10 Tips For Better Time ManagementEvery now and then I come across software developers who keep complaining how difficult it is tofind time from their daily schedule to learn new things. Although city life is quite busy, more oftenthan not people lack the will, energy and time management skills to deal with the situation. Moreoften than not this lack of time is due to the fact that people poorly manage their time. They donthave any strategy to manage their time effectively. !ere are my top "# tips that can help youmanage your time in a better way. If you apply the following tips you can manage your time in abetter way than before. I am not going to give you any fancy charts or figures that mostly looknice on paper. I am going to share some practical tips that you can start using right now$ 1. Take only things that can fit on your plate%ets face it & you have limited resources in terms of time, energy and ability to complete a task.Even if you desire to complete more tasks in a day there is going to be a limit for what you canaccomplish in a day. 'ather than attempting to finish too many tasks that wont fit in a day takeonly those tasks that you can fit on your plate. If you take too many tasks at a time chances areyou wont be able to finish them all. And then this (failure( will build pressure to complete them ina hurry the ne)t day. This, in turn, can cause more errors than e)pected delaying the completionof the task further. *o, it is important to identity and start what you can finish in a day. +e realisticwhile doing so. Apply common sense and past e)perience of completing these tasks. +y somee)perience you can arrive at a limit that is optimal for you & not too low ,no la-iness allowed., nottoo high ,no fatigue allowed..2. Plan one day at a timeA common mistake some people commit is they plan for a longer timespan. More the timespanmorethechances of une)pectedobstacles. /ont planfor aweek, for e)ample, becausesomething une)pected or unplanned may come up. To begin with, plan only one day ,or evenlesser. & today & at a time. 0nce you plan stick to that plan by all means. Many people changetheir plantoofrequently. +efirm. 0nceyouchalkout aplandonot changeit under anycircumstances. 0ver a period of time you will learn to introduce some amount of fle)ibility in yourdaily schedule. +ut till that time be rigid about your daily plan. %earn to say 10 to whatever thatcomes unplanned.3. Set priority for tasks*imply picking tasks to finish in a day is not sufficient. 2ou also need to prioriti-e them. 1ot alltasksareequallyimportant. Their urgencylevel isalsodifferent. +asedonimportanceandurgency you need to set some priority to them. 2ou can set the priority in different ways & on ascale of " to "# 0' %ow, +elow1ormal, 1ormal, Above1ormal and !igh ,yes$ these values aretaken from3acheItem4riority enumerationof A*4.1ET.. 'ememberthatthis priority is forthetasks to be finished in a day. 0nce a priority is set start completing them in !igh to %ow order. Ifyou cant complete a %ow priority task on that day, it may get carry forwarded to the ne)t day andpossibly climb up in the priority order.. !"oid distractions2oushouldlearntoavoidall sortsof distractions. If youareinvolvedinsomethingurgent orimportant tell people around you not to disturb you. 2ou cant e)pect them to know your urgencyunless you specifically let them know. %earn to switch off that mobile phone. Also, turn off thoseinstant email notifications and alerts of all kinds. /ont keep checking email every now and them.If you aredoingsomethingdont keep the ongoing task to respond toan email./ont plug&inthose earphones while doing something important. These and many other distractions cause lossof time. Though it might be 5ust a few seconds or minutes, when it adds up it can be considerablechunkof time. 6hatsmoreisthat yourmindwandersawaywitheverysuchdistractionandneeds more time to focus on the task being completed.#. Manage your on$line time in a %etter &ayAs a software developer you areconnected to theInternet for a bigchunk ofyour workday.!owever, 5ust because you have an Internet connection doesnt mean you should remain alwaysremain online. Many people have habit of checking emails frequently. They log&in to 7acebook orTwittereverynowandthen. Thisisunnecessary.Makeastrict habit of accessingemail andsocial networking sites at a specific time of a day. *et the frequency of checking these resourcestoo. A work day usually has a (prime time( where your energy level and productivity is high. /ontspend this prime time in checking emails or social networking. A few things that can help include8 9ust because an email arrived in your inbo) doesnt mean you should respond it instantly./ont keep aside your task at hand schedule 5ust to respond that email. /ecide priority and importance for emails. This is especially true if you receive do-ens ofthem every day. :se email filters to categori-e them in separate folders and look at themas per scheduled time slot. %earn to clean&up your news feeds on social networking sites such as 7acebook. :se some social networking plugin to enhance your 7acebook and Twitter e)perience. Make a small list of important websites ; blogs that are helpful to you in your daily work orupgrading your knowledge. Instead of reading hundreds of different websites keep an eyeof these selected websites for updates. Turn off all instant alerts or notifications. This includes email andsocial networkingwebsites. 6hile reading an online content it is easy to wander away in the pile of information. +efocused. Make a point to stick to the original topic you were reading ; searching.'. Manage your tra"el time in a %etter &ayIf youliveinacitysuchasMumbai, chancesareyouspendreasonableamount of timeintravelling & from your home to the office and back home. This time is hardly productive but youcan utili-e it in a better way. 4ick a mode of travel that is comfortable. 7or e)ample, instead ofgoing in normal but opt for A3 bus. 6hy< If you opt for A3 bus chances are you will get a place tosit. 0nce you are in a comfortable position you can think of some creative ways to utili-e thistime. !ere are a few tips8 3arry a portable media player and listen to audio ; videos and podcasts on the way. If comfortable glance over a technical book or maga-ine that adds some new knowledge. 3arry a notepad and pen. 1ote down, draw, visuali-e concepts related to your work or newthings that you have learned. This will allow you to revise what you learned. *leep. I am not kidding$ I have seen many developers who dont get adequate sleep atnight due to several reasons ,going late from the office, family background, surroundingenvironment etc.. If you cant do anything else use this time to induce rela)ation and rest inyour body. :se some yoga technique such as 2oga 1idra or A5apa to rela) during this time.The recharged body is more efficient in completing the tasks once you reach the office orhome.(. Set e)pectations of the people around you4eoplearoundyouintheofficeaswell ashomehavecertaine)pectationsfromyou. Thesee)pectations are set based on how you interact with them daily. 7or e)ample, a person who helpotherseverytimesetsthesamee)pectationforthepeoplearoundhim. Thenonedayif hedoesnt render his help people find it odd or may even develop ill feelings about him. They mayeasily forget all the occasions when he helped them and remember this one instance when herefused to help them. If your behavior indicates that you are always available in case they needanything & important or unimportant doesnt matter &then they are going to e)pect the same forentirelife$ 2ouneedtosignal themthat you dontliketobe disturbedwhiledoingsomethingimportant.2oucant assumethat theywill knowthesignificanceof the activityyou aredoingautomatically. 2ou need to specifically convey that need to them. Also tell them why that activity isimportant to you. 7or e)ample, instead of simply telling your family members not to disturb you,youcantell themhowfinishingthetaskat handisgoingtohelpyouandthefamily,saypromotion or salary rise or a new 5ob.. !ere are a few things to take into consideration8 %earn to say 10 %earn to delegate tasks. If you are being assigned too much responsibilities, flag them to your seniors in appropriatemanner. In professional relations it is alright to politely refuse to participate in personal events. If youbecome too much friendly with a person you may find it difficult to say 10 to him. /ont let others push or force you to participate in something that is going to affect yourschedules. 3onvey the importance of timely finishing a task at hand to your family members. Aftercompleting the task spend some quality time with them.*. !"oid daydreaming and unimportant chitchat6hile doing a task dont allow your attention to wander away. If you must think about somethingunrelated to the current task, finish the task first and then spend some time to think about thematter before you focusing back on your work. Make a point to avoid unnecessary chitchat orvague talking. %earn to switch your mobile off while finishing some important task. I have seenmany developers who keep some messenger application ,2ahoo Messender or 7acebookMessenger. running in the background as they do their work. Every now and then they switch tothe messenger to participate in the chat. %earn to avoid such distractions.+. ,ncrease your energy le"elTime management is not about merely making time slots available to do some work. It is equalityimportant that you possess the necessary energy to complete the tasks. In fact if your (energysheath( ,as we yogis call it. is strong you can perform much more work in a given timespan. Toincrease your energy level three things are important & diet, sleep and prana. Take healthy diet &food that is Satvik in nature and that you can digest easily. Take enough sleep. If possible take apower napintheafternoon. 2ogahasmanytypesof breathinge)ercises,Pranayama. thatrevitali-e the whole energy system in the body. %earn them from some e)pert and make them apart of your daily schedule.10. -eep fitThis may sound like an unrelated topic for our discussion. !owever, your physicaland mentalfitness plays a vital role in time management. An unhealthy mind&body equipment cant focus on atask at hand. It cannot generate good (energy sheath( and as a result you end up missing thedeadlines. E)ercising daily and keep yourself fit is an important aspect of holistic living. E)ercisessuch as brisk walking, 5ogging, running, swimming and yoga postures are all good for the overallphysical fitness. If you are suffering from an ailment consult a medical e)pert immediately andeliminate the root cause as soon as possible. A healthy individual is capable to doing much moreamount of work in a given timespan as compared to an unhealthy and physically unfit person.