NORTH CAROLINA TURFGRASS: Natalie Peterson

Time management, yes, I know you are probably thinking – How am I going to manage the time that I don’t have?! How could I possibly get even more done than I already am? I know. Demands on your time are all around you. Every time you turn around it seems like you are yet again being asked to do more, with less. It is everywhere. So, if this seems like a losing battle, why try?

Because you and I both know that without time management, without the focus and discipline around how you spend time doing the things you HAVE to do – you are all but guaranteeing that there will be NO time to do the things that excite you, no freedom for the things you WANT to do. And there is a better way.

You’ve felt it, you’ve seen glimpses of when things are working well. When your energy is high, you are engaged at work and at home and when you feel strong momentum carrying you through your days.

When you are effectively managing time, you feel happier right? Your confidence is lifted, you feel more control and joy. When time is working for you instead of against you it allows you to participate in life – doing the things you love to do, making time for the things you value and executing the vision you have for yourself.

There are strategies and processes that can make you more effective day to day and I know you are going to continue searching until you find the formula that works for your lifestyle – and I hope to help you solidify that today with 5 Simple Rules for time Management.

Start big and work backwards.

The most important thing you can do for yourself when it comes to staying disciplined and focused is to have a vision for your life and for the person you want to be. It is also important to set that same vision for your month.

At the beginning of each month, map out everything you need to accomplish: Make a list of goals, no more than three, in the following categories: personal development, career, relationships (including family and friendships), financial, and health and fitness. Once you have those monthly goals mapped out, you can start to break your month down by the week.

Taking an overall view of your month allows you to see where those goals will fit. Usually, the goals we have for our month are achieved by the things we do on a daily and weekly basis.

Decide when you want to take advantage of your freedom windows.

When are you most productive? Most people have the opportunity for more time discipline in the morning and in the evenings. It is good to know this because not all free time is created equal. For me, I do my best work early in the morning rather than late at night. So, I may choose to do the things that require the most willpower in my morning freedom hours: between the hours of 5:30-7:30 a.m. Things like writing, creating and fitness, and I schedule my family or connect time for the evening.

Decide when you personally are most motivated and inspired to commit time for your personal development – for your fitness, learning, creation. Identify those windows of opportunity on your calendar – highlight them in your favorite color to remind yourself that when you stay focused and disciplined during your non-negotiable hours, you can fill that “freedom time” with whatever you want. And speaking of non-negotiable hours and freedom time…

Block your time every day.

You are probably at a point in your life when things don’t change with your schedule all that much. By this I mean each week you have commute time, mealtimes, work time. These things don’t change and usually they are non-negotiable – so put those in your schedule first.

Once those are in, the other blocks that you should have every single week are: fitness (hopefully multiple blocks), scheduled free time, personal development time, family time, catch up time. By blocking your time this way, you can see windows of opportunity more clearly. Set up these blocks starting around 6 a.m. (or earlier) and structure them until you go to bed.

And here is a bonus tip – as you begin to block out your schedule and you plan the time for all your non-negotiable obligations, be on the lookout for the things that we tend to classify as non-negotiable, but they actually are negotiable. Things like committees, clubs, events and even social outings. Where can you trim down your commitments to other people?

You must do this to make the time and space in your life for the things that are most important to you.

If you don’t, you will never be able to get ahold of your time. You’ll never be able to take the time for the things that bring you the most happiness and connection with the people you care about.

Choose an app or a calendar system that works for you and plug it all in. This gives you a visual structure. Your obligations, the time you don’t control, may change day to day so having it all mapped out in advance will help you identify the blocks of time that allow freedom and choice in how you spend them.

That is where you can plug in those goals you set at the beginning of the month that aren’t addressed by your work hours, commute time and any other block of time that is set in stone based on your day-to-day obligations.

Get rid of distractions.

These are small things, but they help make the big things happen. Turn your phone on “do not disturb,” don’t check your email until you have completed a big item on your to-do list, turn off push notifications.

Anything that pulls you away from your most important tasks diminishes their interference.

Put headphones in with a focus or productivity playlist and not only will that help you dial in to what you are doing, but it will also diminish the interruptions when you have those headphones in your ears.

Perfect your morning routine.

A well-managed and productive day starts in the morning. Spend 20 minutes each morning, before responding to texts, emails and social media dialing in your schedule and to-do list for the day. Review your top three important goals for the day, look over the five smaller tasks that also need your attention, be reminded of meetings, appointments and the blocks of time you set aside for your personal development – your workout, your creative time, whatever you have inserted into that day just for you.

Don’t wait for that morning prep time. If you think you can just wait and do it once you are at the office and after checking email, it won’t happen. Our day can get away from us in the blink of an eye. Be disciplined about your morning routine, your day is won in the morning. If you can win the morning and spend time every day considering, “How can I create movement and momentum in my life today? What absolutely must I do today to be successful?” you will be amazed at what you can accomplish.

You will look back each month proud and confident. And at the end of each year, you will have a list of milestones that you hit and you will be excited about what you are capable of for the year ahead.

If you don’t do these things, if you aren’t disciplined and focused with your time, you will look back at your month or year wondering where all the time went and how you let another year go by without accomplishing what you set out to do.

And if you let it go on for too long, you will wake up one day asking yourself, how did I get here, and look in the mirror wondering, who is this person I have become?

So, take your time back. Implement these strategies into your daily life. When you do that, you are charging up your stamina, on your way to building a life you are proud of, a life that you desire.



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