• Link your actions to your goals

I'd go ahead and assume that if you're reading this post, it means you're trying to achieve higher goals in your life and cut down on the stuff dragging you behind. So, one way to manage your time better us to evaluate how what you're doing is related to what you're trying to achieve. This is easy to evaluate, make two lists, one with the goals you're aiming for, be it money, love, love luxury, whatever it is and another list with the things you're spending time doing, if the lists don't align, it means you're probably wasting time in the wrong direction and this will probably give you a useful gauge on your efforts, sometimes even people you spend your time with aren't of the best quality, so make sure you align the list with your goals with the list of the people you're spending time with as well.

• Block out things that can distract you

A lot of people have problems with distractions and procrastination, those two concept can keep you from doing your chores and waste your precious time, that's why you need to block out any and every distraction, put your phone away, block out your social media notifications or use and possibly that doesn't let you use your phone, block the social media sites on your computer or use an extension for this. Create a work space; set up a place that is only meant for work and completing tasks so your brain can associate that space with work and productivity. Distractions can easily drag you into a spiral of low productivity and frustration, so preventing this can make a huge difference.

• Schedule your day ahead

Waking up in the morning without knowing what you have to do during the day can make you either forget important stuff or take on responsibilities than you can manage. An easy way to do this is by planning your day and every week ahead of time. Allow half an hour to organize your next week's schedule at the end of each week and take five minutes at night to look t the next day's schedule, this will help you to become better organized, while you spend more time in preparation and planning you'd save ten fold and not have to mend fences down the road.

• Take breaks and unwind before sleep

In order for you to be more productive and complete all your assignments you have to take a few breaks, those relaxing periods don't have to be long; ten to fifteen minutes is enough for your brain to decompress. In those minutes you can surf the internet, watch some short videos, listen to music or talk with some friends. Many people go to bed with the worries running around in their heads and while it's useful to recap what you're going to do the next day on the night before, unwinding is the key to a better sleep. You can listen to some music, read something or even meditate before hopping into bed, try to avoid watching TV or reading from a device since blue light can actually affect your sleep cycle and make it less restful.

• Learn how to say "NO"

This concept refers to saying no to a few things like distractions, procrastination, multitasking but most importantly it refers to saying NO to tasks that may appear suddenly and are not necessarily your job, don't take on any new assignment if you're not sure that you can handle them or if you don't have enough time to finish the ones that you already have and new ones too. Just learn to say a firm no or at least delay those projects for a later period but pay attention to your time line and list the tasks you already have because you may not have enough time for new assignments in the near future either.

• Don't get lost in the details

The image in your head might not be the image you wanted to have after the task is completed, it's important to not get lost in the details, trying to make everything perfect , being a perfectionist is good in some situations when you have a lot of time to complete the task and not so good if you're pressed for time. A crucial thing for completing an assignment and not wasting anytime is to see the quality in every task you complete even if it's not as you imagined it. Trying to make everything perfect can create frustration and sadness that might drag you backwards, make you waste time or reduce your productivity and creativity all together.

• Keep your inspiration and motivation

After a few days or week of continuous work you may feel down or blue and that's normal but it slows you down and makes you sad, in this case you need to talk with someone that you find inspirational or with someone that you admire, it could be a colleague, a friend even your boss, the main focus here is for you to regain your inspiration and motivation. You can also hang motivational pictures or paintings in your work space, that can help to inspire you as well another thing that can help is watching videos with motivational talks or reading some books on the topic. Inspiration and motivation are directly related to your productivity, so it's important to have them.

I hope I was able to shine some light on the time management issue for you and don't forget dear reader, time management does get better with time. If you have some other tips and tricks that you use let us know what they are in the comment section.
Before I finish, I'm curious to know dear reader;

what is the most difficult thing you strugge with when trying to better manage your time?

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