Prioritized Living

Master your money. Get organized. Take back your time.

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • START HERE
  • Your Money
    • Career & Making Money
    • Big Money Goals
    • Building Credit
    • Insurance Matters
    • Painless Budgeting
    • Smart Saving & Spending
    • The Cost of Kids
    • Easy Homemade Savings
    • Special Occasions for Less
    • Retailer Secrets
  • Your Home
    • Creating Organization Systems
    • Conquering Clutter
    • Organizing for Kids
    • Organizing Hacks & Tools
  • Your Time
    • Creating Goals
    • Maximizing Productivity
    • Time Management 101
    • Time-Saving Hacks & Tools
  • Favorite Tools
  • SHOP

Seize Control of Your Time With This One Skill

This post is part 3 in the series Sanity-Saving Skills Every Busy Person Needs.

Seize Control of Your Time With This One Skill

In the last four months, have you been mastering these 9 essential skills for busy people?  If so, you’re now able to . . .

  • Sketch out a plan for every day.
  • Automate components of your life.
  • Estimate the amount of time you need to accomplish a task.
  • Delete, diminish, delegate, and delay non-urgent and non-essential items on your list.
  • Motivate yourself by matching activities to goals.
  • Optimize your time by double-dipping in your goals.
  • Batch like tasks.
  • Work with your energy levels.
  • Adapt to intrusions.

If you still feel too busy, focus on this critical skill for seizing control of your time:

Categorize every task you have on your plate.

If your day (or your life!) is mired in chaos, then you might feel as though you’re constantly playing defense.

Switch over to offense mode by pausing to determine which of your tasks are . . .

Important

What really matters in life can sometimes be a deep philosophical consideration, but often it’s easy to sort out what’s truly important:

  • Your kid’s graduation is next week.  (Plan to attend.)
  • A close friend is sick at home alone.  (Head over with chicken soup.)
  • You’ve always wanted to start your own business.  (Start sketching out a business plan.)

At the same time, flag the tasks on your to-do list that can’t even compare in importance:

  • The PTA wants you to sit on yet another committee.
  • Your friend just posted 300 photos of her vacation on Facebook.
  • You think how nice it would be to have a freshly cleaned bathroom every day like in a hotel.

Urgent

Some to-do list items really do need to be done right now:

  • The final deadline for your report is this afternoon.  (Start typing!)
  • Your kid is screaming in pain from an ear infection.  (Call the pediatrician pronto.)
  • Your car is running on fumes.  (Fuel up.)

Others can clearly wait:

  • You’re tempted to start shopping for Christmas . . . when it’s 11 months away.
  • You need to schedule a physical for yourself sometime before June.
  • The lawn needs to be mowed periodically, but you just did it.

Loud

Face it.  Sometimes the thing that gets your immediate attention is the thing that’s screaming at you the loudest.

That might be a literal scream.  (My toddler does not like to wait for his milk.)  Or it could be something else that’s just in your face:

  • A pop-up ad tells you that there’s an awesome sale happening.  (You weren’t even thinking about shopping.)
  • A clueless coworker perpetually pokes her head into your office “just to chat.”  (You can’t remember her name.)
  • A telemarketer lovingly calls you just as you’re sitting down for dinner.

So whenever some new task presents itself to you, stop for a beat and size it up.

Is it truly important?  Is it truly urgent?  Or is just loud?

From what loud but ultimately unimportant or non-urgent task did you free yourself today?

Series Navigation<< More Sanity-Saving Skills Every Busy Person Needs
Share
Pin
Tweet
Share
Pocket
«
»

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Hi, I’m Megan!

Megan Nye I'm a personal finance writer, wife, and mom. And I know we’re all looking for the secrets, the systems, and the hacks that will make our lives easier & better.

We want to stretch our resources to get more for less . . . so we can spend our time, money, and energy on what really matters to us and our families.

Here at Prioritized Living, we talk about making smart money choices, organizing our space, managing our time, and pursuing our goals. Be the driving force of your journey. Live your priorities! Read more.

Free Budget Template

FREE Budget Template & Trackers workbook

Search the Blog

Budget Planner

Budget Planner from Prioritized Living

Recent Posts

How Much Should I Spend on Groceries?
10 Things You Can Teach Your Kids with a Fun Planner
How to Use a Budget Binder to Manage Your Money
54 Awesome Kid Gifts Under $25
13 Awesome Productivity Gifts to Give This Holiday Season
14 Awesome Organizing Gifts to Give This Holiday Season
15 Awesome Financial Gifts to Give This Holiday Season
7 Last-Minute Gift Ideas That Won't Bust Your Holiday Budget
10 New Year's Financial Resolutions for an Awesome Year
Ready for Tax Time? My TurboTax Review
FREE Food Budget Calculator

©2016-2025 Megan Nye
No content on this site may be reused in any fashion without written permission.
Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Disclaimer · Affiliate Links Disclosure
 
Looking for a personal finance freelance writer to help with your content marketing? Work with me.