Time Management Tips To Make The Most Of This New Year
Jess Villela is a business owner, wife, mom of three, and an avid volunteer, so time management is key to maintaining order in her days, weeks, and months. She says her go-to holistic planning tool is the Passion Planner.
Villela shares the time management tips that help her stay on top of day-to-day demands as a sales and leadership coach. “I funnel my time management through a very specific process each year so I can drill down from big picture vision and goals to daily time blocking in my planner,” she says.
Considering that 58% of American workers say they are so busy with daily tasks that they lack time to consider anything but their to-do list for today, it’s key to learn how to manage time effectively.
Reflection Time
Villela starts by reflecting on the past to see what worked and what could use improvement. This way she can build on her previous strategy and get even more out of her time going forward.
“Review last year's planner, goals, notes, and schedule. Assess what worked, what can be optimized, and sketch out goals for coming year,” she advises.
Brain Dump
A brain dump starts with simply getting everything out of your head and on to paper – in no particular order. In fact, it’s best to not filter yourself and just write down everything that comes to mind. This exercise helps clear your mind so you can better focus on the things that require your attention and helps you to stop worrying about the less important items on your to-do list.
It doesn’t matter what your brain dump looks like – it can be as simple as a bulleted list, or as intricate as a bullet journal. The most important thing is to get your thoughts on paper in any form that is effective for you.
“I categorize mental, physical, relational, spiritual, financial ideas on poster paper so I can see it all in front of me. I use the brain dump to organize and order my top priorities and fine tune my drafted goals.”
Before moving on to the next step, it’s a good idea to take a break, and then look at the list you’ve compiled after some time has passed, with fresh eyes and a clear mind. This will help you prioritize, and group items in an efficient manner.
Reverse Engineer Goals
This next tip is quite remarkable, as it helps you realistically navigate how to achieve the goals you’ve set for yourself. And it does it in a way that maps out an attainable path.
Villela advises that you reverse engineer yearly goals into quarters. “Time block and schedule based on what's needed to achieve that quarter's goals,” she says.
By backing your way into what it will take to achieve specific goals, you can better plan each step, the amount of time it will take, and work through the process to ensure that you meet the goal.
This powerful strategy is a sure way to achieve more of your goals without letting things fall through the cracks. By unpacking larger objectives into the day-to-day actions you will need to take in order to achieve that objective, you are setting yourself up for success.
On-Going Reflection And Evaluation
“One of the best things about the Passion Planner is that it has built in space to reflect back on this process. I regularly check in to see what adjustments make sense in any given season. Having this process in place for goal setting and time management really lessens my mental load, and creates space and freedom in a very full, multi-faceted life.”
