This article comes from Entrepreneur.
It’s not shocking that we seek out as much time management advice as possible. Unfortunately, much of this information is so unhelpful it is setting you up for failure.
We’ve all been guilty of believing there is not enough time. We look at our to-do lists or calendar and get overwhelmed. “If I only I had more time today I could get all of this done.”
We all have the same 24-hours in a day. Some people can get the most out of this limited amount of time because they’ve admitted there’s a problem and did something about it.
Complaining that you don’t have enough time isn’t going to grant you any more time magically. It may make you feel better, but only momentarily. It’s not getting to the root problem, which may be that you’re lousy at time management. Admit to yourself that there is enough time — you don’t know how to get the most out of it. Now, you can start improving your time management.
You’ve admitted there’s a problem and you’re scouring the internet for advice. You should feel good that you took this first step. It will only take you reading two or three posts to realize that there isn’t such as thing as a one-size-fits-all solution.
Ana Cecilia Calle, a Ph.D. student in Austin, Texas, discovered this great truth when reading about time-management tools that offered: “this promises that you would gain certain control over your life,” she told the BBC. “But whatever you start doing, it works for a while, and then it stops working.” The reason? Most of these tools were built by developers who wanted to solve their own time management problems — which means they may not be valid for all of us.
Instead of relying on a tool with all the bells and whistles, find out where you’re struggling and what’s essential for you. For example, if scheduling is taking you away from product development, then you could use a scheduling tool like Calendar that uses machine learning to automate most of your scheduling needs. If you’re wasting too much time on email, then consider using a tool like SaneBox to help tame your inbox.
This advice may not be the most thrilling answer, but when you identify your problem areas and priorities, you can find the best solution that works for you.
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