Happy Monday!

Time management is NOT easy. One day you think you’ve got the hang of it and then the next day is a completely different story.

Whether you work a full-time job, are in school, have a variety of hobbies, or all three, learning how to manage your time is a never-ending struggle.

However, there are ways to make it EASIER.

This coming fall, I will be a part-time student, a full-time employee, and the owner of my own freelance editing and writing business (check out my services HERE). Alongside all that, I am an active blogger and like to post frequently to my Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter. Oh, there are also some books I really need to read for review. Basically, the list goes on and on!

To conquer time management is impossible, but to understand it…that is how you will have more time to do what you want while crossing everything off on your to-do list.

Here are 5 tips for time management.

1. Set S.M.A.R.T Goals

The key to time management is setting goals that are actually achievable. One easy way to do this is by following the S.M.A.R.T goal outline. This stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Based. I recommend making your goal list and then going over each and every goal to make sure it follows the S.M.A.R.T criteria. Is your goal something YOU can control? Is it specific? Did you set a deadline?

Setting S.M.A.R.T goals will ensure you are spending time on productive things rather than things that can wait, and do not have much importance or looming deadlines.

EX. Today, I will pre-write 2 blog posts (5 Tips for Time Management and Beginner’s Guide to: Roman Mythology) that will go up today at 5 pm and Monday at 12 pm.

2. Get Work Done So You Can “Play”

In the past, I thought breaking up my workday was a good idea. I thought it would be more efficient to work from 9am – 12pm and then break for a few hours, then work again from 3-6pm, break, and then work from 9pm – 12am…THIS IS NOT A PRODUCTIVE SCHEDULE.

Now that I have a full-time job and I realize I will soon need to balance my job, my one class for school, blogging, writing, business, and other hobbies. I understand the importance of getting everything done within a window of time and then enjoying the rest of your day.

My new plan is to work from 7:30 am -3:30 pm (that is, if I need to do a full 8 hours that day) and then whatever else that has a deadline (school, internship, etc) right after. This has been working well for me because it allows me to get all my work done at once and then I still get off early enough in the day to enjoy it.

3. Start Your with a To-Do List

Personally, I don’t enjoy structuring my day off a rigid outline. I’ve found what works best for me is writing a to-do list in the morning filled with all the things I have to and want to get done that day. This way, I am setting myself up for a productive day by outlining my goals, but it is not a full on, detailed schedule.

When I write a to-do list, I write down anywhere from 5-10 things on it. If your tasks are big, keep closer to the 5 but if they are smaller and more miscellaneous tasks, you can add more. Don’t overwhelm yourself but make sure you have enough to keep busy during the working hours!

4. Spend At Least 3 Hours A Day Not Being Productive

I know that seems like very few hours, but when it comes to running a household or working, and just adulting, we spend a lot of our time being productive. Spend at least 3 hours of your day just relaxing, watching TV, reading, listening to music, going a walk, etc. I work full-time and my hobbies include writing so often times, I will get off my job of content creating and then jump straight into content creating for myself because it is also part of my hobby. I’ve learned to set aside a part of the weekend instead of doing it right after my full-time job.

5. Set a Time Limit to Tasks

Whenever my time management skills are faltering, it is usually because I am focusing too much time on one task and it fails to leave me with time for the others. The best way I can explain this is by speaking to all you fellow writers out there. I know you all know the struggle of never feeling truly done with a project, right? This is the same thing! Sometimes we need to only allot an hour to write a blog post so we are not spending 3 hours on it and ignoring everything else we need to get done that day.

It isn’t productive working on one task for hours unless it has a fast approaching deadline!

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Those are my 5 time management tips for all your productive and busy people. If you are a creative person like myself who is alway is always juggling multiple things at once, this is an essential guide for you.

Don’t forget to check out my last blog post as well as my social media accounts which are all linked down below!

Thanks for reading 🙂

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