4 Time management tips that will help you make the most of 2016

Every new year thousands of people make resolution to live their lives to the full. They set goals so that they can get around doing the things that matter most to them and make vows that they'll do better in the year to come. Unfortunately, many of these people soon find themselves drowned in the demands of everyday life and many of their best intentions are soon forgotten when they fall back into the reality of just trying to get through every day doing the most important things without ever really stopping to question what the future will hold or whether they really are getting around to all the things they find important. If you're one of those people, take a look at this list below and consider whether or not some of the following things might work for you.

1. Keep a notebook with your to-do list

To some people this may sound tedious, but if you give it a try you'll soon discover why people advise this: keeping a to-do list helps you remember all the things that you want to do each day. It also helps you to break projects into bite-sized pieces by allowing you to set smaller goals for each day that eventually help you to the accomplish a bigger goal. The great thing about a to-do list is that it makes you think about what you're going to be doing and helps you to clearly keep track of whether or not you're spending your time doing the things that are most important to you. Prioritize everything on your to-do list as either important (A), average (B) or not important (C) to insure you get to doing the things that are most important to you first. By doing so, you will soon start to feel the gratification of being able to tick off things you have done from your list and seeing the progress you've made towards the things that really matter to you. Remember that setting priorities is one of the most important things you can do to help you manage your time more effectively.

Tip: Add some things to your to-do list that are easy to do and don't take much time, things that you know you're going to get to doing anyway. That way you can feel a sense of accomplishment when you get to tick it off your list. This will help to keep you motivated and not give up keeping your to-do list all together. Just remember to also add the things that take more time and really need to be done to your list as well!

2. Graph your energy to see when you work most productively

Some people are early birds while others are night owls. Graphing your energy levels throughout the day will help you establish which time of the day you are most productive, that way you can schedule tasks that require more energy during times of the day you're more likely to be functioning at your best. For your convenience, I have created a graph that you can download from here to get you started on this. In the future I hope to offer these things as PDF files, but for now a simple jpg will have to do. You probably can't really read the energy level graph at its current display size, but I can assure you, it's an energy level graph.

3. Kick the habit of procrastination

Many people might tell you to stop procrastinating like it's really easy; all you have to do is decide to not be lazy about certain things and implement a better level of self-discipline. The reality is, getting rid of procrastination in your life can be more difficult than that and require more effort, but the good news is that it isn't so difficult as to be unattainable. The first step with doing anything positive in life is to make an active choice – choose that you want to kick your bad habit. The second part is realizing that procrastination is in fact a habit, and habits must be changed in a proactive way. There are a number of actionable things you can do to help you change your habit.

Keep a journal of things you procrastinate

Keeping a journal of things you procrastinate can offer you some new insights into why you procrastinate certain things. For instance, you may find that you're in a bit of a rut with something and so you're putting it off because you don't feel like you're making progress or maybe you're a bit of a loner and you tend to put off tasks that involve human interactions (especially with strangers). Once you have an idea of why you feel hesitant to get around to doing certain things, you can diagnose where the real problem lies I.e maybe you need to look into why you're not making progress in a certain area of your life and try to come up with solutions or maybe you're suffering from some social anxiety that needs to be addressed. Subconsciously, we already know why we put off certain things, but if we decide to make a conscious effort to establish exactly why we do what we do, we can actively work on finding the solution.

Keep track of the excuses you use to justify procrastination 
Are you always too tired to get around to doing the things you procrastinate? Do you find a million other things to do if it means avoiding that one thing you don't want to do? Get an idea about the tactics you apply to procrastinate. We may think that we don't do it, but once again, our subconscious mind has a way of dictating our behaviour – unless we don't decide to take control of our minds even on a subconscious level, we will have a hard time changing anything in our lives. Once you know what things you do in order to justify your habit of procrastination, you'll be able to catch yourself red handed and decide to do something about it instead of going with the flow. Sitting in front of the TV because you don't want to make a phone call? Now you know better. Think about why you don't want to make that phone call and make a choice: Is it really necessary to do it? Would it actually be better to do it later in this case? Are you just being irrational? Is there a fear you must face? Is it even possible to do it later if you don't do it now?

4. Be realistic

While many people will want to simply dive in and suddenly have a life where they're time is perfectly managed from the moment they open their eyes in the morning to the moment they go to sleep, it is important that you don't put too much pressure on yourself or set goals that are unattainable. Don't try to follow a daily schedule that is too rigid. It will soon end up being tossed right out of your life when you find that unexpected things still come up and your schedule doesn't allow you to handle them. Give yourself at least 5 minutes between different tasks on your schedule. Some tasks may require you to schedule 10 minutes from one to the next. Allow some open time in your schedule every day for doing unexpected things that demand your attention.

Also realize that not all people are able to follow schedules, some people have lives that are too unpredictable while others simply can't flourish living according to a rigid schedule and soon grow bored; in that case, a to-do list is still your best friend because it will help you monitor your progress and set goals for yourself without causing you to race against the clock each day or lose your sense of spontaneity.

What are some techniques you've tried to manage your time more effectively? Do you have any good advice on the subject that I've missed? Please let me know in the comment below! Also, if you found this post helpful, feel free to share it with your friends on social media.