The word time management is a broad term used to apply from a wide variety of subjects ranging from list management and even encompassing personal energy management. Though these are all important, in this article I want to talk about actual time management. Time management is the science of managing the specific moments of the day.
I want to talk about a simple tool which can work wonders in the actual management of our time. This tool is the simple countdown timer. Here are seven reasons why the use of the timer will make a significant difference in the amount we get done on any given day as well as the amount of stress that we accumulate along the way.
Here are 7 reasons why using a countdown timer can be one of the most effective methods of proper time management:
1) A key part of improving and handling anything is to become aware of it in the first place. Confront is a central tenet to handling anything effectively. This includes time. A good example of this would be going on a diet to lose weight. Though what we do, reducing calories and increasing exercise, are important one of the key reasons why diets work is that it makes us become aware of what we are putting our mouths. We stop the idle munching which is a habit so easy to fall into. Just as we can mindlessly consume food, you can mindlessly consume the hours of the day. A great value to the use of a timer is that it forces us to confront each second, minute and hour of the day as though it is something important. The truth is, those units of time are important.
2) We accomplish our missions in life by breaking them into doable steps. Great success is achieved in stages, in degrees and in steps. Using a countdown timer helps us break time, an apparent continuous stream, into manageable parts. By looking at our actions this way, with the use of a countdown timers, we will increase our effectiveness immensely.
3) The proper use of a timer includes the firm decision to not stray from the specific task assigned to the specific time period. Just as in a diet we commit to certain limits to our caloric intake or to the types of food that we eat, our use of a timer, and our commitment to its use, is a tool which helps us keep faith with our own decisions as to how we intend to use the hours in our day.
4) Countdown timers help us put a type of order onto our time. We learn, by its use, that tasks are really simply units of time that are spent in some given activity. It helps us with prediction and it helps us to fit tasks (i.e. units of time) into the hours that we have during the day.
5) Timers help a spot wasted time and, in fact, help us to evaluate if that time is truly wasted or not.. For instance, if we causatively set aside a finite period of time for interruptions and a timer, properly used, can help us control those interruptions. It is something like keeping a diary of what we eat-and the occasional shock as to how much we put away your waking hours. Using a timer allows us to better allocate where we spend our time.
6) Anything we do, any action, is actually a cycle that consists of three parts-start, change and stop. A timer is a marvelous tool to emphasize this point. It is astonishing how much sanity can be impose upon her lives when we begin to look at actions as cycles of actions with those three distinct parts. An entire book could be written on the subject but leave it to say that if you can start and can change and can stop any action you are in control of it. A timer is a great way of gaining and maintaining that control.
7) There's nothing wrong with loafing. A countdown timer can put great control into our lies allowing us to find times to loaf, to play, to take a nap and to do all it guilt free. Again, with the diet metaphor, we love our desserts now and then but we must be careful not to get carried away with them. Same with loafing time. A countdown timer helps us to assure that we have time to play and helps us keep an element of control over those moments so they are properly balanced with the other important things in life.
Using timers is not new. You might want to look into a time management technique called "The Pomodoro Technique" which has been in existence for many decades. While that is not specifically the subject of this article, it can be said that the use of timers is an integral part of the technique. Look it up on the Internet. It is easy to find timers, there on our smart phones and we can even purchase little desktop timers from RadioShack or Wal-Mart. Many browsers have built-in timers that are excellent for that purpose. There's even software out there which utilizes the timer in ingenious ways.
Though a timer, used properly, will go far to improve the quality of our lives, the addition of a little bit of daily planning along with the use of a timer will multiply the usefulness of that timer at least tenfold.
I want to talk about a simple tool which can work wonders in the actual management of our time. This tool is the simple countdown timer. Here are seven reasons why the use of the timer will make a significant difference in the amount we get done on any given day as well as the amount of stress that we accumulate along the way.
Here are 7 reasons why using a countdown timer can be one of the most effective methods of proper time management:
1) A key part of improving and handling anything is to become aware of it in the first place. Confront is a central tenet to handling anything effectively. This includes time. A good example of this would be going on a diet to lose weight. Though what we do, reducing calories and increasing exercise, are important one of the key reasons why diets work is that it makes us become aware of what we are putting our mouths. We stop the idle munching which is a habit so easy to fall into. Just as we can mindlessly consume food, you can mindlessly consume the hours of the day. A great value to the use of a timer is that it forces us to confront each second, minute and hour of the day as though it is something important. The truth is, those units of time are important.
2) We accomplish our missions in life by breaking them into doable steps. Great success is achieved in stages, in degrees and in steps. Using a countdown timer helps us break time, an apparent continuous stream, into manageable parts. By looking at our actions this way, with the use of a countdown timers, we will increase our effectiveness immensely.
3) The proper use of a timer includes the firm decision to not stray from the specific task assigned to the specific time period. Just as in a diet we commit to certain limits to our caloric intake or to the types of food that we eat, our use of a timer, and our commitment to its use, is a tool which helps us keep faith with our own decisions as to how we intend to use the hours in our day.
4) Countdown timers help us put a type of order onto our time. We learn, by its use, that tasks are really simply units of time that are spent in some given activity. It helps us with prediction and it helps us to fit tasks (i.e. units of time) into the hours that we have during the day.
5) Timers help a spot wasted time and, in fact, help us to evaluate if that time is truly wasted or not.. For instance, if we causatively set aside a finite period of time for interruptions and a timer, properly used, can help us control those interruptions. It is something like keeping a diary of what we eat-and the occasional shock as to how much we put away your waking hours. Using a timer allows us to better allocate where we spend our time.
6) Anything we do, any action, is actually a cycle that consists of three parts-start, change and stop. A timer is a marvelous tool to emphasize this point. It is astonishing how much sanity can be impose upon her lives when we begin to look at actions as cycles of actions with those three distinct parts. An entire book could be written on the subject but leave it to say that if you can start and can change and can stop any action you are in control of it. A timer is a great way of gaining and maintaining that control.
7) There's nothing wrong with loafing. A countdown timer can put great control into our lies allowing us to find times to loaf, to play, to take a nap and to do all it guilt free. Again, with the diet metaphor, we love our desserts now and then but we must be careful not to get carried away with them. Same with loafing time. A countdown timer helps us to assure that we have time to play and helps us keep an element of control over those moments so they are properly balanced with the other important things in life.
Using timers is not new. You might want to look into a time management technique called "The Pomodoro Technique" which has been in existence for many decades. While that is not specifically the subject of this article, it can be said that the use of timers is an integral part of the technique. Look it up on the Internet. It is easy to find timers, there on our smart phones and we can even purchase little desktop timers from RadioShack or Wal-Mart. Many browsers have built-in timers that are excellent for that purpose. There's even software out there which utilizes the timer in ingenious ways.
Though a timer, used properly, will go far to improve the quality of our lives, the addition of a little bit of daily planning along with the use of a timer will multiply the usefulness of that timer at least tenfold.
About the Author:
Go to DayPlanner.info for more Time Management and Day Planning Hints and Tools. Also, check out our Free Download of a very useful Day Planning Tool called Time Coach.
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