How can you help yourself with a never ending list of priorities?

This month’s new topic is about juggling and prioritising especially when you have different priorities wanting your time.

I have tried and tested different ways of doing this as I juggle my coaching with a part-time job and studying as well as at times adding in other priorities such as training for a 100k walk I took part in during May. In some cases I can compartmentalise what I do, the part-time job is on set days each week and attending the training course is on set weekends. Then there are the more fluid things like client one-to-one sessions, reading for my course, the coursework, practising with clients for the course, the marketing around my business, networking and the list goes on.

I know I don’t like to have a totally structured day, giving me set times each hour for tasks does not work for me but I do need some structure to ensure I am getting my priorities done. Within this I also know importance of self-care, time for exercise, meeting up with friends and time out. One thing I do ensure is that I take the Monday off after I have attended my weekend course to reflect and re-charge.

Time Management Tips:

What can you do to help you juggle and manage your time? Here are some ideas for you to consider:

• Simplify how you work -including your work environment, having clutter around won’t help you to have a clear mind.
• Complete important tasks first – each day identify 2 or 3 priority tasks and do those first
• Learn to say no – do things you know you have time for and care about
• Unless you know you are good at multi-tasking concentrate on one thing at a time
• Know your best time of day to do things and do the important/ harder etc when you are at your best
• Be aware of time hoovers – what uses up your time that is unproductive eg social media, tv, people who like to talk a lot on the phone etc
• Have some buffer time between tasks – it allows for if you run over, time to re-focus to start next task, breaks

Do you work more than one job?

If you work more than one job being organised can be very important to keep on top of what you are doing and when. Here are some ideas to help you manage:

• Stay organised – in box, calendar – I colour code mine so I know what I am doing and when
• Set boundaries – if you only work a certain number of hours on one role, communicate this, if set times, let people know
• Utilise out of office, be clear when available for what roles
• Ask for help – have a support team of friends, colleagues, people to outsource to
• Don’t forget self-care – A-Z, this is really important to ensure that you are also a priority.