I tend to be a little bit of an extremist. When I start something new in my life, I tend to focus on it very heavily. In many cases this means that I give up other activities. The advantage is that I can improve quickly in whatever that activity happens to be. The disadvantage is that I may exclude things that are more important in my life.  So how do you start something new without giving up something more important? Proper goal assessment and time management.

Goal Assessment

The first step is to decide what you really want. Create a list of the things you want to achieve and order them from most important to least important. In order to effectively achieve these goals, nothing that will not move you towards your goals should override an activity that does. If your most important goal is to improve your health and lose weight, then the choice to spend time playing a new video game definitely should not take up the time you spend exercising.

When you decide what’s important, it makes it easier to choose what to focus on and what new activities to start. By limiting the number of activities you pursue, you will also become much better at them. Some things should never be compromised in your life. Time must be spent to maintain good health, a good diet, and your overall happiness. This is where the time management comes in.

Time Management

There are basically two steps to balancing your life by improving your time management. The first is to limit the amount of time doing things you don’t want to do. The second is to learn the things you are interested in quickly. The key in both is to optimize your time and cut out the wast.

Think of all the things you don’t want to be doing. This may include your job, cleaning, shopping, paying your bills, etc. Analyze each one and try to think of the most important parts of each and how you can do them better and quicker. Could you cut down your shopping time by planning better and buying less often? Or remove 10 minutes of standing in line by shopping at a different time? What about your job, are there activities you perform that don’t really provide any benefit. There probably are. In fact, it’s most likely the majority of your job.

Then do the same thing with your fun events. If you are relaxing, find the way that you relax the best to get the most out of the shortest time. Find the best way to maximize your exercise in the least amount of time. This would also include choosing the best foods to optimize your diet. When you start a new hobby, find the best way to become get good fast. Whether it is a sport, a language, or any other hobby, most of the benefits come when you become very good. The beginner skier goes home battered, bruised, and tired. The expert skier goes home discussing the great time he had and the incredible feeling of the snow.

The Results

The better you get at managing your time, the more you will find you can accomplish and the more balanced your life will become. It may seem impossible in the beginning. I know it did for me. I felt I was already doing everything as quickly as I could. There is no way for me to do any more, but the more I worked at it, the easier it all got.

Other great resources

• Mind Tools Time Management
• Studying Tips
• The importance of quite time
• How to spot time wasters
• Getting more done in less time

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