The New Year is just around the corner and it is a good time for a change. It is also a time to evaluate your habits and leave your bad habits in the past and generally to just get rid of the old to make room for the new. A great skill to bring into the New Year is time management. Time management is essential to setting your goals and completing your goals. It is also a great way to keep track of your progress and know when it is time to set your mind on one goal and also when it is time to relax and have fun.

Here are a few tips to managing your time more effectively for the New Year:

Plan Your Week On Sunday

Plan to take a few minutes on Sunday to plan out your week. Your overall week will run more smoothly if your start your week and day off with a plan. A key factor to keep in mind is that your energy levels fluctuate during the week and you should plan your days with this in mind. For example, you can plan your low priority and low energy items for Monday, complete your more demanding tasks on Tuesday and Wednesday, schedule meetings for Thursday and utilize your Friday for planning and networking. It is a lot easier to get things done when you don’t have to think about what you need to focus on in a specific day and time frame.

Create A Daily Plan and Block out Your Day

Plan to block out your day the day before including tasks to complete, meetings, lunchtime, dinner, time, breaks, and when your day of work is complete. Also, when blocking out time keep in mind intricate details of a specific task and block out time for each detail needed to complete the task. Blocking out your day will allow you to execute your day more effectively without having lose time thinking about what you have to do next or tempting procrastination.

Schedule Your Demanding Tasks In The Morning

The morning is a great time to focus and get things out of the way before your mind is cluttered with other demands and thoughts. Use the morning to complete tasks that you may feel less obliged to do mid day.

Make The Most Of Your Waiting Periods

Utilize your waiting period effectively. Do you have a long commute on a train to work? Do you have a long wait before a flight? Use the time to complete small tasks like sending an email, making a call or even outlining a paper. Use these moments to get yourself ahead of the game.

Actually Organize Your Email

Emails can be stressful when it is all organized. Create folders according to the type of emails you receive and level of urgency. It will help to stay on top of what is going on, what you need to reply to and also not get overwhelmed by receiving a large volume of emails. A good trick is to create a filter that automatically sends a certain email address straight into a mailbox folder that you created. It helps to keep track of the emails that are being received.

Use Your Calendar

Get a dry erase calendar and fill in a visible schedule on your wall. Use your calendar to keep track of deadlines and even add locations to events being attended.

Comment down below how you manage your time best!