Time Management Tips For Procrastinators

In our increasingly technological society, strong time management tips and practices are essential for success. Unfortunately, many people view time management as a necessary evil rather than a helpful tool. As a result, these individuals struggle to get things done and often fall behind schedule.

For procrastinators, learning how to effectively manage time is essential for success. Late projects, missed deadlines, and stressful days are all common problems for those who do not manage their time well. There are significant career implications for those who cannot manage their time as well, including missed opportunities and promotions.

There are several different time management tips or strategies that can be helpful for procrastinators. In this article, we’re going to cover:

1. Setting goals and priorities.

2. Developing good habits.

3. Using technology to help manage your time.

4. Avoiding common time traps.

Ready to get started? Let’s go!

Setting goals and priorities effectively

Effective goal setting is at the core of good time management. When you know what you want to achieve, it’s much easier to organise your time in a way that allows you to get there. Generally, there are three steps to setting effective goals:

1. Define what you want to achieve.

2. Set a deadline for yourself.

3. Make a plan of action that will help you achieve your goal.

Breaking your goal down into smaller steps also makes it easier to manage, and gives you a sense of progress as you work towards it.

Prioritising is another key element of good time management. When everything seems important, it can be difficult to know where to start. But by taking the time to assess what’s really important and what can wait, you can make better use of your time.

There are a few different ways to prioritize, but productive people often separate their tasks into three categories:

Urgent and important

Urgent and important tasks should be given top priority, as they have the potential to impact your goals the most. These tasks should be tackled as soon as possible so you can move on to the next step and complete your goal.

Important, but not urgent

Important, but not urgent tasks are those that can change your life for the better — but they usually don’t have an immediate deadline. These are tasks such as exercise, organizing your finances, and creating a marketing plan for your business. You should set time aside each day to work on these ‘important, but not urgent’ tasks so you can eventually check them off your list.

Urgent, but not important

Urgent, but not important tasks are those that need to be done, but they don’t have a lasting impact on your life. These tasks can include returning calls, emails, and faxes, or doing laundry. You should try to delegate or eliminate these tasks as much as possible so you can focus on the important/not urgent tasks.

Developing strong productivity habits

Productivity is both a skill and an art form; it can be learned and improved with time and practice. Understanding how to manage your time effectively is the key to becoming a more productive person.

The second step behind managing your time effectively is to develop good productivity habits. These habits will help you get into the groove of being productive, and eventually, it will become second nature to you. Most people find that it’s best to start small and gradually add more productive habits to their routine until they have a solid foundation.

Some good productivity habits include:

1. Planning your day the night before. This will help you wake up with a plan and avoid wasting time in the morning trying to figure out what you need to do.

2. Taking breaks every hour or so to move your body and refresh your mind. Working for hours on end without taking a break can actually make you less productive.

3. Setting deadlines for yourself and working towards them. This will help you stay focused and avoid procrastination.

4. Creating a to-do list and checking things off as you go. This will give you a sense of accomplishment and keep you motivated.

5. Dedicating specific times of the day to specific tasks. For example, allotting 30 minutes in the morning to answer emails or texts, and cutting it off as soon as your timer rings.

You won’t become productive in a day or two. It will take weeks or even months to develop these habits and make them a part of your daily routine. But, as you grow consistent in your productivity, you will start to see the benefits in terms of less stress, more free time, and a general feeling of calm.

Using technology to help manage your time

Technology is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, it can be a major distraction that keeps us from getting our work done. On the other hand, it can be a powerful tool that we can use to help us manage our time better.

As the influence of the internet and technology in our lives has grown, so too has the number of tools and apps that are available to help us manage our time. Here are some of the most popular ones:

Trello is a project management tool that helps you keep track of what you need to do and when you need to do it.

Google Calendar is a calendar app that helps you keep track of your appointments and deadlines.

Day.io is a time tracking app that helps you keep track of how you are spending your time. Our automated time tracking solution allows businesses and individuals to track time spent on various tasks and projects.

If you are a procrastinator, using technology to help you manage your time can be a big help. By using tools like Trello, Google Calendar, and Day.io, you can keep yourself organized and on track.

Automating your time tracking can also be a big help. By tracking the time you spend on various tasks, you can get a better idea of where your time is going and find ways to optimize it.

Avoiding common time traps

The last and most important step to improving your productivity is to be mindful of the 4 common time traps. These time traps are pervasive in modern-day society and their effects can be insidious. By understanding what these traps are and how to avoid them, you can reclaim control of your time and improve your productivity.

The four time traps are:

Multi-tasking

Multi-tasking is the act of trying to do multiple things at the same time. It is often thought of as a virtue, as it is seen as a sign of efficiency and productivity. However, research has shown that multitasking is actually counterproductive and leads to decreased productivity.

When you multitask, you are actually switching back and forth between tasks, which takes more time than if you were to focus on one task at a time. Additionally, multitasking leads to decreased focus and increased errors.

To avoid the traps of multi-tasking, try to do a single task whenever possible. If you need to do multiple tasks at once in order to finish work on time, try to break them up into blocks so that you are still focusing on one single task at any given time.

Social media and notifications

Social media is the bane of a productive workday. It’s hard to stay away from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram when they’re always beckoning us with new notifications.

Ideally, you would uninstall or delete these apps altogether. But that’s not realistic for most people. The second best way to deal with this is to turn off all notifications on your phone and computer. That way, you can only check social media when you purposefully decide to do so.

Procrastination

Obvious, but an important mention. Procrastination is defined as “the avoidance of doing a task that needs to be accomplished. It is the practice of doing more pleasurable activities in place of less pleasurable ones, or carrying out less urgent tasks instead of more urgent ones, thus putting off impending responsibilities.”

In other words, it’s the human equivalent of a dog putting its head under the covers to avoid hearing a scary noise. Except, in this case, the scary noise is your looming deadline.

Procrastination can be caused by many things: fear of failure, fear of success, perfectionism, not knowing where to start, etc. But the main reason people procrastinate is that they’re not motivated to do the task at hand. However, motivation is a fickle thing and often doesn’t last long. In order to truly overcome procrastination, you need to cultivate a lifestyle of discipline.

Perfectionism

Lastly, perfectionism can be a huge stumbling block to effective time management. If you feel like you need to do everything perfectly, then you’ll likely hesitate before starting anything, for fear of not being able to complete it to your standards. This can lead to a lot of wasted time as you continually reassess and reevaluate your plans.

The key to overcoming perfectionism is to remember that it’s okay to make mistakes. In fact, you’re going to make mistakes whether you like it or not, so you might as well just get started. You can always improve upon your work as you go along.

Additionally, try to set realistic expectations for yourself. It’s okay to strive for excellence, but don’t expect perfection from yourself every time. Most great works of art aren’t perfect, but they’re still worth appreciating.

In closing

In summary, time management is the key to a productive and successful life. It allows you to get the most out of your day by using your time wisely. As procrastinators, we need to be especially diligent in our time management tips or practices, as they can help us overcome our natural tendencies and become more productive.

There are many different techniques that can be used to manage your time, so find the ones that work best for you and stick with them. With a little bit of practice, and the time management tips in this guide, you will be able to overcome your procrastination and get more done in less time. Best of luck!