spread the word to others. Sharing is caring! To get more of this type of content, you won't want to miss out my daily email letters. These are worth some golden nuggets and best tips to help you in your business. Sign up today! Count me in on the daily letters via email! For the latest videos that come out every week, subscribe to the YouTube channel. Also, be sure to check out our new space on Twitter X! YouTube Twitter (X) Medium Profile
Eric is the owner and chief editor of notimekillers.com. He takes great pride in helping people manage their time and grow their businesses. Eric is a firm believer in financial and time freedom, as he believes in financial independence and taking ownership of your time. “Time is your most important asset. It can be your best friend or worst enemy. How you use your time can shape the future you desire to have.” In his leisure time, Eric loves to write and read whenever possible. He enjoys going for long walks outdoors while doing in-home workout videos every week. You can also connect with Eric via LinkedIn.
