Three Practical Guidelines for Effective Time Management
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1. Plan your day with just 1% of your time.
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There is a huge difference between starting your day with a plan and starting without one.
As most of us have experienced, when you plan your day, you control events — but when you don’t, events control you. Naturally, your daily performance also shows a big difference.
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Everyone knows this, but the reason we don’t do it is often because we overthink planning or simply lack the habit.
Before starting your day, make it a habit to spend just 1% of your day — about 10 to 15 minutes out of 1,440 minutes — planning ahead.
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In fact, the busier you are, the more important this becomes.
Try it for just one week — you’ll find that your sense of chaos is cut in half. Within three weeks, you’ll rarely find yourself working overtime.
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2. Set priorities — focus on what truly matters.
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When planning, it’s helpful to divide your schedule into fixed events and flexible events.
For instance, fixed appointments like meetings should go directly into your calendar, while flexible tasks can be listed separately, such as in a To-Do List.
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For the flexible tasks — things you can control and decide how to do — write down everything that comes to mind first, then assign priorities.
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For example:
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Tasks that must be done today → A
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Tasks that are good to do if time allows → B
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Tasks that can wait until another day → C
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If you fail to prioritize, you may stay busy all day but still postpone what’s truly important.
Without clear order, your focus scatters, and meaningful progress becomes difficult.
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3. Check your progress as you go.
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As you work, develop the habit of checking off what you’ve accomplished and reviewing what comes next.
Doing so not only gives you a sense of immediate achievement — boosting motivation — but also reinforces your commitment to your plan, which increases your execution power.
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When you consistently plan with priorities and review your actions throughout the day, your productivity can improve by at least 30%.
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Before planning the next day, always review what wasn’t completed the previous day.
Decide whether to do it today, postpone it to another day, or cancel it altogether.
Repeating this process daily will bring greater peace and balance to both your life and your mind.
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The Power of a Note — A Habit for Time Management
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No matter how strong your New Year’s resolutions may be, they mean little if not acted upon.
Most resolutions fade after a few days — the famous “three-day determination” — simply because humans are forgetful by nature.
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Only those who overcome this tendency achieve remarkable success.
The simplest way to beat it is to renew your determination every three days.
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However, rekindling that original motivation each time isn’t easy.
That’s why you need a trigger to instantly recall the sense of urgency you felt at the beginning — and that trigger is a note.
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At first, read your note every three days to remind yourself of your commitment.
Once it’s engraved in your mind and heart, you can stretch that to once a week or even once a month.
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There’s a saying: “What’s written becomes real.”
But is that really true?
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A study by the Blatonic Research Institute in the U.S. provides a clear answer.
In 1972, they surveyed 200 MBA graduates from Yale University about their goal management habits.
Among them, 84% had no specific goals, 13% had goals but hadn’t written them down, and only 3% had written, structured goals.
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Twenty years later, in 1992, researchers followed up.
The 13% who had goals were worth twice as much as those who had none,
and the 3% who had written their goals were worth ten times more than the rest.
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A Meaningful Start
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If you want a meaningful new beginning, challenge yourself to master effective time management — and make it your own.
The key is to turn it into a habit.
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To build a habit, you need to invest at least one month.
Just one month of effort can create a lifetime of success and happiness.
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