The most valuable resource available to us is time. It is measured in hours, minutes and seconds. If we waste time, we can never get it back. Accordingly, to use our time as responsibly as possible must be one of our daily priorities, and the skill of time management will help us to do this. By performing time management, you are able to work smarter instead of harder. In this way, you can accomplish more in a shorter period of time. You can stay efficient even when you have a small window of opportunity and are working under pressure. If you fail to perform proper time management, you can get stressed and your effectiveness reduces. Part of time management is punctuality. This is the practice of being on time, performing tasks or meeting people at the official appointed time. By engaging in these two tasks, you can boost your daily productivity, and to help, here are the best and most actionable tips on time management and punctuality.

Discover why you want to be punctual

When your why is strong enough, you will find a way to make it work. By relying on this principle, you can overcome your habit of being late. The only way to stop the habit of lateness and turn it into one of punctuality is to have a strong reason behind the transformation. Therefore, begin by identifying the main reason why you want to change. Take a pen and some paper, write down the main reasons why you want to change this habit. Also, write down the benefits that punctuality will bring about in your life. Ensure that they are strong and numerous. Examples of benefits include a reduction of stress, becoming more responsible and reduced friction with colleagues or co-workers. Make sure that the benefits are clear and easy to remember. Use these reasons and benefits to motivate yourself constantly. This will help you to overcome the habit of lateness and develop punctuality.

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Begin with the most important task

Every day, you have a collection of activities that require your attention. Some of us arrange them in a prioritized To-Do List. To perform proper time management, you should complete the most important ones first. This is a golden rule. Every single day, identify two or three tasks that are most important to you and perform them first. After they are completed, your day is already a success. This encourages you to move on to the rest of the tasks with confidence. You can even decide to push some of them to the next day. This is because you have already finished the most essential ones. This helps you to manage your time better.

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Make it a top priority to do everything promptly

To become more punctual, you should accept that you have a problem being on time. After that, accept that it is not a unique character that sets you apart. It is negative and needs to be eliminated. Therefore, commit yourself to ensuring that you are on time every time. Make sure that you are punctual every time as a responsibility to yourself and those waiting for you.

Learn how to say No and mean it

Every day, friends, family and colleagues ask us to do things for them. They ask us for favors and pile up our engagements throughout the day. Despite teaching us how to multitask, having too much of other people's tasks on our plates can prevent us from performing our own. Therefore, you need to learn how to decline requests. You should only perform the tasks which you can complete within the time that you have. Moreover, they should be the ones that you care about truly. This is an essential skill in time management.

Get between 7 and 8 hours of sleep every day

Some people believe that you are able to become more productive if you sacrifice your sleep. They trust that sleeping less allows them to wring an extra hour or two out of their day to work. As a matter of fact, this is not the correct way to manage your time. Sleep deprivation leads to lower physical and mental performance. Hence, you will only waste your time by moving slower. Hence, get the prescribed amount of sleep and rest as required.

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Track the time it takes you to perform daily tasks

One of the reasons why we get late is underestimating how long it takes us to perform specific tasks. We often think that it takes us a short period time to do a specific task while it actually takes much longer. This leads to lateness. For example, we may think that it takes us 25 minutes to get ready for work in the morning while it actually takes us 45 minutes. To avoid this, simply begin to track how long your activities take. Use a timer or watch the clock as you perform specific tasks throughout your day. This allows you to find out exactly how long it takes to do specific things in your day. After that, you can simply adjust by beginning these activities earlier. As a result, you will begin to be punctual.

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Completely focus on the tasks that you are performing

Focusing completely on what you are doing is an effective way to manage your time. It allows you to spend all your time on the most important task at hand. Thanks to the Internet, it is very easy to get distracted. You can begin to surf through websites that are not relevant to what you are doing currently. Therefore, teach yourself how to be disciplined as you work by focusing on one task. Moreover, you can use specialized software that reminds you to get back to work if you get distracted. This is the way to stay productive by managing your time and attention.

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The Important Take Away

Time is our most precious resource. Once it is gone, you cannot get it back. Consequently, it is helpful to manage it to you best ability. The guidelines above can help you to accomplish this effectively. By understanding and applying them in your life, you can transform yourself into a punctual individual capable of investing every second of your day responsibly.