I was watching a television programme early this morning, an American import called Nannny 911. A reality programme, it involves one of three nannies being parachuted into an out of control household with stressed parents and out of control children. The programme today featured a couple who were at their wits end with their 10 year old daughter and three triplets. The house was an absolute shambles and the mother who looked much older than she was, appeared on the edge of a nervous breakdown. She recognised that she had problems with time management and yet the concept of learning time management skills didn't seem to occur to her and she accepted that her eldest child was likely to miss the bus to school even though the stop was right outside their front door.

The thing that struck me most was although the mother had applied to the programme for help, she didn’t really want to change anything. Everything suggested to her was turned down, even before she had tried it, including strategies for improving her time management. And yet this is not unusual. Many people say that they want to have better time management skills but when you start questioning them about it - almost the first words out of their mouth is ‘it can’t be done’.

This is clearly rubbish. Something can be done, because we all have choices and if you’re serious about learning time management skills it’s the most important factor for you to remember.

Here are 5 reasons for learning about time management.

1. Make your life easier

if you sort out your time management, there’s no doubt about it life becomes easier, as you will stop trying to push 36hrs into 24. However, you must be committed and prepared to make some changes.

2. Improved well being

People with poor time management skills generally experience increased stress levels. If you can implement effective time management strategies you’re likely to notice a difference in your overall well-being. Some of the symptoms that some people suffer from like headaches, anxiety attacks, poor sleep can all improve or disappear.

3. Gain more time

If you’re complaining about the lack of time, it makes sense to make sure that you’re using the time you have more efficiently. This will happen if you have a clear schedule, stop trying to be all things to all people and realise that you can’t do everything. You also need to delegate tasks to other people.

4. Greater focus

Sorting out your time management should give you greater focus on the tasks or commitments that you have and the goals you want to achieve. Ultimately this should mean that you reach your goals much more quickly, and achieve greater success.

5. Stronger relationships

If you don’t have good time management skills, the chances are you will have some difficult relationships – either because you don’t give people the attention they want or you don’t listen all the time, you have to cancel things and let people down or you miss deadlines. By improving your time management skills, a knock on effect will undoubtedly be improved relationships.

Summary

If you give yourself the chance to learn how to implement effective time management skills, not only will life be easier and you will build stronger relationships, you will also find that you are able to manage your day to day life more efficiently, lessen the chance of your falling ill and will reach your goals much more quickly.