I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Psalm 139:14
There is a science to learning to manage time; often times our time management style mirrors our learning style. Our brains are wired to work in a special and unique way so don’t fight your natural tendencies… embrace them and learn to use them to your benefit.
Think back to when you were in school, did you learn better by seeing things, hearing things, or touching things? The answer to that question may stir up more than nostalgic thoughts… it many also hold the key to mastering the art of time management.
Visual Learner Time Management Strategies: You learn best by seeing things and information.
- You need to see your schedule, your plan, your to do lists, etc… each day so write them down and keep them accessible daily.
- Color coding your calendar. You can do it by family member so you can see at a glance who is doing what by using different colored inks or highlighting the various entries.
You can also use color coding to show your different time zones that you set up. Give each zone a different color and then when you look at your schedule you will see quickly when you can put an activity in the right time zone.
- Using charts to track chores, projects, and activities so you can see the steps that need to be completed.
- Post daily routines and reminders to help hold you accountable.
Auditory Learner Time Management Strategies: You learn and organize best by hearing things and information.
- You thrive on hearing things so using timers to keep you accountable on time spent on a task can help you. If you are going to clean the house set a timer for thirty minutes and see how much you can get done in that time without getting distracted. If you are going to be preparing for a meeting for an hour set your timer for 45 minutes to warn you to find a stopping point in your preparations before moving to your next task.
- Read your schedule out loud to yourself at the start of the day or have someone read it to you. This will help to reinforce the schedule that you need to keep.
- Setting alarms for when you need to do something or be somewhere throughout the day. Set an alarm so you can always leave in time to be 10-15 minutes early to your destination.
- Recording notes to yourself on a small digital voice recorder can save you time later looking for small hand written notes.
Kinesthetic Learner Time Management Strategies: You do best when you tangibly touch something or do something.
- You thrive on being able to physically cross items off of your to do list daily so a paper or wipe off boards work well for you.
- You normally do not like to spend too much time on one task so break tasks into smaller steps and do them a little at a time.
- Consider using task cards so that you can thumb through regular chores that need to get done. Separate them into two piles each week; still to do and have done.
