How to Organize Your Time Better in the New Year

When it comes to a new year, most people try to tackle an organization project or two. This usually includes tangible things like organizing your closet or garage, but something else to consider may be how you use your time and how to do it more effectively. Managing and organizing your time is not only a stress saving thing to do, but in the long run, it can also save you money as you will be able to use your time to do things that you normally would spend money on due to lack of time. Here are some tips on How to Organize Your Time Better in the New Year.

How to Organize Your Time Better in the New Year

Create a daily schedule. This one can be hard to do if you are a stay at home parent or if you work from home. It seems that time is almost endless when you are doing it from the comfort of your own home. If it helps, set up an hour-by-hour schedule. For instance, tell yourself you will do X by X time and move on. That way, it keeps you from having tasks take longer than you meant them to and from getting distracted.

Cut off social media alerts during times when you need to not be distracted. This can be especially hard if you are used to checking in on Facebook or Instagram all day. The truth is, nothing on there is so important that you should allow it to interrupt your train of thought or ability to complete tasks. When I am writing, I turn off social media alerts because I found that doing so, I work nearly twice as fast.

Go old school with a calendar. Most of us have a calendar are scheduling feature on our devices, but there is something to be said about a good old-fashioned calendar you place on your wall or desk. The act of writing things down can help you remember and it’s always there to remind you as you go throughout your day. If you see it, you will have a better idea of what you can and can’t do as far as scheduling your days.

Get better at saying “NO”. If your day is so busy, you barely have time to eat and you find yourself constantly feeling run down, you may be agreeing to more than you can feasibly do. It really is OK to say No sometimes if it means you can better manage your time in the end. Don’t feel like you need to give excuses or reasons, either, other than it just won’t fit into your schedule at the moment. If saying “No” is hard for you, try doing it in situations that are easy first before doing it with family or close friends.

Be honest about how long tasks take you to complete. Often, we get so busy that before we know it hours have gone by on something we didn’t think would take that long. To find out exactly how long tasks take you for better planning in the future, set a timer before you start. Work at your normal pace and see how long it took you in the end. This way, you will know if you can schedule some things together on the same day or if it’s feasible.

Let go of some control. One way that many people find themselves in a situation where they have no time for everything is by not delegating tasks to others and trying to run too many “shows” at once. Take some time to help family know what needs to be done around the house on a regular basis and you can ask them to help out leaving more time for other things you need to get done.

Make sure you schedule time to relax. One of the biggest reasons many people feel stress about time, or lack of it, is they don’t take time to decompress. Make sure you schedule time to relax so you can reset your own clock once in a while. 

What are some ways you find help you in your own time management?

More New Year’s Ideas

50 Simple and Smart New Year’s Resolution Ideas

7 Ways to Plan Your New Year’s Resolutions

Making and Keeping Fitness Resolutions

Tips for Throwing a Last Minute New Year’s Eve Party