Manage time? Who can?

Lets face it time waits for no one! Time keeps ticking away regardless of our efforts to squeeze in more and more into our day.

The question then stands: Can we really be successful at time management. Clearly no one can manage time. Maybe this is why it is a source of constant frustration for so many people in every industry and organisation.

Therefore where should our focus lay? It’s all about us! We must turn our attention from that which we cannot manage, time, and focus on that which we can manage, ourselves.

We need to ask ourselves, what am I being coerced by, which is distracting me from using my time efficiently? What is keeping me from achieving my goals? Why do I allow seemingly unimportant things to side-track my purpose? Once we identify the answers to these questions we can begin to unpack our priorities, unlock our potentialities and begin to stand firm on behaviour which will strategically help us work towards achieving our goals.

When we start becoming more strategic around how we use our time the impact is wide and deep. The areas influenced are an impressive list:

- Improved work-life balance

- Increased productivity

- Lower stress levels

- Created opportunities for the important or what we do best

- Developed delegation skillset and organizational skills

- Enabled goal achievement

Let me offer five steps that may help you begin this process of reclaiming your authority for the purpose of achieving your goals within the time allocated.

1. Prioritize actions for goal achievement
2. Analyze what needs to be done and identify each actions purpose against your goals
3. Filter out distractions, take authority of your space and be deliberate in who influences your focus
4. Schedule in key people to enable success
5. Execute your plan with mindfulness and purpose with key people around you, stay focused and always flexible

Remember, you are the only one who can achieve success in this aspect of your life and career. You must become the achieve ingredient in self-regulation and not a passive recipient; simply responding to other people’s agenda.

Now is the time to step up, identify your priorities and goals, action them purposefully and be the change you want to see.