The Key to a Better Life

Time management is basically about being focused. The Pareto Principle also known as the '80:20 Rule' states that 80% of efforts that are not time managed or unfocused generates only 20% of the desired output. However,  80% of the desired output can be generated using only 20% of a well time managed effort. Although  the ratio '80:20' is only arbitrary, it is used to put emphasis on how much is lost or how much can be gained with time management.

Some people view time management as a list of rules that involves scheduling of appointments, goal settings, thorough planning, creating things to do lists and prioritizing. These are the core basics of time management that should be understood to develop an efficient personal time management skill. These basic skills can be fine tuned further to include the finer points of each skill that can give you that extra reserve to make the results you desire.

But there are more skills involved in time management than the core basics. Skills such as decision making, inherent abilities such as emotional intelligence and critical thinking are also essential to your personal growth.

Personal time management involves everything you do. No matter how big and no matter how small, everything counts. Each new are of knowledge you acquire, each new piece of advice you consider, each new skill you develop should be taken into consideration.

Having a balanced life-style should be the key result in having personal time management. This is the main aspect that many practitioners of personal time management fail to grasp.

Time management is about getting results, not about being busy.

The six areas that personal time management seeks to improve in anyone's life are physical, intellectual, social, career, emotional and spiritual.

The physical aspect involves having a healthy body, less stress and fatigue.

The intellectual aspect involves learning and other mental growth activities.

The social aspect involves developing personal or intimate relations and being an active contributor to society.

The career aspect involves school and work.

The emotional aspect involves appropriate feelings and desires and manifesting them.

The spiritual aspect involves a personal quest for meaning.

Thoroughly planning and having a set of things to do list for each of the key areas may not be very practical, but determining which area in your life is not being giving enough attention is part of time management. Each area creates the whole you, if you are ignoring one area then you are ignoring an important part of yourself.

Personal time management should not be so daunting a task. It is a very sensible and reasonable approach in solving problems big or small.

A great way of learning time management and improving your personal life is to follow several basic activities. One of them is to review your goals whether it be immediate or long-term goals often and a way to do this is to keep a list that is always accessible to you.

Always determine which task is necessary or not necessary in achieving your goals and which activities are helping you maintain a balanced life style.

Each and everyone of us has a peek time and a time when we slow down, these are our natural cycles. We should be able to tell when to do the difficult tasks when we are the sharpest.

Learning to say "No". You actually see this advice often. Heed it even if it involves saying the word to family or friends. Pat yourself on the back or just reward yourself in any manner for an effective time management result. Try and get the cooperation from people around you who are actually benefiting from your efforts of time management. Don't procrastinate. Attend to necessary things immediately.

Have a positive attitude and set yourself up for success but be realistic in your approach in achieving your goals. Have a record or journal of all your activities. This will help you get things in their proper perspective.
These are the few steps you initially take in becoming a well rounded individual.

As the say personal time management is the art and science of building a better life.

From the moment you integrate into your life time management skills, you have opened several options that can provide a broad spectrum of solutions to your personal growth. It also creates more doors for opportunities to knock on.

Goal Setting - Why Most People Fail

By Rusty O'Connor

Goal setting is one of the most effective ways to achieve success in your life. Sadly, for many people the setting of goals ends in failure, and they deem the goal setting process to not work. There are many reasons for why the goal setting process may not have worked, this article shares with you the major reasons.

• No clear direction: If the overall outcome of the goal isn't given much thought then there is a high chance that the goal will not be achieved. To over come this you need to clearly and specifically look at what it is that you actually want to achieve and what is involved in turning your dream into a reality.
• Lack of planning: Writing a goal down on a piece of paper is a good start, but there is a lot more to the goal setting process than this. As with the above dot point you need to clearly identify what is involved in achieving the goal and develop up a clear plan of action. Following on from this the goal should then be broken into sub goals.
• No daily to do list: Again, while high level goals are good, you need to be taking action every day to help make your goal a reality. This requires a thorough knowledge of the goal and a to do list which reflects the goal.
• The goal isn't important enough: You need to remind yourself just how important the goal is for you and what it will mean for you and your family. Without this, there won't be much of an incentive for you to actually want to achieve your goal.
• Time: The process of achieving a goal isn't going to be easy. It will require a lot of work, and will take away from some of your relaxation time. You need to have a solid understanding of how long your goal will take to achieve and what it will mean to your schedule.
• Dream stealers: Yes... there are people out there who will try and take away your dreams. They will put you down and tell you that it can't be done. Firstly, always consider advice, but take it with a grain of salt. If you have done the research and know what is involved you will know that it can be done... don't let people steal your dreams and goals away.

As you can see from above there area a range of reasons why goals may not be met. Now that you know the major reasons, you can use this information to make sure that your goals will be achieved.

If you want to learn how to finally achieve your goals, then check out our free goal setting e-book at Goals Setting

Rusty O'Connor has been an avid goal setter for the past 10 years and has written numerous goal setting and time management articles and has provided in-depth advice to numerous clients. Outside of goal setting and time management, Rusty enjoys Internet Marketing, rock climbing, surfing and traveling. Rusty is married with four young children and currently lives as an expat in the Middle East.

Here's to your goal setting success!

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