Sample Blog: What Is Time Management?
(note: all keywords for this sample post have been highlighted in green.)
What Is Time Management?
What is time management? Time management, also known as time control and time allocation, refers to the process of allocating and dividing your time between different activities. It’s become a hot topic recently, particularly now that many of us work remotely from home.
Read on to learn more about the key elements of time management, its benefits, and some good time control skills you can incorporate into your lifestyle.
Key Elements of Time Management
According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), the key elements of time allocation are as follows:
Defining activities
Sequencing activities
Estimating activity resources
Estimating activity durations
Developing schedules
Controling schedules
Although these were specifically designed for project management, these elements of time management can be applied to anything you’re working on, whether that’s a long-term document review project you’re working on, a university project, a hobby you want to get better at, or a passion project you want to get out there.
Benefits of Time Management
Now that you have a better understanding of what time allocation is, you may be wondering why it’s important.
Time management is important because it can maximize our productivity and make sure we’re making the most of our time in front of the computer, which in turn:
Decreases stress
Decreases procrastination
Gives you more time to achieve your life and career goals
By timing ourselves as we work on different tasks, many of us learn that we weren’t as efficient as we thought we were. What could’ve taken two hours often ends up taking four hours due to procrastination, being distracted by our phones, and more. Time allocation helps us to cut out these inefficiencies so we can achieve more every day, feel better about ourselves, feel less stressed, and have more time for family, hobbies, and life and career goals.
Tips for Developing Good Time Control Skills
After considering the key elements and benefits of time allocation, here are some tips for developing good time control skills from the Corporate Finance Institute.
Set achievable and measurable goals. Use the SMART way of setting goals by making sure they are Specific, Measurable, Attainble, Relevant, and Timely.
Prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. Make sure you’re prioritizing your most important tasks. Look at your tasks and determine which are:
Important and urgent: Do these tasks immediately
Important but not urgent: Decide when to do these tasks
Urgent but not important: Delegate these tasks as needed
Not urgent and not important: Set these aside