Why time is important in our life?
Time is important in all our lives, but it’s often taken for granted.
People with no concept of time believe it’s infinite and make the mistake of wasting it.
Think about it.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning?
If you’re cognizant of time, and value it like you should, you more than likely look at a clock on your nightstand or the alarm on your phone.
We only have so many hours to be productive before we’re right back in bed 12-16 hours later. So, the question remains…What are you doing with your 24-hours in a day?
Do you value your time? Reflect on the questions below to put your views on time into perspective.
- Do you set monthly or yearly goals?
- What are your daily habits?
- What weekly routines do you follow?
- Do you have a 3-year action plan?
- Do you set deadlines for your personal goals?
- Are you easily distracted?
- Do you possess a sense of urgency with your responsibilities at home or work?
- Is it difficult for you to focus on daily tasks?
The way we perceive, prioritize, and manage time has a significant effect on our personal and professional well-being.
How does time affect a person’s life?
Time is important because it affects our life in different ways.
There are five primary ways time affects our daily routines, health, and aspirations in life.
1. Increased Productivity
Everyone has the same 24-hours in a day, but some people are more productive than others.
Have you ever wondered how this is possible?
Two words…Time management.
Time management involves effectively accomplishing goals and completing projects by planning, organizing, and controlling the allocation of time between specific activities and tasks.
Time management is the only way to maximize your productivity. There’s no way around it.
Sure, some people have teams, family members, or staff to help them accomplish their tasks throughout the day.
But others are simply more skilled at maximizing their time.
Some daily time management strategies you can use to boost productivity include:
- Time Blocking
- Goal Setting
- Daily Priorities
- To-Do Lists
- Calendar System
- Action Plans
- Restricted Schedules
- Regular Breaks
- Set Boundaries
- Follow Routines
- Develop Habits
- Limit Multitasking
Incorporate these strategies to maximize your productivity each day.
Use schedules to structure your weekdays.
Develop habits and routines that will make it easier for you to stay focused and cater to your well-being.
Setting weekly and monthly goals along with to-do lists will keep you on track, but also help with leading an intentional lifestyle.
When you’re living life with no purpose or goals to work towards, time just passes you by.
RELATED POSTS
How to plan for a new month
What’s the most important step for prioritizing goals?
Time Blocking: How to get more done in less time?
Managing time is important for bringing your dreams to fruition. We can all envision where we’d like to be years from now, but we’ll continue to miss the mark without a plan.
Productivity requires goal prioritization; blocking off schedules to indulge in work and play; and approaching daily tasks with a plan in place.
Here are five of my favorite hacks for managing time:
- Pomodoro Technique – Enables you to work in focused intervals, typically 25 minutes, followed by a quick break. Repeat the sprints for increased productivity.
- Batching – Combine similar tasks together and complete them during designated time slots to minimize context-switching.
- SMART Goals – Make your goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound for clarity and effectiveness.
- Automate Repetitive Tasks – Use technology and productivity apps to automate routine and repetitive tasks. This will save more time for more important activities.
- Eating The Frog – Tackle your most challenging or unpleasant task first thing in the morning to set a positive tone for the day.
Bonus Time Management Hack:
Low hanging fruit (or the 2-minute rule)– For any tasks that take less than two minutes or a short amount of time to complete, do them immediately. This strategy helps clear minor tasks quickly.
2. Reduced Stress
When do you feel the most stressed?
Is it when you’re feeling overwhelmed? Or when you have too much work to do?
These are two things that easily give me anxiety.
Proper planning and prioritization are the key to reducing stress during the week.
Effective time management assists with prioritizing tasks and activities based on their importance and urgency.
Identify which tasks are top priority to avoid wasting time on less important things.
When you allocate specific time slots for different tasks, you work more efficiently.
Things get done at a quicker pace, which means more time to spend on leisure, relaxation, and other activities.
Imagine waking up and having no direction.
If you don’t manage time, time will manage you.
Planner Me up
People who complain about time slipping away or going by too fast rarely follow schedules.
Yes, you need to develop a schedule outside of school and work.
Your personal life is valuable and just as important!
Effective time management requires you to plan your weeks in advance.
Creating schedules allows you to visualize what your days will look like beforehand.
This allows you to tackle any potential challenges or obstacles that will prevent you from meeting lofty weekly goals in advance.
Well-planned schedules can assist with managing your workload, reduce stress caused by last-minute rushes, or missed deadlines.
Last but not least, managing time leads to less procrastination. As tasks pile up and deadlines approach, so do the levels of stress.
Time is important to manage because it helps complete tasks in a timely manner, all while reducing stress associated with limited time frames, completing chores, and incomplete work.
Are you ready to take back control over your schedule and workload? Schedule in productive and slow days to manage your time in a healthier way.
Your stress will be gone in no time.
3. Improved Decision-Making
How many poor decisions can you make in a day with a cluttered brain?
A lot.
When there are too many things going on at once, and you’re easily distracted, that’s just a disaster waiting to happen!
I’ve made countless mistakes and poor decisions when I’m suffering from exhaustion, stressed from work, or have too many things on my mind.
But when I incorporate activities in weekly routines such as journaling, exercising, or making lists to get my thoughts down on paper, I have enough clarity to make better decisions.
Jotting down simple to-do lists or using a weekly planner enables me to understand my priorities and deadlines, which helps me to make more informed decisions.
Life happens.
Emergencies pop-up, family members need favors, children get sick, or commuting takes longer than expected to return home.
There are hiccups we can all relate to. Scratching off a task or simply moving it over to the next day not only frees up our schedules, but improves decision-making.
If you’re not overloading your weekly schedule and prioritizing work at the beginning of the day, it’s nothing to move things around when life doesn’t go as planned.
Rather than having 50 things to worry about for the week, focus on 3-5 tasks.
It’s more realistic and gives your brain a break.
Sometimes, we don’t have the mental capacity to make simple decisions, because it’s too cluttered upstairs.
Take a step back and clear it out by using weekly reflection questions, and manage your time for productivity and peace.
RELATED POSTS
90 affirmations for productivity that will motivate you to get stuff done!
15 lists to make to organize your whole life
Goals in life for a woman with purpose
4. Enhanced Work-Life Balance
Work will monopolize your life, if you allow it to.
It’s important to set hard boundaries between work and your life at home.
At the office, managing time is important, because it ensures that I’m productive, results driven, and producing quality work.
In the past, I made the mistake of bringing my work home and all the stress that came along with it.
The boundary lines were unclear, because I was putting in overtime without pay, and driving myself crazy, thinking about what needed to be done at the office outside of work.
This took a toil on my relationships and friendships and eventually compelled me to quit my toxic job altogether.
Truth is, I wasn’t managing my time effectively, because I was choosing work instead of myself.
My mental and physical health declined out of fear that I would lose the very thing that I needed to get rid of.
Once I started prioritizing career opportunities that offered a flexible work-life balance over pay and benefits, my life improved tremendously.
One thing I promised myself was to manage my time more effectively to do the things that I loved and enjoyed outside of my job.
Check out the 5 golden rules I follow for time management and a healthy work-life balance:
- Adjust your weekly schedule for an earlier start and end time
- Complete the bulk of your daily routines in the morning or early afternoon
- Never bring work home. This includes gossip, anger, disappointments, or workplace drama
- Make time for your passion and life purpose
- Prioritize relationships and friendships over work
- Goal Achievement
Time is important because of its long-term impact on personal and professional success.
Life is about achieving a series of goals.
Whether it’s graduating from college, pursuing a certain profession, a healthy marriage, or having a family of your own, it’s all about time and what you do with it.
We set goals with dates in mind to have them completed by. There are milestones in life most people plan to reach at a reasonable age.
But, we can’t achieve anything without a plan, and a plan often requires the efficient management of time.
Defining your goals, making them specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound is the first step. Action plans allow you to break down goals into smaller, manageable tasks.
From there, all you need to do is determine which tasks are most important for goal achievement. This exercise helps you identify which tasks to focus on first for the week or month.
Some people set 90-day goals every quarter of the year.
If you want to be successful, stay hyper-focused, and achieve most of the goals you set stress-free, try creating a 90-day plan.
Regularly review your progress and re-set as much as you need to.
This will help with avoiding burn out. I advocate for taking frequent breaks throughout the day.
Make sure you’re scheduling rest and relaxing activities in order to regain your focus. It works wonders every time.
How precious is time in our life?
Time is important since it’s the only thing we can’t exchange or purchase at a price.
We don’t have an unlimited supply of it, so what you do with every second of your time matters.
Think of the moments or experiences you could have created with a loved one while they were alive.
But for whatever reason, you missed out on that quality time. When they’re gone forever, you’ll never be able to get that opportunity back.
We are only down here for a short time and don’t know when our time is up.
Every day is a blessing from God. It’s imperative that you make the most of it.
The Y-O-L-O acronym is pretty accurate. You only live once, so live life to the fullest.
Managing time is important, because you never know when or if you’ll get the chance to achieve a goal or cross off an item on your bucket list.
When asked about their biggest regret, the elderly often mention not having enough time with those they loved.
All too often, we allow life to pass us by and accept the mundane. Time is much too precious to give away, so be intentional in how you use it.
Why is time meaningful to you?
Understanding the importance of time will absolutely change your life.
I can’t imagine just waking up every morning and letting the day get away from me with no plan in place.
Later on in life, I don’t want to regret not spending my time wisely or not intentionally spending it with family and helping others.
So many people spend all their time at work, or participating in activities that will bring them more money.
They’re usually under the assumption that money will bring them happiness.
Time is meaningful because you never know what life is going to throw your way.
Children spend the bulk of their days playing and learning just to become stressed out as adults who work around the clock.
When your job and taking care of others consume your time, you lose the level of curiosity and the urge to explore.
Managing your time is important when you want to live on purpose.
Dedicate time to your passion.
Pour into your relationship by setting aside time for date nights every week.
Make time to help those in need – family, neighbors, and friends.
If you want to live life with no regrets, value your time and invest it wisely.
Need a time hacking resource to help you get started? I’ve got the perfect solution you can start using today!
I teach entrepreneurs how to simplify their life and business with less + own their time and maximize productivity towards their personal and monetary goals.
Leave a Reply