I recently attended SOS Partner, Amber Fogarty’s RISE Austin session entitled: The Time Management Myth. It was very interesting to me so I wanted to share my top five takeaways from the session:

1. If you don’t know what your goals are then you can’t make the best use of your time.

2. Writing crystallizes thought – crystallized thought promotes ACTION!

3. Start your day accomplishing your main priorities (these may not always be the easiest things to accomplish on your list)

4. Take 5-10 minutes a day to plan and prioritize. Also take time to write down your clear picture for the month.

5. Procrastination is a habit, one that can be replaced as we make better choices about how we spend our time.

This session really got me thinking about the question: Do I make the best use of my time? My answer was NO! How many people can answer yes to this question? Do you feel that you make the best use of your time everyday? Amber brought up a great point when she said that most of the time we make out a daily check list of to-dos; however we have the tendency to do the easiest things first even though they may not be the most important. This allows us to feel accomplished at the end of the day simply because we see a lot of checkmarks. The problem with this is that our top priorities and top goals remain unfinished!

How many days do you find yourself doing this? Are your goals clearly defined? Do you write down a clear time picture (daily) of what your day should look like? If so, how many days a week do you accomplish your top priorities? Near the end of her session, Amber asked the attendees: Beginning tomorrow, what will you do to make better use of your time? I encourage you to evaluate the top priorities in your life and to clearly define your goals. I encourage you to make the best use of your time!

If you would like more information from Amber’s Time Management Session email info@sosleadership.com!