Successful people know how to work smarter, not harder in both their personal and professional lives. Working smart is about knowing how to keep the most important things, important. Smart time management begins by wisely using and valuing your time and energy.

Here are five keys for making the most of your time:

1. Prioritize your personal and professional life.
According to American Heritage Dictionary, to prioritize means to arrange or deal with in order of importance. Important things are those things that will keep you going forward day-to-day in positive and productive ways.

Rule of thumb: Keep the important things, important. Prioritizing allows you to block out the distractions and stay on task. It’s about knowing how to stay focused on what is most important to you and your goals.


2. Distinguish between a must-do and a to-do.
This distinction is important because it helps you to maintain balance. A must-do is something that must be finished before you decide to go onto the next thing. Top priorities become your must-do’s.

A to-do is something that should to be done but isn’t vital to going forward – laundry, weeding the yard, cleaning the junk drawer, etc. A must-do has a higher priority and energy value than a to-do.


3. Focus energy on what you want.
Don’t waste precious time and energy worrying about what you don’t want. Have you ever wasted time worrying about what you hoped wouldn’t happen? You know, “I hope it doesn’t rain.” “I hope they won’t be mad.” It’s stressful and extremely time consuming to concentrate energy on the negative things that may never happen.

Focus energy on those things you have the power to do something about. Don’t waste time on things you can’t change or over which you have no control.


4. Do it now! Don’t procrastinate.
Procrastinating is stressful. Procrastination is often linked to perfectionism – fear of not doing something perfectly. This self-sabotaging mind-set will often stop you in your tracks and make a task or situation seem worse than it is.

Begin handling stressful situations one bite-sized piece at a time. Allot time each day for tackling those things you fear most. Each small victory can lead to greater self-confidence and with greater self-confidence comes the ability to work smarter and wiser.


5. Carve out blocks of uninterrupted time to work on the must-do’s.
Multi-tasking is fine but when you want to be most productive, focus your energy on one important thing or task at a time. When something is important enough to be a must-do, make the uninterrupted time to give it your full and undivided attention.

A key to remember: There are only twenty-four hours in a day. Working smarter and not harder begins when you consistently use your twenty-four hours wisely.


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