As it happens: you seem to have drawn up the plans, and put the tomato on the table, and had breakfast, and distributed the tasks, and at the end of the day – a mess, broken plans, complete frustration. I want to send all these highly effective people skills and dive into my cargo owl clock of night work to the crunch loaf with sausage of late summer apples … But do so – it seems that you will be absolutely right.

Effective allocation of time and the ability to set priorities are key skills for achieving goals in today’s world. However, when it comes to time management, many people make common mistakes that, instead of helping, actually make it difficult to plan a productive day.

In this article, I want to draw attention to common mistakes and ineffective approaches to building your time. And also give useful recommendations on how to competently organize your day, avoiding the most common mistakes.

Trying to paint every minute of the day

One of the most common mistakes in time management is trying to plan literally every minute of your day — specifying a specific time for each activity (from waking up to going to bed). At first glance, such a detailed hourly plan seems very structured and efficient. However, in practice, it is too rigid and does not take into account the possibility of unplanned tasks, meetings or simply life situations, due to which the schedule has to be adjusted. As a result, a scrupulous minute-by-minute schedule turns out to be unrealistic and brings only disappointment from an unfulfilled plan.

Instead, I recommend planning your day, leaving gaps of free time between scheduled tasks. This will allow you to be flexible and, if necessary, change the sequence or time of your tasks, without falling out of schedule.

Carrying out light tasks in the morning

Another common recommendation regarding the organization of the day is related to what time of day is better to perform tasks of different complexity. Many mistakenly believe that the morning should start with simple tasks, and leave more complex tasks for the second half or the end of the day. However, in reality, the morning hour is the optimal time for solving complex tasks that require concentration and creativity. At this time, your brain is rested and full of energy. But it is better to schedule routine tasks for the second half of the day, when productivity decreases.

Therefore, I recommend you to solve strategic issues, engage in creativity and lead difficult projects in the morning. And in the afternoon or evening, you can schedule routine calls, letters and simple paperwork. This approach will allow you to use your internal resources much more efficiently during the day.

However, it should be taken into account that this is only a generalized scheme, which can vary significantly depending on individual chronotypes. In “larks” the peak of working capacity falls in the morning, in “owls” – in the evening and night. Therefore, when planning things, you need to focus on your chronotype and circadian rhythms.

Incorporating an obvious routine into the plan

Many people make the mistake of including in their daily plan such obvious routine actions as: eating, going to the store or even going to the toilet. It would seem that by writing down their day literally in minutes, they demonstrate the highest organization and self-discipline. However, in reality, this does not make practical sense and only takes time.

After all, repeated actions, such as eating lunch or taking a shower in the morning, already happen automatically, out of habit. It is unnecessary to write them down in the plan every day. This will only create the illusion of busyness, but will make the schedule really efficient.

Instead, I recommend that you focus your planning on important, non-standard tasks that require conscious effort and concentration. And it is better to leave the routine at the level of useful skills developed to automaticity, but do not clutter the daily plan. This will help you focus on truly priority goals.

Setting immeasurable goals

An important principle of effective time management is the ability to correctly formulate your goals. A common mistake is to set too general, vague goals. For example, “be successful”, “learn a foreign language”, “lose weight”. Such goals are difficult to measure and understand whether they have been achieved or not.

Instead, I recommend setting specific goals with measurables and deadlines. For example, “reach B1 level in English in 6 months”, “lose weight by 10 kg in 3 months”, “earn 1,000,000 rubles per year”. Such goals are easier to break down into step-by-step tasks and track progress in achieving them. This is a key skill for effective self-management.

Self-management is a complex process where we simultaneously act as an investor in our development and an investment object. To effectively allocate personal resources, it is useful to set a specific goal according to the SMART principle:

• The goal should be specific and measurable so that progress can be tracked.

• Achievable, but at the same time quite ambitious.

• Relevant and meaningful for you personally.

• Limited in time to motivate you to act.

Hiding your goals

Many people make the mistake of making a list of their goals and then putting it away on the desk or forgetting it somewhere in their phone. As a result, goals fall out of sight and cease to perform a motivating function.

Instead, I recommend constantly keeping your goals in front of your eyes. You can hang the list of goals on the wall, fix it on the refrigerator, put wallpaper on the desktop, add a widget to the phone, and so on. When goals are constantly visible, they will remind you of yourself every day and motivate you to take specific actions to achieve them.

Regular review of goals is also important. Life changes, and old goals may lose relevance or take on a different meaning. Therefore, once a month it is useful to reread your list of goals, correct and update it. The main thing is not to hide your goals, but on the contrary, to keep them in sight to increase motivation and effectiveness.

Postponing fixation of ideas

A common mistake is to put off recording an idea or thought until later. It seems that the idea can be remembered and fixed at a convenient moment. However, in practice, ideas are often forgotten and lost.

An effective approach is to immediately capture any ideas, thoughts, or insights as soon as they occur. To do this, you can carry a notebook or use the voice recorder in your phone to record a voice reminder. There are also special programs for instant capture of ideas, such as notes in the phone, LeaderTask, Todoist or Evernote.

Writing helps free your brain from the need to constantly keep an idea in mind. And in the future, all recorded ideas can be analyzed, developed and implemented. Therefore, the main advice is not to delay writing down thoughts, record them as quickly as possible for successful time management.

Decision making is hot

A common mistake is to make serious decisions spontaneously, under the influence of emotions or trying to fit into a strict time frame. However, important decisions made in the heat of the moment often turn out to be thoughtless and hasty.

Experts recommend giving yourself time to carefully consider everything for balanced decisions. It is useful to ask advice from people whose opinion you value, and also to look at the situation from a different angle. Postpone the decision for at least a day, so that the emotions subside, and analyze all the pros and cons with a cool head.

This approach will allow you to avoid impulsive decisions that you may later regret. Thanks to this, important decisions will be thought out and considered, which is critical for successful time management and achieving goals.

Conclusion

Finally, I will once again emphasize the main points. Effective time management is not about rigidly planning every minute. The main thing is flexibility, the ability to focus on priority tasks, motivation from goals, prompt fixation of ideas, balanced decisions, as well as planning taking into account the rhythms of your body.

Avoid common mistakes – excessive detailing of the plan, inclusion of routine, hiding goals, delaying writing down ideas. Complete complex tasks when you are at your peak performance. Give yourself time to make important decisions.

Adjust your goals regularly. Consider your natural daily rhythm. By following these principles of time management, you will be able to manage your time much more effectively and achieve your goals. Good luck!