Can You Describe Your Time Management Skills?

Yep, I’ll try it!…

To “put my face where my mouth is” :), in this article I provide my personal take on how I implement Time Management while having a full-time job (often packed with overtime) running a family, being an Immigrant in a nation with a very different culture, running some Internet business, trying to hold my guitar playing skills at a decent level and….well, you got the picture, don’t you?😂

And before getting into my real-life example, let me answer the question in the title properly :

Do you remember? I wrote a full article about Committment. I you haven´t read it already, now it´s a great chance to do it!

The continuous use of research and commitment brought me to the following little list that is the backbone of how I implement any project I engage myself in :

1. Clarity

Clarity is vital to kickstart your brain up and guide it towards the right answers you need.

But of course, you won’t find any specific answer without a specific question :  this is what clarity is all about.

“The Power of Clarity” by Ann Latham is an excellent book to go deep into the subject, from a personal power, skill improvement standpoint ‘to a more business-related standpoint.

In a practical fashion : when you approach a project or seek solutions to a problem make sure that you understand the project / the problem as good as you can = the outcome you’re aiming for.

And even more important, why the outcome is important, what does it mean for you and how this should hold you excited.

2. Structure

A smart companion for Clarity! A well-structured process brings naturally to a well-structured course of action.

Learning to structure is a never-ending but also priceless experience : once you come to your own process of systemizing things, you can use it virtually everywhere, and, since it is carved on your own personal characteristics and needs, it drastically reduces stress, because you have been through the process many times already

In other words the more you apply it the more natural it is going to feel. 😊

3. Diligence

The ability to do things right at the moment they should be done…

You could also define it as the skill of hanging up to a task until is completed.

Though is seems harder and harder to stay focused on a goal nowadays, due to the continuous “cheap” distractions provided by social media and the whole internet in general, you will find that it is way easier to stay focused on any project if you spent some time accomplishing the previous two points :

Or, if you prefer, the old adagio from yours truly : “HAVE A PLAN”!😉

Finally, If THE WHY is strong enough, it will be your fuel to crush any goal you establish for yourself.

“A life without personal growth is a very sad one…”

My Take

Now let me describe how do I do it? Please make it useful and use my routine to compare it with yours and maybe find some ideas to consider yourself too…

Remember, I am a regular guy. A father on his path toward financial independence.

I will try to be brief as possible, but I want to provide some value here, so bear with me, please…

Before everything : the core of my whole system is in the weekend. It is there where I set an hour apart from all the rest and calmly measure my results from the week. The insights i get are vital to plan the next week accordingly.

I really can stress this enough : this is my ninja-weapon. You will never go that far if you don’t measure, or at least you will decimate your growth by a good 60% at least. No jokes here.

Then after preparation, the week starts again : I currently have still a day job, and I am divided between weeks where I work morning shifts and others where i work afternoons…

Morning shifts :

I wake up at 4:50 AM and I am back from work at 15:45something…

(by the way, please reflect for a moment about the gigantic chunk of time a regular day job + commuting back and forth steals from your life…).

When home, I often have to sleep a little and recover…say 60min or so.

This leaves me with approximately two hours before dinner to invest in my stuff to make some difference. 

I divide the time at my disposal into 30min chunks, you can read more about the reason here.

Let’s say I want to write another blog post like this you are reading right now, and let’s assume that I already decided on the topic and the title.

I will use the first 25 minutes to make sure I have researched deeply enough about the topic so now I am going to write something unique and helpful.

I would pause for 5-minutes to give my brain a little break and preparing it for the next chunk

(Have you already read why is vital to take breaks?… Nou?! then follow the link and find out! :))

For the next 25 minutes, I would focus as close as I can on producing content without caring so much about editing. That will be the goal of the next time chunk.

5-minute  pause again.

In the least 25 minutes, I focus straight on editing to make sure was I wrote is correct from a grammatical standpoint and as useful as possible from a quality standpoint.

My capacity for the day is over now. It’s time To have dinner and cheer my family.

(Sometimes I have the chance to steal some minutes after dinner. I would then plan the tasks for the coming day or listen to an audiobook or another resource to “keep my spirit alive”).

So to recap :

• Wake up at 4:50 AM
• Dress up and have breakfast. Ready to rock at 5:30 AM
• Commute to work ca. 30 min.. Stamp with my badge within 6:00 AM
• 9:00 AM Pause. I listen to an audiobook or another resource while eating my yogurt and then back to work at 9:15 Am
• 12:00 AM Lunch break 30 min. I try my best to leave this space empty and as relaxed as possible. I eat slowly and then use the time left attempting to meditate and nurture my mood.
• 12:30AM Back to work, nonstop ‘till 15:00…approximately…(In this moment, end October 2022, my counter says I already scored 130 overtime hours this year….)

• 15:00-15::45 Commuting home.
• 16:00- 17:00 Take a nap…
• 17:15 Start working on my stuff like explained above
• 19:30 Have dinner
• 20:30 Get beaten up somehow by my children…watch some movie, involve in some hugging…     

• 21:30-22:00 Time to go to sleep.

Afternoon shifts :

I wake up around 7:30 – 8:00 AM, have a quick breakfast, and then get straight in front of my computer to work on my blog.

I try to work nonstop dividing time in 30 minutes chunks until 12:00. Then I prepare lunch for me and anybody else coming back from school/work.

At 12:45- 13:00, I have to be ready to go to work, since commuting can take longer due to the different traffic conditions.

I normally start working at 13:20 and have my pause from 18:00 to 18:30.

from there I work all the way to 22:35, and then my day of work is over.

I am home around 23:00, eat something quick (not the healthiest choice, I know), prepare for the night and go to bed.

So to recap :

• Wake up at 7:30 AM
• Dress up and have breakfast. In front of my PC at 8:00AMsomething..
• 8:00 AM to 12:00 I focus at my best to work on my blog (research, produce content, edit etc.)
• 12:00 AM Prepare lunch and eat slowly. I try my best to leave this space empty and as relaxed as possible. And, of course, I enjoy conversations with my family if somebody is home.
• 12:45 Commuting to work. Ready to rock within 13:30
• 18:00 30min dinner break. I try my best to leave this space empty and as relaxed as possible. I eat slowly and then use the time left attempting to meditate and nurture my mood.
• 18:30 Back to work, nonstop ‘till 22:35

• 22:35-23:00 Commuting home.
• 23:10- 23:30 eat something quick, prepare for the night
• 23:30 Time to sleep. See you tomorrow 🙂

Conclusion

As you can see, there is no rocket science here, and since the time I have away from work and family obligations is very limited, my only weapon is Consistence.

“There can be no Consistence if you don’t commit.

There can be no Commitment without a Plan.

there can be no effective Plan without Clarity.“

My goal is to make enough from my side businesses to provide for my family within December 2024, and I have the pleasure to share my journey, the good and the bad, with you all, to celebrate together the happy end to come.

And in the meanwhile, why don´t take a look at 42 Time Management Facts you probably don’t know yet? Enjoy!!

Stay tuned and support me if you want to with your comments! 🙂