Don’t Be “That Guy”…

Now and then you run across a few people who always have an excuse for being late, or they can “Never find the time” to meet with you, hang out, etc… This is primarily because they let their schedule run their lives, instead of them running it. Time management is one of the most crucial skills. Being efficient at it can help you in so many ways. It can improve your relationships, and the impressions you leave on people, and it can also help establish a little balance in your life so that you can get focused. Without a schedule, you’re aimlessly going about life with no plan. Some people might enjoy that life, but the majority of us desire a little balance and organization.

So I’m going to show you the systems I use to manage my time, and hopefully, it will let you see just how powerful it can be if you put it to work in your life. Managing time comes down to two elements, and that’s your schedule, and your general to-do’s. In this day and age, nearly everything we do is digital. You can certainly do this method old school with a paper planner, but the internet has made things so much more efficient and simple. Now there are hundreds of calendar apps out there, and I’ve tried just about all of them. Nothing compares to Google Calendar. It provides you with task-managing capabilities, reminders, color coding, and more. You can even share your calendar with other people, and invite them to events with you. You can’t exactly do that on a piece of paper.

Time Blocking is the most important part of managing your time. Time blocking allows you to know when everything is supposed to happen. The concept is to block time now, for something you know you will be doing in the future. The idea is to develop a routine that works for you.

For example, hypothetically, let’s say I wake up Monday-Friday at 5 am. From 5 am to 8 am, I have a specific morning routine that I go through. So every day I know from 5 am to 8 am I am going to be busy going through my routine. Another example is going to the gym or appointments. I like to go to the gym at very specific times, and I like to set appointments for specific times. Instead of never knowing when I’m available, by blocking time for it in advance you already have that time set aside so that you don’t overbook a meeting or make commitments to other things when you are already committed to another. Time blocking allows you to be in control. If you take a look at my calendar here you will see what I’m talking about and you can visualize what time blocking actually looks like. (This is a very old version of my schedule. It’s much different today)

This Is What Time Blocking Looks Like

I also like to color-code my agenda, and you can color-code yours however you like but for me, this is how I break mine down.

• Yellow = Health & Mindset
• Green = Personal & Family Time
• Red = Work Related
• Blue = Meetings/Appointments/General Stuff

I own multiple businesses, and for me, time blocking is essential. I like to block specific days to work on a business, instead of working on all of them all of the time. I found that when I did that nothing got done because when I was supposed to be social networking for one business, I’d be writing a blog for the other, or working on a video project. So now I am very intentional about when I dedicate my time to something. This way when that time block comes around, I am 100% focused on that block.

Managing Tasks is just as easy as the schedule. Through Google, you can use the tasks system to set to-do’s and you can also set reminders.  You can also download the Google apps for your phone to manage tasks and reminders on the go as well. Universal access and control are critical.

For those of you who are looking to take your productivity to the next level, check out my article “How To Have A Productive Day, Everyday“.

For those of you looking for the next stage of true evolution in your lives, join Operation Optimize.

I hope this article helps you manage your time better. Once you take control of your time so much opportunity will open up for you. If you found this article helpful please share it with your friends so it may help them too!