Time Management

Do you have enough time? Yeah, me neither. No matter how well I plan, how early I go to bed, how many lists I make or people I recruit to help me with the various tasks that need to get done each day, I never seem to have enough time. 

One of the reasons why I am chronically short of time is that I am just very busy and have a lot of responsibilities and few resources. Another reason is that I have some chronic, serious and debilitating health concerns that take up a lot of energy, money and time. I am also the world's worst for not saying no and taking on too many responsibilities and putting too many irons in the fire. If I am honest with myself though, I have to admit that one of the real reasons why I am often short of time is that I am a bit of a day dreamer and a procrastinator. In short, my time management skills suck!

I've been a freelance commercial writer for a little over four years now, and aside from being able to write well,  I would have to say that time management is the one other skill that you absolutely must have. Indeed, whether you want to be able to make a living with the income that you earn from your writing or if you just want to be successful in any other area or occupation of your life, time management is probably the most important skill of all to have if you want to be successful.  

Some people seem to be just magically born with the ability to be super-productive because they are somehow blessed with the ability to manage their time. These creatures are always organized and pulled together each day because they somehow intuitively just KNOW how to manage their time. My husband is one of these mythical beings - and it annoys the crap out of me! Almost as much as my daydreaming and procrastination annoy him!

Today, I think I found a solution to my dilemma. Since I know several writers that share in my predicament, that are held back by their inability to manage their time well, I thought I would share the solution:

It is not enough to WANT to be able to manage your time. Good intentions are not enough! To be able to manage your time wisely, you must first LEARN and be TAUGHT, rather than TOLD, how to manage your time. 

Yes, I am talking about the S word - School!

As some of my readers know, I am a big fan of education, especially when it's free. Coursera is currently offering a free class on improving your time management skills. It's called:

Work Smarter, Not Harder: Time Management for Personal & Professional Productivity and is offered by by University of California, Irvine.

I recently had a bad flare of one of my health conditions and fell behind on my work, and so, as a final act of desperation, I thought I would see if there is actually a way to learn how to manage my time more effectively so that I can learn how to get more done each day without working 20+ hour days every day of my life. 

If you are like me and have trouble maintaining your focus, getting and staying organized, or just getting enough things accomplished each day without wanting to pull your hair out at the end, why not sign up and join me? It's free and you have nothing to lose and everything to gain! 

Photo Credit: Flickr: Bobby McKay, catching up.