How To Manage Time - Henry David Thoreau has very rightly said, “It is not enough to be busy. The question is what are you busy about.”

Time management is not about doing too many things in less time but doing right things at right time in right way. How you manage your time is part of your personal agenda. However, there are a few generic steps that help you manage your time in a better way, more so in case of executives and ever-occupied corporates.

Step 1. Goal Setting: This is the first step towards effective time-management. Goal setting makes you more focused and sets a direction for how the tasks should proceed. The goals should be clear, concise, unambiguous, without any if's and but's and within you capability to achieve. They could be short term or long term or a mix of both depending on your circumstances and personal ambitions. Allotting an estimated realistic time schedule to your set goal would help you get focused and reach the effective time management goals faster.

Step 2. Planning: Planning your tasks before going ahead with the execution helps saving time. It is a proactive approach. With planning you will already know what you wanted to do next before the task on hand gets over. This enhances productivity.

Step 3. Prioritizing: It is often seen that many managers spend time doing trivial things while the more important tasks keep waiting. In such case prioritizing helps. Once those tasks high up on the priority list are done, the other trivial tasks can be done efficiently. It will not cram up the schedule unnecessarily and also keep time bandits at bay. Important point to be remembered here is that prioritizing does not mean doing only what is important and leaving out on rest, rather it is doing what is important first and then proceeding with the rest.

Step4. Decision Making: It is a known fact that biggest thief in time management is indecision. Many a times it is seen that the managers and the executives keep having fruitless meetings and conversations. No important decision is taken and a lot of time and resources are wasted. Decision making process can be streamlined by cost-benefit analysis, Pros and cons method and comparing options method.

Step 5. Delegating and Outsourcing: Delegating and outsourcing work not only saves your time and mental peace but also makes an efficient use of organizational man-hours. It streamlines the overall work and ensures it is done in the best possible way. Also, it leaves you enough time to do important tasks.Step 6. Scheduling and Routine Setting: Scheduling binds your prioritized tasks and goals in a time frame such that you get a productive outcome of your available time. A carefully made schedule motivates you to complete your tasks on time and cuts down on the time bandits by limiting the amount of time you spend on a particular task.

These steps are just the outlines to achieve effective time-management. However, at the core, only determination, discipline and  toil  help you lead an organized life.