Optimizing My Day: A Personal Journey Through Time Management Strategies - Essay Sample

My Morning Routine

My alarm goes off at 6:30 am, and I have 45 minutes to prepare myself for work. After 5 minutes of lying on the bed, I get up and head to the bathroom, where I take a ten-minute shower. I start my beauty routine by cleansing my skin with Garnier Micellar Water and moisturizing my skin with oil. I then go to the kitchen to make my breakfast, a cup of chocolate, and toast. I then get ready and apply minimal makeup on my face. I usually get out of the house at 7:20 am heading to my workplace, which takes about 30 minutes to drive. I start my work at 8:30 am, and getting out of the house later would make me get stuck in traffic; hence I prefer leaving earlier to have spare time in case of traffic. After getting to work, I remain in the car for ten minutes, where I plan for the day by writing a five-minute journal. I usually use the app in the morning and before going to bed, where I copy to the journal and respond to the evening queries. I usually watch a few videos on YouTube as I head to my office as this is my quiet time, and I enjoy my morning before engaging in my daily routine.

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My Day Routine

I usually work from 8:30 am to 5:30 with two breaks in between. I work with online marketing in the interior design sector, and my daily routine involves preparing blogs and controlling social media marketing accounts. During the lunch break, I take 20 minutes working on my blog and scrolling through social media. Sometimes I usually take a walk around the building on sunny days. I take another break at 3 pm, where I take a walk to interact with my colleagues and consult and learn new design aspects. When 5:30 pm rolls, I usually head home happily after completing my daily work while listening to my favorite music.

My Night Routine

I usually get to the house between 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm, and I start my evening refreshing routine. I start by taking a shower and applying my beauty products as I love the fresh feeling on my body and the wonderful scent. I usually use a more hydrating moisturizer in the evening than in the morning, and I lastly apply an eye treatment with avocado. After having dinner together with my parents and siblings, I help my sister clean the kitchen, and I prepare my lunch bag for the following day. I log in to my Facebook account and Bloglovin to interact with my friends, get feedback from the accounts, and watch YouTube videos before going to bed. I usually work on my blog for a little time because I am mentally exhausted when I get home, so I do not get the time to update my blog.

Before going to bed, I brush my teeth and choose my outfit for the following day to avoid looking for my clothes in the morning. Then I usually include in my Five Minute Journal the three amazing events that occurred on that day and reviewed the day’s events. I then set my alarm for the following day switch off the lights before 11:00 pm and retire to bed. My routine repeats itself on the following day, and this is the typical daily routine of my life.

Process Analysis in Time Management

Time management refers to managing one’s day hours by planning and organizing the time a person will spend performing particular activities. Effective time management prevents the accumulation of activities allowing daily events to be developed with high commitment. I employ various tools and techniques to manage my time and ensure I attain my daily routine. I use the technique of Getting Things Done (GTD). The GTD technique helps increase their productivity and attain high professional performance (Heylighen & Vidal, 2008). The steps I follow in performing this technique include collecting, where I list all the duties I need to do in a day. The next step is processing, where I analyze the demands and figure out the ones that need action. I then logically organize my daily duties and set a deadline for the completion of the tasks. The other step is execution, where I carry out the activities without interruptions and distractions. The last step is the review, where I periodically assess the strategies for executing my duties and make appropriate adjustments.

Another tool I use in managing my time is a time planner, which has all the activities I need to plan and organize in my life. There are two types of time planners, including electronic time planners and looseleaf binders, allowing a person to make plans for the year, month, week, or daily plans (Adair, 2009). I usually use the electronic time planner version, where I make plans for every day. My time planner constitutes a master list where I usually capture every activity and the needed action appropriately. The master list is the core of my time planner system as it allows me to assign particular design duties to various days and weeks or even months. Master list among the powerful techniques that allow optimal productivity, and it is the appropriate way of achieving SMART goals. I have created my daily work list where I write every single activity on my electronic journal, which I desire to complete in a day. This helps in increasing my efficiency by 25% each day. To effectively use the master list, I need to have an extra two hours of my productive time in eight hours daily to make a list of all activities I need to carry out before beginning my work. The master list technique has helped me to bring chaos faster than working with other techniques.

Also, I usually organize my activities and duties in the master list by priority. The organization of my master list has turned out to be a map that guides me from morning to evening effectively and efficiently. The guides show me what has to be done and what is less or more vital on the list. This has helped me develop a habit of utilizing my master list as a blueprint daily. In developing the master list and organizing my activities and tasks as my priority, I applied the Pareto Principle, which depicts that 80% of one’s outcomes are obtained from 20% of one’s efforts (Harvey & Sotardi, 2018). This indicates that the essence of optimizing my efficiency was by prioritization of duties that contribute to or maximize my gains. Also, the Wunderlist tool has helped me manage my time as it has allowed me to establish a task list and organize my activities and duties into folders. The Wunderlist tool has also allowed me to create a reminder system that alerts me when my deadline for a certain task is approaching.

References

Adair, J. (2009). Effective time management: How to save time and spend it wisely. Pan Macmillan.

Harvey, H. B., & Sotardi, S. T. (2018). The pareto principle. Journal of the American College of Radiology, 15(6), 931.

Heylighen, F., & Vidal, C. (2008). Getting things done: the science behind stress-free productivity. Long Range Planning, 41(6), 585-605.