These days I see many people juggling with multiple things at any given time. I often hear them say that they “don’t have time”, “are too busy”.I used to be one of them – I used to feel that I have a lot to do at hand but have very limited time. I used to feel overwhelmed and stressed out, until I took a moment, paused and started to think what exactly we all are saying. We are saying that we do not know how to manage our time!!!

One of the main reasons for lack of time is trying to do it ALL. We will never have enough time (to do everything), we have to make time (for what matters to us). This very thought gave me new insight on how I could change the way I manage my time and accomplish much more.

Practicing project management by profession, I apply the basic PM principles in all walks of life. They are what we call Scope (what we do), Time (when we will do) and Cost (how much will it cost). These are interdependent and changing one will affect the other two.  Simplifying this concept, we need to have realistic expectations on what we can do within a period of time to get the most benefits.  The myth of doing it ALL means that we expect to do more than we can in the limited amount of time which is a disaster.

Many people are driven by doing urgent things, but not the important ones. Accept the fact that we cannot do it all. So prioritize – pick and choose important thing(s) to do for the day. Learn to delegate a few chores to others. This not only helps you conserve some energy but it also buys you some time and trains others. We need to channel our energy and time in doing the most important things – which in turn will give us a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

Don’t stop at prioritizing what is on your schedule but also schedule your priorities and plan ahead. Prioritizing will tell you what you should do, planning will tell you when to do, what you need to do it and how do it. Thinking and planning ahead will reduce stress, and makes it easier to complete the tasks with little effort.