Time Management: The 3 Ps That Drive Success

The struggle of time management can keep anyone from realizing their potential. There are so many demands in the day-to-day—getting to work, keeping the house clean, being with family, exercising, and just trying to enjoy life a little. We all get the same 24 hours and it simply isn’t enough.

But, we do have the power to take control of the hours we’re given. You don’t have to sacrifice all leisure to build your success. In order to attain goals, you have to take control of your time and focus on the projects giving you the most satisfaction. The three P’s of time management are simple priorities to use when developing your schedule and trying to make the most of your waking hours.

Purpose

Too often, we lose track of our free hours so quickly. You come home from work, think you’ll just relax for a minute, and then suddenly, it’s time to go to bed and you’re nowhere near that goal. Some days, there are so many tasks to fill up the hours that it seems like you don’t have any free time at all. Having a purpose goes a long way in time management.

Ideally, everything you do in a day should be helping you meet your goals. Before you get too far into a task, take 30 seconds to consider the purpose. Make sure it’s what you need. Purpose can be surprising. Resting is absolutely essential—you need to recharge, reset your mind, and clear your head. But be wary–resting might be procrastination in disguise. Keep a critical eye on purpose to distraction and focus on your goals.

Priority

Understanding prioritization lays the foundation for your success. Time management means understanding how to rank tasks based on their importance. If you don’t take a minute each day to lay out your priorities, your life will make those choices for you and you may not like the result. Life starts to get in the way and your dreams become fading memories.

On the other hand, prioritizing is what builds progress in your future. Make sure you write your schedule down—even something as simple as a list of goals can help you succeed. You don’t have to rank each one to prioritize. Sometimes just being able to see what’s on your list or priorities is enough to motivate you to complete all of them. If it’s important enough to write down, it’s important.

Then, look at your list carefully. What are the top 3 things you need to get done? Which 3 tasks are most important to your success? Put your focus on those to keep all of your goals moving forward.

Planning Tools

Like a carpenter needs a hammer and a fry cook needs a spatula, great time management requires great planning tools. You can make some headway with the first two tips but finding–and using–all the tools at your disposal will help you succeed.

Find a calendar system that works for you. There are hundreds of apps and printable downloads to let you set your goals. You can get The Freedom Journal or Evernote or just the phone’s calendar. Use a visible, tangible way to measure your progress to keep up your motivation. Always be looking for tools to improve your progress.

For a list of the 17 productivity apps to help you win your day, click here.

Taking advantage of the Three Ps of time management will drive your dreams forward and help you achieve the success you want. Using your time wisely is about planning and considering your schedule. Your time is a valuable, limited currency—spend it well.