Do you wonder how to develop strong time management skills and how to invest time smartly and productively? First, decide what to invest in your time to achieve this goal.

There are many research studies on human productivity during the day. According to Oswald, Proto, and Sgroi (2015), even people’s well-being effects this aspect, with happy individuals being more productive by 10-20 percent. Therefore, an advice is to spend time on something that is interesting and useful, which brings positive emotions.

What to Invest in Time to Develop Strong Time Management Skills

Learn what to invest in your time to further manage it. Invest your skills, mind potential, emotions, and mood in the time you are going to use for some activity. The reason is that with a positive mindset, hours of work will be efficient to the maximum. Vice versa, negative feelings will be distracting factors, leading to procrastination.

Avoid investing distracting things, background noise, and a negative mindset.

How to Manage Time Using Time Blocking

However, there are other factors that affect time investment, particularly, age and burnout. Evidently, during the 8-hour working day, the person can really work to the full for approximately  3-4 hours.

Therefore, to invest time smartly, use the well-known time blocking technique. It means setting time limits for each planned activity. Judging from what has been stated above, set 3-4 hours for your most important work for you to be productive.

Using time blocking, prioritize tasks. Spare maximum 15 minutes for checking e-mail, reading news feeds on social media platforms, and responding.

If you are in search of other work or income, do not quit your current job for something that still does not bring money. Set time for the two activities, using time blocks.

Do not waste time on searching for your true self. In fact, the self is you at the present moment, not you in the future or in the past, but you with your present emotions, feelings, or problems, which are constantly changing. Your social roles are also different, from a worker to a parent or a spouse. It means that the self is constantly changing. So how can you find something that is changing? Instead experience the present moment and use it to the full to gain new knowledge, skills, and positive emotions, as well as to learn how to perform each role effectively and meaningfully.

Reference

Oswald, A. J., Proto, E., & Sgroi, D. (2015). Happiness and productivity. Journal of Labor Economics, 33(4), 789-822.