Top tips to effectively manage your time

Time management and organisation is something many people struggle with, myself included. We each have so many responsibilities on a daily basis and sometimes it feels like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything. Learning how to manage my time effectively has been one of the most important skills I have developed throughout my life, and in today’s blog post I’m going to share some of my favourite tips that are quick, easy changes that can have a big impact.

Make a routine

One of the easiest ways to consistently stick to something is to make it into a routine - this means doing the same thing everyday at the same time. Whether its waking up at the same time everyday or sitting down to do work everyday at the same time, making a routine will not only help with your motivation but also your time management as the days become easier to schedule

Scheduling

I cannot stress this enough - actually planning out your day makes a massive impact, and then requires much less self-discipline to finish all your work. Make sure to give yourself plenty of time for each task, because I know I hate it when I run over one task and have to rush everything else. It is also important to schedule in time for eating and cooking if you have to cook for yourself, rest breaks, enough sleep and chill time because these are all incredibly important for your mental health. Even if you don’t like to schedule by time, even making a to-do list that you can work through at your own pace is helpful - just having all your tasks laid out in front of you is helpful to visualise exactly how much work you have to do.

Reassess your priorities

Sometimes, we simply have too much work to do. This is normal - it is often we bite off more than we can chew, or have simply left one deadline too many to the last minute. In this case, it is best to do as much as you can without stressing yourself out and then deal with the consequences later. The best way to approach this is to figure out which tasks are priorities. One way I like to do this is to split all my tasks into four sections: Urgent (has a time limit or deadline I need to meet) and Important (for example, work that is being graded), Urgent but not important, important but not urgent, not important and not urgent and work my way through the tasks in that order. This means you finish all the tasks that are urgent first which have a deadline and this helps you prioritise which work you can do another day. 

I hope this has helped especially for those in school or uni already struggling with balancing work and the rest of your life, and remember, it is ok to simply take on less responsibilities or ask for extensions on your work if it is impacting your mental health. In the grand scheme of things, one assignment does not make a massive impact but your physical and mental health does, so make sure they are always your first priority.