It seems like time is never enough. How do you get everything done in one day; blogging, social media, marketing, meetings etc etc. etc. Planning our long sailing vacation from Tahiti to Fiji has really reminded me of the value of planning.

When you take a vacation to a hotel, you only need to show up. When you take a sailing trip for two months, there is a lot to plan! From researching what vaccines are required, provisioning, what islands to visit and of course key questions like how reliable is the Internet… Let just say it’s taught me the value of planning (exactly six months of it)!

We can save so much time and anxiety if we learn to plan well. Poor time management can lead to unnecessary stress, and poor performance. So how can you clear the daily clutter and get more done?

#1 Plan the Night Before

It’s a great idea to do a to do list of all the tasks you need to get done the night before. This will give you greater focus, clarity and good sense of direction. Organize all your tasks into a list and reorganize them in order of priority.

Get all the difficult and boring task done first. It is always more tempting to do the insignificant tasks that are more enjoyable first, but you will feel a greater sense of accomplishment getting the big important things out of the way very early.

#2 Apply Three D’s 

There is a time management principle called the three D’s which stand for DO IT, DELEGATE IT or DUMP IT. If you can get it done, just do it now. If you already know that this task will take you 30 minutes, make the time and get it done and over with already. Otherwise, it’s just going to sit on your to do list staring at you accusingly… And that’s uncomfortable… Because no one likes to be stared at!

If you have determined that you won’t have the time to do this task or that you are better off using your time on some other more valuable task, delegate it. These days, even if you are a solopreneur you can use a variety of scheduling tools to ease off your daily tasks.

The third scenario is to dump it. Will this task ever be worth your time? Do you really need to be doing this? How will it impact your goals and objectives. Maybe it’s just a distraction, if so dump it!

#3 Plan a Schedule

I know that schedules can seem routine, but it can also save you time and add more structure to your day. Often when you allocate a certain time frame for a particular activity, you’ll find that you will stick to it and can move on to the next task with more ease. When time is wide open, you’ll find ways to use it up.

That’s why deadlines, work so well. If there is a schedule or a time frame within which you need to get something done, you’ll make it happen.

Time management takes a lot of discipline and deliberate planning, but you can do. Find a rhythm that works for you and stick to it.