4 Keys to Help You Make the Most of the Time You’re Given

Note: This is a guest post by Kaled Asmri of SuccessElixir.net.

Nothing we have is more valuable than time. As they say, time is money. Strange that we rarely think of time as something we should invest. If we invest it wisely, a little time can pay huge dividends down the road, whether financially or personally. Unlike money, time can be invested in anything — in your relationships, for example. The time you spend nurturing those relationships with other people can produce untold benefits in terms of happiness.

But making the most of your time involves some delicate juggling of priorities. How much time do you invest in your professional, personal, and spiritual life? How much to each person in your life?

Think carefully. Unlike money, you can’t possibly recover any of your funds after a foolish investment. Once time is spent, it’s gone forever. Once the sand slips through the hourglass, it disappears. But if you spend it wisely, it may remain with you, in the form of those relationships and business ventures into which you’ve wisely invested what little time you have.

A few keys to help you stop wasting time are listed below. Keep them in mind as you’re planning every day.

1. Take control of those far-flung aspects of your life with some central planning.

You’re the central command — and that’s as it should be, since only know what is most important to meeting your goals, and where to prioritize. Charting one’s time commitments effectively is the key to personal and businesses efficiency.

A good plan should bend but not break. Pin down the most important events in red — those deadlines and meetings that you cannot miss under any circumstances. The time that’s left over can be your flex time. Pencil in those random appointments that come up on short notice, and can be cancelled at short notice!

2. Develop a list of simple, spot-on questions to begin your day with as you look at the day’s schedule.

Re-evaluate your existing appointments based on the latest developments. Some questions might include:

What must I finish before the day is over?
What one thing can I most efficiently eliminate from my day? Get rid of it!
Can I combine certain scheduled items? Reshuffle them for more efficiency?
How does each item relate to my long-term goals?
Are any personal habits interfering with realizing my plans?

As you answer your list of questions every day, you can effectively recognize patterns in your time management — problems to avoid, and positive trends to encourage.

3. Never stop learning.

Many people conceive of learning as a passive endeavor, the way they remember it being back in school — do whatever the teacher says, memorize the information in the textbook. But learning should be a lifelong activity — that is, it should be active.

You can manage your time very effectively by learning from those around you, with similar goals and interests. Imagine the amount of time you can save by simply avoiding some of the errors others have made in the past. Never stop consulting with your associates and colleagues, and learn from their priceless experience.

4. Avoid the distractions.

Effective time management involves trimming away the nonsense — those little things that break up large blocks of valuable time, in which you’d otherwise make real, concentrated progress on serious projects. Otherwise, you can lose entire days on trifles — worst of all, on trifles of other people.

A disciplined approach to time management is one of the essential elements in the makeup of a successful person, no matter what their field of endeavor. Develop a plan, and, by analyzing it in everyday practice, streamline it. If you ask the right questions on a consistent basis, you’ll become an expert planner, and a successful person.

Learn to regard your time as the valuable commodity it is!

Kaled Asmri writes daily success secrets at his own blog, SuccessElixir.net. If you like this article, subscribe to his feed and read one of his best articles such as How Can I Improve My Self-Esteem?

四个方法帮你高效率利用你的时间

by Kaled Asmri

没有什么比时间更宝贵的了！正如人们所说，时间就是金钱。奇怪的是我们很少认为时间时可以投资的。如果我们对时间进行的明智投资，它会给我们带来经济和个人上的巨大收益。跟金钱不一样，时间可以投在任何方面，比如你的人际关系。你用来维护你与别人的关系的时间可以给你带来不可言喻的快乐！

但是要高效率利用你的时间需要精心的安排。你在你的专业，个人和精神生活上投了多少时间？你在你生活里的每个人身上投了多少时间？

仔细想想。跟金钱不一样，你在时间上的愚蠢投资不会再收回任何资本。一旦时间被花费，它将再也不会回来；一旦沙子渗过沙漏，它将（永远）消失。但是如果你对仅有的时间进行了明智的投资，那它可能会以（良好的）人际关系和企业的形式回报给你。

下面有几个方法可以帮助你停止浪费时间。在你每天做计划时，请把它们记在心里！

1. 要使你的生活的方方面面有一个中心计划

你就是中央司令部。只要你知道了什么对你达成目标最重要，如何去安排它们，你就本来该是司令部。有效的安排你的时间是使个人和企业（变得）有效率的关键。

好的计划应是灵活有伸缩性的，但不能被打断。把最重要的事情标记为红色--这些事情和会议在任何情况下都不能错过。 剩余的时间你就可以灵活掌握。用铅笔记下那些随机出现的约会--这些约会可以随时执行，也可以随时取消。

2.制定一份简单的列表，当你看你的每日计划时，你可以准确的知道每天开始你要干什么。

基于事情的最新发展，重新评估你现有的约会。可能有以下问题：

什么事情是我今天必须完成的？

什么事情是我一天中最不必要的？直接去掉。

计划中什么事情是我可以一起做的？重新安排它们以获得更高的效率。

每件事情跟我的长期计划都有什么关系？

什么个人习惯干扰我实现我的计划？

3. 要不断学习

许多人认为学习就像在学校里那样被动的去努力——听老师的 话，记住书本上的东西。其实学习一件终生的事情，它应该是主动的。

你可以通过向你周围有着相似目标和兴趣的人学习，非常有效率的管理你的时间。想想，通过避免别人过去犯的一些错误，你可以省下多少时间。要不断的与你的朋友和同事咨询，学习他们无价的宝贵经验。

4. 避免分心

有效的时间管理包括去除一些无聊的事情，这些小事情可能会占用你大量的宝贵时间。利用这些时间你可能在正规的事情上取得实实在在的，集中的进展。否则，你可能在这些琐事上浪费你一天的时间——最糟的是，还是为了别人的琐事。

不管他所奋斗的领域是什么，对时间的严格管理是一个成功人士的必要因素。制定一个计划，通过每天的实践对其进行分析，使之简化。如果你提出基于同一基础的正确问题，你将会是个策划专家，一个成功人士。

学着把你的时间视为有价值的商品。