Time Management Tips
Who needs time management tips? People that are not good with time and that are therefore
often or always late.
As a wedding photographer you cannot afford to be late, or you will not be in business for long.
So, effective time management is an essential part of your training as wedding photographer.
It’s not about particular incidents or levels of luck, because some people are simply always
late and it cannot be that they are so unlucky all the time. The first step in understanding time management, is to
accept the fact that you have a problem with time keeping. This sounds silly, but it is extremely important to
accept the problem in order to start doing something about it. Accept that you have a problem and you’ll be half
way there towards solving it.
I feel I can be particularly helpful on this subject, because I am married to a woman that has a
very abstract concept of time.
There are days in which I wonder if she is actually aware of the invention of the clock.
Because of her, or thank to her I should say, I have developed a scientific system to beat the
clock and to arrive on time at any appointment, anywhere in the world.
Some people look for a time management software out there on internet, but to be honest I
rather stick with my system (which is free by the way). A software will not help you to become an on time person...
you need to help yourself with a simple method and a lot of self discipline.
If you are still reading this time management tips page, it means you really want to do
something about your problem with time, so I will tell you what I think you should do in order to start being in
charge of your schedule. You will be required to put my time management tips in practice, or the system will simply
not work.
Let’s analyze a classic situation: arriving at work by 09:00 am.
To achieve this goal you must accept one fact: it is almost impossible to arrive exactly at
09:00; so you will arrive either a bit early or a bit late. Since you want to be there BY 09:00 o’clock, let’s
arrive a bit early.
If you are going to be an on time person, get used to waiting around, because 1. most people are
often late and 2. if you are going to be always slightly early, you will have to get used to wait a few minutes to
the targeted hour. Every task in our lives needs time to be completed. Make a list of all the things you have to do
from the moment your alarm goes off, till 09:00 o’clock. Next, assign a minutes value to each task. Then you will
add all of the minutes and you will end up with the total time you will need to arrive at work by 09:00
o’clock.
It is important that you are honest with yourself about the time you need for each task. If you
are not sure, time yourself and see how long you actually take for each of these tasks. Being late all the time is the result of your unfortunate inability of judging your actions related
to time.
For example: you are honestly convinced that you will have time to iron your shirt in the
morning before going to work; this is because probably you have never timed yourself ironing a shirt and you
strongly believe that you can be faster than you actually are going to be and THAT is what causes you to be
late.
If you like to turn off the alarm clock two or three times in the morning, you need to add that
time to your time totals. If you turn off the alarm three times, you will actually get up about 15 minutes later
than the time you set the night before. It’s all about understanding where you are going wrong and how to correct
those mistakes. Are my time management tips making any sense so far?
Let’s go through this method together. Always think that you have to be there 10 minutes before
the actual time, so you’ll have to be at work at 08:50.
Time management tips – a schedule analysis
Time between waking up and getting up |
15 minutes
|
Taking a shower |
20 minutes
|
Preparing breakfast |
10 minutes
|
Having breakfast |
10 minutes
|
Brushing teeth |
5 minutes
|
Getting dressed |
10 minutes
|
Getting out of home |
5 minutes
|
Walking to bus stop |
10 minutes
|
Waiting for bus |
5 minutes
|
Bus journey |
30 minutes
|
Walking to office |
10 minutes
|
Total 130 minutes = 2 hours and 10 minutes. So you have to set your alarm two hours and ten
minutes before 08:50, which is 06:40.
Now it is essential that you do not mess up this plan. Do not to put anything else in your
schedule. Be strong and refuse to fit anything else in it. There will come a moment in which you will be convinced
that you will have enough time to do something else; refuse to do it! Have extra time handy? Rest instead of
running. Live a peaceful life, on time.
I hope my time management tips will be useful to you. Follow my system and you’ll never be late
again.
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