Life can be very complicated for those of us who wear too many "hats", so to speak. Some of us are students, career people, parents, companions, friends, and teachers all at the same time. If there is one thing you can count on in this world is that the need for being multi-faceted is going to increase as our technology does. The time of being able to be just an employee, or just a parent, or just a student is well over. Welcome to the age of Never Enough Time.

As this problem progresses, one has to learn to develop new and innovative methods to manage their ever-dwindling supply of time to make sure they can maintain a balanced life. There are several ways in which one can do this, such as:

Prioritizing roles

This is one of the most imperative steps to take if you wish to take control of your various responsibilities in life. Figure out which role is the most important. That's the one you should focus on. For example, say someone works part-time, has a child, goes to school part-time and volunteers for some sort of organization. The person might say being a parent comes first, the job is almost tied with being a parent (since it feeds the child and pays the rent), school is third (as it may well lead to better career choices and better pay later) and the volunteer work is fourth (serves as a good outlet for stress and enhancement of mental well-being).

By reminding yourself what comes first, it will help to offer a little more perspective to what you are doing and why. This plays a big part in the next step.

Streamlining processes

Okay, so you have established being a parent comes first. You would like to be able to spend more time with your child and taking care of them, but you still need to bring in money to maintain the house. You can start to streamline your processes by checking into avenues that will give you a more flexible schedule. More and more jobs are allowing people to do work from home, so this would be something to look into. Or you can see if you go on flex-time at work and take some of the hours no one else wants to take, thus giving you more reasonable time to spend with your child.

For those who attend school while maintaining career may have difficulty finding ample time to dedicate towards their studies. One trick I learned is how to tuck in studying during open gaps of the day. How many times have you found yourself sitting somewhere waiting on someone or for something to begin? If you bring some of your study materials with you regardless of where you are, you will find that you can finish off your work in no time flat. Ten minutes here, fifteen minutes there, it adds up quickly.

In terms of business, sometimes you just need to develop a better system. Say there is a rather arduous task that you have to do that seems to take up way too much time and holds up other jobs. Find a way to streamline the process. For example, say every month you have to run off form letters or generate reports. By taking the time to set up a comprehensive database, or creating a mail merge file, you can make the task a lot simpler than it was prior. The time you spent constructing the system will be made up in almost immediately by the fact you can use the system over and over again without faster and more accurate results. Always look for new and better resources that will help you move things along more quickly and efficiently. There are always new methods to try. Don’t be lazy and stick with a deficient routine out of habit.

Reduction of roles

This one might be tough for some people, because it involves the act of letting go. If you are a Type A personality, this could be more painful than a trip to the dentist's without anesthesia. However, letting go of responsibilities is a necessity if we are to maintain a balanced life. One of the best ways to determine if something should be dropped all together is to ask yourself this question: how much benefit do you get out of what you are doing and is it worth the amount of time you are dedicating to it? If you can't honestly answer yes to it's worth, then it is WASTING your time - not SPENDING it. This is a valuable perspective to take on things. Be sure to think of everything in terms of assets and liabilities. If it is a liability, then it must be removed from your life all together.

Consideration of tactics

Everything listed above are all things that can be utilized to make changes on what you are dealing with currently. But what about the long run? Having a plan of action as to what you can do with the future can make all the difference in the world. One of the best examples to use is in terms of career. Let's say you are currently doing data entry for a company. How could you learn to improve your skills and get yourself into a better paying and potentially more flexible job situation? The information is practically sitting right in front of you. During your next spot of down time, start looking at the software and learn how to use it at full potential. Most jobs keep the user manuals for all the software they install on their systems, so you could study those and put some of the examples to practice. If you are feeling particularly ambitious, try to take a course in some of the latest software applications that are used in most major corporations today.

Or, if you want to start your own business, make a plan to set aside some money from each paycheck for starting capital. It could be something as little as $50 from each check. However, if you set it aside in a saving account, you would be surprised how quickly that money could add up. Even the smallest of planned efforts could pay off in the long run.

Answer these questions:

All Rights Reserved © 2024

Disclaimer: The Knights of Sith makes no claims to material published under any names other than Kronos. This website is simply a collection of materials from across the internet and from many different sources and authors for education purposes. All sources for material will be listed and/or linked and all credit will be given at all times applicable.