Do you feel as though life has dealt you a poor hand? Are you dissatisfied in your career and feel that you are worth more? Do you feel unappreciated, unfulfilled and unhappy? Do your efforts remain unnoticed by your superiors even though you are jumping through hoops to impress them? In a way, this is good as you are listening to your intuition, that little voice that tells you that things are not quite right. These feelings are probably vibrating across the length and breadth of thousands of offices up and down the country. But how can you alleviate these feelings of woe?

Time Management is a concept which many have heard of but few take the time to investigate. However, those who do let their inquisitiveness get the better of them and partake in such a course, usually stand out from the crowd as they have that added edge over others which separates the winners from the losers. Not only is this portrayed in their work life but also in their private lives. The structured technique of using time to its advantage is often elevated in public service, studies, sports and personal achievements. By implementing even just the basic techniques such as time keeping and punctuality, those who have studied a reputable time management course have that winning streak working with them professionally. These positive skills are reflected back in the form of self confidence and high self-esteem which makes functioning under any circumstances a natural and easy ability even when faced with extreme pressure, time constraints and limited resources.

The dominating factor which manifests from all of these achievements is the ability to manage a workload. Be prepared to wave goodbye to all of those limiting self-doubt beliefs which only serve to make you feel bad about yourself. When you feel deflated you are likely to wind down and work half-heartedly on a project. This then spirals into feelings of guilt for dragging out a situation and low-productivity in comparison to the amount of hours that you have wasted. By combining a balance of hard work and respite you are more likely to achieve the desired results without being over-worked or feeling too guilty for procrastinating. Research suggests that 80% of total achievements are generated by using only 20% of focused effort.

More money for less work

The aim of the game is to work as little as possible for the biggest pay outs. We are all limited by the number of hours we have in a day so it makes logical sense to focus on tasks which bring us the most financial rewards. Many people overlook this point and simply focus on tasks which look the easiest but actually pay out the least. Others learn the hard way, by working diligently through a task and then discovering that the pay outs were less than the amount of effort which was put in. Giving tasks a hierarchy of importance will help to sift the wheat from the chaff and is bound to earn you some positive feedback from the boss.

However, when prioritizing tasks, ensure that you make a fairly educated assessment as to how long they will take to complete. This is a common pitfall for workers who are new to a project and unsure as to the turnaround time, especially when they are likely to come up against unexpected hurdles along the way.

A lack of understanding is also a major contributor to poor time management. So often, people volunteer to take on tasks which on the surface seem like an easy option. It is not until the job is underway that they realize they may have bitten off more than they can chew. Stress along with problems which take time to resolve add up to a shoddy work performance and poor results. Factor in time before starting a task to fully understand the extent of the work involved. Make a structured list of tasks which you expect to achieve, estimate a time limit for each one and a bit extra for unforeseen events. Although it may sound a little contradictory to add time to a project when the entire aim is to save time, a job completed in a realistic timescale will raise the moral, earn you some brownie points and make every challenge pay the dividends that you so rightly deserve.

Never underestimate time for it can run away with you and cause you to let people down (including yourself), miss deadlines and even put your fellow colleagues under pressure if they are relying on you. To cut a long story short, a little fore-planning and complete understanding of a project and its requirements are the essential ingredients to successfully completing any workload.

Remember... the one thing you cannot recycle is wasted time.