Manage Myself And My Time

Each one of us has 24 hours a day, no more no less. God has a plan for each one of us and He wants me to be successful in His plan for us. Whether we are clued in on God’s plan for us or not, we are taught from young to have a dream and to pursue our dream and success. What is success? This is different from person to person. Irrespective of how we define success, we can’t achieve success without first managing ourselves, our time and what we want to achieve.

Be the best that I can be and be a model for myself and others

1. Discipline Myself, Cultivate Success Habits and Get Rid of Bad Habits

  • Identify bad habits and start eliminating them one by one so that they do not burden and hinder
  • Identify success habits such as a personal development plan and measure progress
  • Just say no with tact to save time
  • Spend one hour a day to improve myself and my career
  • Avoid the trap of perfectionism that sabotages my success

2. Set Priorities

  • Identify what matters most — personally, family, professionally and community
  • Use John Maxwell’s point system to rank priority:
    • How important is the task
        
      • Critical = 5 points
      • Necessary = 4 points
      • Important = 3 points
      • Helpful = 2 points
      • Marginal = 1 point
    • How urgent is the task
        
      • This month = 5 points
      • Next month = 4 points
      • This quarter = 3 points
      • Next quarter = 2 points
      • End of year = 1 point
    • Multiply the 2 numbers together
  • Focus and track the priority list
  • Cut loose non priority tasks and activities that hinder progress to achieve my goals. Use the Pareto’s Principle or 80/20 Rule to help me eliminate non priority tasks.
    • List 10 things that I did yesterday
    • Identify 2 of the 10 things that produced significant results
    • Eliminate or reduce the other 8

3. Plan, Plan, Plan 

  • “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?
    For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.” Luke 14:28-30.
  • Use right tool that you are comfortable with to meet your needs – paper or digital
    • Calendar
    • Apps
    • Templates
    • Software
    • Devices

4. Organize

  • Use the ranking system provided in item 2 above to prioritize so that you don’t get sidetracked
  • Analyze, plan and take action
  • Schedule on your calendar not on your to-do list. Color-code your calendar and put deadlines for the tasks
  • Master your social media (email, texts, instant messaging, Instagram, Facebook) time
  • Turn piles into files

5. Get Strategies From The Champions

  • Know who and what you are
  • Improve strengths
  • Discover your daily peak productivity time and make the most of it
  • Identify your greatest time-wasters and eliminate them
  • Find mentors
  • Take risks
  • Learn from mistakes and failures and fail forward
  • Have grit
  • Quit trying to fix the unfixable

6. Build Networks And Relationships

  • Build relationship with God and with other people
  • Help others understand the shared benefits of doing what you want them to do
  • Say “When we do this, we will achieve this” to resolve conflicting demands
  • Delegate to lighten your load and to help another be more productive

7. Build a Solid Defense Against Stress and Pressure

  • Identify your top 10 stressors and eliminate them
  • Recognize negative worrying and eliminate it
  • Apply instant stress reducers
  • Develop a healthy balance in your life