How To Manage Your Time Like A Pro With 9 Easy Questions

Time management requires a lot of hard work, planning, and discipline, which sometimes is not easy to maintain, especially when there are so many distractions out there. But it is still possible and achievable! That’s why I prepared 9 questions that you should ask yourself and manage your time more efficiently. 

They are really easy, but as you think deeper and deeper you might find yourself a little bit confused or even lost. It’s okay to feel this way! In fact, there are thousands of people who don’t have a clear purpose which makes it harder to manage their time well. 

Are you ready? 

Let’s dive in.  

1. How do I define success?

Well, to manage your time like a pro you first should identify what ‘success’ means for you, because if you don’t, how will you know when you have found it?

The definition of success is a personal one which means it varies from one person to another. My definition of success can be different from yours, or it can be similar!

For example, Bill Gates says: “It is also nice to feel like you made a difference — inventing something or raising kids or helping people in need.”

Warren Buffett, one of the most well-known and respected businessmen in the entire world, says “I measure success by how many people love me.”

So, just sit down and think about how you define ‘success’.  

I like what Stephen Covey,  businessman and author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” said: “If you carefully consider what you want to be said of you in the funeral experience you will find your definition of success.”

After you can clearly define success, it’s time to think about what type of person you are. So, the next question you need to ask yourself is this. 

2. Am I more likely to focus on small details or the big-picture?

To manage your time efficiently you need to understand what type of ‘thinker’ you are when it comes to completing tasks and projects. 

Do you focus more on the small details or the big picture?

It’s important to understand that because it’ll help you identify what you’re able to do more effortlessly and what struggles you’re most likely to have. 

Here’s how you can identify whether you’re the big picture thinker or the details thinker. 

Characteristics of the Big Picture Thinker:

• You’re creative and love coming up with new projects and ideas.
• As a big picture thinker, you can quickly see the patterns in problems.
• You develop goals, visions, and can outline them quickly and even with excitement. However,  when it comes to filling in the details you find yourself getting tired and exhausted pretty fast. 
• You don’t like busy work or tedious errands, filling out forms and etc.
• You’re more creative than analytical. 

Advantages of big picture thinkers:

• Whenever there’s an obstacle or a problem you’re fast at coming up with solutions. 
• You see the end goal very clearly. 
• You always have a lot of new ideas to work on. This energizes and motivates you. 
• You see the overall picture and it’s one of the most important characteristics of CEOs. 

Disadvantages of big picture thinkers:

• You tend to procrastinate. + You love coming up with different excuses if you don’t feel like doing something. 
• Sometimes you overanalyze things and waste time. 
• Most of the time you seek perfection. 

Have you found yourself in this description? 

Now let’s see who details thinkers are. 

Characteristics of the Detail-Oriented Thinker:

• Whenever you think of a project, you do it very precisely and pay attention to the small details, but sometimes miss the bigger picture.
• As a detail-oriented thinker, you’d rather change or optimize something that already exists instead of creating new things. 
• When you study you end up highlighting everything.
• You’re more analytical than creative. 

Advantages of detail-oriented thinkers:

• You’re very productive and efficient.
• Detailed oriented people have very high standards when it comes to working on something.
• You have great analytical skills and are amazing at organizing.  
• You always review your work or project several times to make sure everything is correct to present a polished result. 

Disadvantages of detail-oriented thinkers:

• You often don’t see the bigger picture.
• You’re not very flexible and hate when things change.
• Sometimes you might struggle socially. 
• Sometimes you tend to have a fear of failure or doing something the wrong way. 
• You often overthink things. 

Okay, after you know what type of thinker you are, you can find a different approach to completing tasks and projects. 

Once you do it, you’ll be able to manage your time 10X more efficiently. 

Let’s move on to another question that you should ask yourself. 

3. What are my short term and long term goals?

After you defined ‘success’ and you know what approaches work for you and what don’t now it’s time for Goal Setting. 

You probably know what you want to get done by the end of today, and tomorrow. What about this month, or by the end of this year? Have you ever thought of what you want to be doing in 6 years? What do you want to achieve? 

We all want to succeed, and for that, we need to set goals. 

Without setting goals we don’t have a clear direction and we lack focus. But when we do have our goals set we know which direction to move towards and we start controlling our life. 

It provides us with some kind of a benchmark for determining whether we’re actually succeeding.  

It’s very important to distinguish your short term and long term goals. 

Write down the goals you want to achieve in the near future (let’s say within 12 months), it can be completing a course, buying a new phone, reducing variable expenses by 5%, and so on. 

Your long term goals will require more detailed planning, usually, long term goals include saving for retirement, buying a house, getting a degree and etc. 

You have probably heard of setting SMART goals. If not, then I’ll gladly guide you!

Your goals should be smart in a sense of:

1. Whenever you’re setting your goals make sure they are Specific. 

If your goal is not clear, well determined, and specific, it won’t be able to provide you the right and effective direction. That’s what we need our goals for, right? You won’t be able to focus and stay truly motivated and it will significantly affect your time management in a bad way. 

Try to ask yourself, and even better write the answers down: 

• What do I want to accomplish?
• Why is this goal important to me?
• What resources will I need in order to accomplish this goal?
• How soon do I want to achieve it?

2. Your goals are Measurable. 

To stay motivated and keep track of your progress and know that you’re getting closer to achieving your goals make sure you have answered these questions:

• How many? 
• How much?
• How will I know that it’s accomplished? 

Include specific amounts and dates to make sure you’re on track and succeeding! 

3. Achievable.

Even if your goal is not easy to achieve and will definitely stretch your abilities, it still has to be ACHIEVABLE. 

Make it realistic and ask yourself: “Is my goal realistic? How can I accomplish this goal?”. Once you answer these questions you will see your path more clearly. 

4. Relevant.

In order to get the right focus and manage your time wisely make sure that your goal is relevant which means you ensure that it’s worthwhile, it’s the right time for achieving this goal and it matches other needs and efforts. 

5. Set Time-bound goals.

When you set a goal, make sure you include a target date so you can celebrate your success! Well, there’s much more to it. Having a deadline will sharpen your focus and help you prioritize tasks. 

Write down by when you want to achieve this specific goal. What can you do today to start moving closer to it? What can you do for it 3 weeks or 3 months from now?

In other words, create an actionable plan with specific deadlines. It will increase your sense of urgency and will bring you to your goal quicker. 

When you set SMART goals you’ll be able to clarify your ideas, focus your efforts, and use your resources efficiently. 

4. What are the most important tasks on my schedule?

It’s also called The MIT Method when rather than writing out a long to-do list and trying to get it all done, you determine 1-3 most essential tasks and then focus on them during the day. 

The key is to not get distracted on other tasks until you’re done with those 1-3 most important ones. 

I also find it very effective when I do the hardest and most important things first, so I feel relief without being overwhelmed and stressed knowing that the hardest part is done!

The Pomodoro Technique is also amazing and a lot of people get more things done when using it.

5. What are my favorite tasks on my schedule?

Identifying your favorite tasks can help you create more tasks similar to the ones you like and make it easier and more exciting for you to complete them. 

Write down your tasks that you usually complete throughout the day and pick the ones you enjoy doing the most. 

Think if there’re any ways you can create more similar tasks or replace the ones you hate with the ones you would hate less. Sometimes it’s hard or even impossible but it’s definitely worth trying. 

6. Which tasks take up more time than I think they should?

Sometimes tasks that we thought we could complete let’s say in an hour take us 3 or 4 hours and it gets some of us stressed, including me. 

Especially when I think that I will spend 3 hours on creating a new blog post but it can take me 8! 

I know it’s frustrating, but at the same time, it’s very important to determine these tasks that take longer and consider them every time you plan out your days. 

If you include this time management tip that most of the articles don’t tell you, you’ll be ahead of the game!

7. What’s draining my energy?

To manage your time like a pro it’s also necessary to understand what’s draining your energy. What is it that makes you feel exhausted and tired? 

Some people hate organizing to-do lists and keeping up on the tasks. Not that they hate it, but it significantly drains their energy which leads to spending more time inefficiently. 

When you realize what drains your energy, you will be able to implement a few things that will probably help you avoid doing it. 

8. Are there any tasks I can delegate to another person?

One of the best implementations you can make once you know what’s draining your energy is to delegate the task/s to another person, so you don’t spend your time and energy on those tasks. 

It’s amazing if you have an assistant who can do some work-related tasks for you, but if you don’t ask your loved ones. 

Also, don’t underestimate tech help! There’re tons of amazing apps that will help you manage your time 10X better, faster, and more productively. 

10 Best FREE Tools To Boost Your Productivity

Okay, bear with me juuust a little bit more, we’re almost there!

9. Which tasks do I put off for later? 

We all have those “to-dos” that we always put off for later. In other words, procrastinate. 

Whether it’s the same task that you don’t want to do or different ones, you should take a deep breath and think “What?” “Why?” “How?”. 

What is the task you procrastinate on? Why are you putting it off for later all the time? How can you change it?

There can be a lot of different reasons why you procrastinate on some tasks, try to use this strategy to beat it.

“If it can be done today, do it today.” Make this your motto if you want to make the most of your time!

Well, here I gave you 9 super important questions that you should ask yourself if you want to manage your time like a Pro! 

For sure, time management requires deep planning, a strong attitude, and discipline. But if you get it right, it will definitely pay off in terms of higher productivity, efficiency, lower stress levels, and goal achievement!

I hope you enjoyed the article and if you did, please share it or pin it it will help me a lot with growing this blog! 

Your turn: What are your top tips on being productive and managing your time effectively? Comment down in the comments!

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