Scorecard for Personal Time Management

Effective time management is important for the person's success in life.

Time management is an essential part of the person's life. It goes beyond setting a plan of every day activities or acquiring new personal skills. Each person may feel exhaustion and fatigue which impacts a lot of areas of his or her life, including relationships, disposition, availability, and others.

People are refreshed and "restored" in different ways, therefore it is important to find out which activities drain and which renew the person's energy levels. Some people choose a quiet spot to sit and read while others prefer athletic exercises or social activity. The person's success in life depends on his or her emotional well-being, and not only on the development of managerial and other skills.

In order to create a personal time management program one should keep a record of all important daily (or weekly) activities. A weekly schedule helps determine the most preferable environment and time for personal productivity. It is crucial to schedule the key tasks during the person's most productive hours. Afterwards this schedule can be used to evaluate the progress in time management, as well as the fulfillment of personal goals.

Personal time management program consists of a schedule of daily activities, a planner with sections for different projects, and a To-Do list where one can put down all items that require immediate and future attention. It is essential to prioritize the tasks in order to tackle the higher priority issues first.

There is a great benefit in handling the things only once. For instance, if an item does not require immediate attention, it can be recorded in the To-Do list in order to return to it later. However, it is not wise to put off the challenging tasks simply because they feel overwhelming.

Creating a To-Do list helps a person to focus on his or her goals and objectives. It provides the vision and incentives to complete even the most difficult tasks. The personal goals build a framework for motivation.

Using a calendar also helps stimulate the personal vision, and assist in long-term planning. It is a convenient tool which allows a person to measure his or her personal planning success.

The high-priority goals and objectives should cover the broad areas of one's personal life. Before determining specific short-term goals (for instance, dieting or balancing the budget), it is essential to identify a number of broad categories (including career, family, health, finances, hobbies, etc.). Each category may have up to five specific goals which address personal real-life issues. Next, one should identify the activities that may help achieve each goal. Such framework is a powerful time saver which helps a person to pinpoint primary and secondary activities.

In order to be an effective person, as well as an effective manager, it is important to preserve and enhance the greatest personal asset - the time. Although time management is a complex discipline and is sometimes accompanied by a lot of failures, creating a personal time management program may bring reward in terms of higher productivity and fulfillment of long-terms goals and objectives.