Learning To Budget Your Time

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by Aryeh Powers

If your personality is anything like mine, than you probably don’t like deadlines. There are people who thrive on deadlines and specific instruction. What I find though, is that people that work in creative roles tend to do better, when they have less structure and more breathing room to do what they do best, create.

For people like us, who are more of the creative types, the problem arises when we have too many clients or too many projects that require our attention, all at once. How do we balance so many responsibilities while holding onto our creative aspirations and goals? The answer is balance.

One way to go about finding your balance is to create a to-do list. I remember when I worked at HealthSTAR PR. One of my supervisors had the foresight to show me her to do list sheet that she filled out every day. She recommended that I do the same. It was very good advice, that I’ve carried with me to today. Consequently, this past week, I read an article that called the to-do list approach, a characteristic of a best employee.

There are many different ways for you to go about finding or implementing your own to do list. You can create your own to-do list, like the one below, or search apps for your computer or phone. Everyone has different systems, which work best for them. I personally like having alarm reminders on my phone, to help remind me of events and deadlines that I have, but I have also seen calendars and other iPhone apps that work in the same capacity.

However as your responsibilities and/ or client base continues to grow, it becomes essential for you to find a system that works for you. Here are 2 reasons that might help motivate you to start budgeting your time effectively.

1.  When you can effectively budget your time, you’ll begin to be less stressed out, because you will have specific parameters that are set aside to help you GRADUALLY meet the deadlines of your clients or supervisors. If you’re the type of person that continuously waits to the last minute to complete projects, than having a system that allows you to take projects in stride, might really help you feel less stressed about deadlines and other people’s expectations.

2.  As you begin to effectively budget your time, you will have more confidence and a greater ability to inform your clients or supervisors of the time that would be necessary for you to realistically complete the desired tasks or project. This, in turn, will increase the trust and confidence that your client or co-workers place in you. They will see you as being more reliable. Read the recent Business Insider article that refers to the to-do list as one of several factors that make the best employees.

 

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