The word time management has become broadly used. Today the term applies to subjects covering project management, list management and even personal energy management. While all are important to living a better life, I want to focus this article to the actuality of "time" management. This is the actual management of the seconds, minutes and the hours of our days.
I have found, running several businesses and wearing many hats (as do many of us) that the use of a simple countdown timer can work wonders. I want to point out 7 reasons why using a timer can help us get more done and even reduce stress.
Here are 7 reasons why using a countdown timer can be one of the most effective methods of proper time management:
1) To handle anything, one must become aware of it. In any area of our lives that we are not handling the way we really want we'll find that there are elements in these areas about which we are unaware and are, as a result, not confronting. Just as we gain weight by idly eating food, often beyond our own awareness, we can utilize the time of our day the same way. The effectiveness of diets is greatly affected by our being actually aware of each morsel of food that we eat. This awareness allows us to bring control into our eating habits. Same can be said with time. Our control of time, our awareness of time, brings about our ability to control it. A countdown timer is a key tool to achieving this degree of awareness.
2) Timers break time into manageable bits. Goals are best conquered in stages, in degrees and in steps. The hours in our day are no exceptions. Timers allow us to break our lives and activities into manageable bits.
3) Just as a diet contains a firm decision not to exceed our caloric intake or fall shy of our agreed-upon exercise., a countdown timer, along with a personal agreement to play by the rules, will help keep us from straying from one task to another. Successful multitasking is a myth. We accomplish the most by doing things one at a time. The decision to use and to follow the countdown timer helps us to stick with our own decisions and helps us to maintain discipline in our use of time.
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) The proper use of a timer can help us find areas where we are wasting time. Interruptions are part of life. The surprising part of that is how much time interruptions and unplanned activities can take out of our day. The use of a timer could be likened to the use of a diary to look at how we actually have been eating which led to an increased weight. Just as in diets, once the track record is known we can better allocate our time. A countdown timer is a great way to achieve this.
6) Using a timer allows us to understand the nature of action. All tasks, all actions that we do or take during the day are actually cycles of action. A cycle of action always has a start, a change, and a stop. This understanding can impose a an amazing amount of sanity into how we operate in our lives. A timer is an excellent way of emphasizing this basic truth of life.
7) A timer makes taking breaks a heck of a lot more fun and guilt free. When we set aside specific amount of time for breaks, we tend to do so without guilt and we tend to get the most out of these pleasure moments. Timers are great tools to use for loafing, for naps and other non-work activities that are important.
Setting a countdown timer and keeping an eye on it is certainly not a new concept. Chefs have been doing it for years. Many people have also used the technique for day-to-day living. You may have heard of "The Pomodoro Technique". This is a time management system this been around for many decades. The timer is a fundamental part of this technique. If you are curious, look it up on the Internet. Timers are easy to find. We can find them in our smart phones, or go down to a Walmart or RadioShack and buy an inexpensive desktop model which can be an amazingly valuable investment. There are timer apps that are part of browsers or which sit on the desktop of the computer. The key is to find one and use it.
Timers, alone, can make a big difference in our lives. However some daily planning techniques added to the use of a timer will increase our effectiveness many, many times over. It is best to combine daily planning and the use of a countdown timer.
I have found, running several businesses and wearing many hats (as do many of us) that the use of a simple countdown timer can work wonders. I want to point out 7 reasons why using a timer can help us get more done and even reduce stress.
Here are 7 reasons why using a countdown timer can be one of the most effective methods of proper time management:
1) To handle anything, one must become aware of it. In any area of our lives that we are not handling the way we really want we'll find that there are elements in these areas about which we are unaware and are, as a result, not confronting. Just as we gain weight by idly eating food, often beyond our own awareness, we can utilize the time of our day the same way. The effectiveness of diets is greatly affected by our being actually aware of each morsel of food that we eat. This awareness allows us to bring control into our eating habits. Same can be said with time. Our control of time, our awareness of time, brings about our ability to control it. A countdown timer is a key tool to achieving this degree of awareness.
2) Timers break time into manageable bits. Goals are best conquered in stages, in degrees and in steps. The hours in our day are no exceptions. Timers allow us to break our lives and activities into manageable bits.
3) Just as a diet contains a firm decision not to exceed our caloric intake or fall shy of our agreed-upon exercise., a countdown timer, along with a personal agreement to play by the rules, will help keep us from straying from one task to another. Successful multitasking is a myth. We accomplish the most by doing things one at a time. The decision to use and to follow the countdown timer helps us to stick with our own decisions and helps us to maintain discipline in our use of time.
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) The proper use of a timer can help us find areas where we are wasting time. Interruptions are part of life. The surprising part of that is how much time interruptions and unplanned activities can take out of our day. The use of a timer could be likened to the use of a diary to look at how we actually have been eating which led to an increased weight. Just as in diets, once the track record is known we can better allocate our time. A countdown timer is a great way to achieve this.
6) Using a timer allows us to understand the nature of action. All tasks, all actions that we do or take during the day are actually cycles of action. A cycle of action always has a start, a change, and a stop. This understanding can impose a an amazing amount of sanity into how we operate in our lives. A timer is an excellent way of emphasizing this basic truth of life.
7) A timer makes taking breaks a heck of a lot more fun and guilt free. When we set aside specific amount of time for breaks, we tend to do so without guilt and we tend to get the most out of these pleasure moments. Timers are great tools to use for loafing, for naps and other non-work activities that are important.
Setting a countdown timer and keeping an eye on it is certainly not a new concept. Chefs have been doing it for years. Many people have also used the technique for day-to-day living. You may have heard of "The Pomodoro Technique". This is a time management system this been around for many decades. The timer is a fundamental part of this technique. If you are curious, look it up on the Internet. Timers are easy to find. We can find them in our smart phones, or go down to a Walmart or RadioShack and buy an inexpensive desktop model which can be an amazingly valuable investment. There are timer apps that are part of browsers or which sit on the desktop of the computer. The key is to find one and use it.
Timers, alone, can make a big difference in our lives. However some daily planning techniques added to the use of a timer will increase our effectiveness many, many times over. It is best to combine daily planning and the use of a countdown timer.
About the Author:
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