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Time management is the application of certain processes or tools in order to achieve our goals or complete a project in a certain time period. It is not only applicable in the corporate world, but also in our daily activities. It involves goal setting, planning, organizing, analysis, prioritizing, supervising and budgeting time available. Time is indeed a very difficult resource to manage. This is why the term “time management” not only means managing one’s time, but also implies managing our activities daily in order to make the best possible use of that time. When it comes to running a business, managing time becomes all the more crucial and difficult. It completely depends on the person on how efficiently the time in hand is utilized in order to succeed.

Time Management Techniques

* Goal setting: The most important step towards time management is setting the right goals in the form of tasks or projects. This can be given the form of a to-do list or task list with a set schedule of completion. This can be made both for our daily chores, as well as important projects, in work on a daily basis or set time periods. This acts as a reminder for the activities for us. An example of a task list is a simple list of groceries, or stages in a product’s development. It is written in a step format and on completion of each task; one can either strike off or check the particular task and move on to the next one. This helps keep track of the pace at which the tasks are completed, as well as reviewing the strategies adopted.

It is also essential to note that the routine tasks need not be written every day, and one can save time by keeping a standard list of daily activities handy as a reminder.

Examples of goal setting are a sales target, conversion rate, product launch and so on. Each has a specific deadline as well.

* Planning: Planning how to utilize our time efficiently helps us in many ways. However, deciding which tasks should be done at a particular time is difficult. For that, we ought to know which time suits a particular task best for the most fruitful results. Planning is the most important step, especially for businesses like in the online marketplace. Everything else becomes secondary to time management in order to succeed. Planning begins with dividing the tasks listed into three categories of goals based on time:

• Short Term Goals: They can be daily or weekly goals.
• Medium Term Goals: They can be monthly or quarterly goals.
• Long Term Goals: They can be more than 2-3 years goals.

One can start planning for the short term goals and with the broader picture of the goals in mind, or one can plan for medium and long term goals as time progresses. Planning for a sudden change in routine is also vital as it could affect the management of time. So make sure the plan is flexible enough to keep some buffer for sudden failure or change.

The plan should also include timely monitoring of tasks in order to track the performance and make required changes at the right time. Assigning a deadline for each task is crucial and ensuring that it is followed is also important. Remember that the targets that we set for each time period should be practical and achievable.

* Prioritizing: In order to avoid wasting time on unimportant tasks at a given time, prioritizing the tasks is very essential. One should always analyze which is the most important goal at a given time, and what are the related activities that need to be completed to achieve that goal. This will automatically give us the flow of activities to be followed to complete the tasks. There are a number of methods followed for prioritizing the tasks. The most common among them is giving numbers to each task in the descending order of priority like highest importance task is “1″, next one “2″ and so on. Another way is ABC format in which “A” is the most important task, “B” the next and “C” the least important. One can choose any of these methods and prioritize the tasks in a better and easier way.
* Motivation:Time management is complete only when one is motivated to achieve the set goals as planned in the required time. It is not uncommon to get de-motivated by failure during any stage of the entire process of managing your time well. However it is on us how we keep that drive alive. We can achieve that by counting the checks or cross on the task list per day, which can boost our morale and motivation levels. Even rewarding ourselves for small milestones achieved can help us stay focused throughout.

Time Management Tools

There are many tools available online that help us in managing our time effectively. Some of the useful ones are as follows:

* Todolist and Vitalist:These are some of the task list managers available online, which are easy to use and available in various formats.
* MS Outlook and Google Calendar:Calendar is one of the most important tools in time management and is required for scheduling the tasks well. They have features like email reminders, meeting schedules, and multiple formats and so on.
* HighRise and BigContacts:These are tools for managing the contacts more efficiently with features like phone numbers, emails, addresses, notes for each contact, meetings, calls made, tasks due and so on.
* Basecamp and Backpack:These are project management tools that help in collaboration and storing notes and files. They also have features like checklists, task lists, page sharing to name a few.

Time management techniques are useful for all people and businesses that have set targets and want to succeed in the future. A laid-back attitude can never help in rising up the ladder. So time management is crucial for everyone and must be done religiously.