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Have you ever wished you could do more? Liz Waid and Bruce Gulland look at 6 tips for time management. Do the things you need to do and the things you want to do!

Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Liz Waid.

And I’m Bruce Gulland. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

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Once upon a time, there was a very strong woodcutter. A king hired him to cut down trees. The pay was good. And the work conditions were good too. The woodcutter wanted to do his best. The king gave him a sharp axe to cut the trees. He showed the woodcutter the area where he would work.

The first day, the woodcutter cut 18 trees. The king was pleased. The woodcutter was encouraged. So, he tried harder the next day. But he could only cut 15 trees. Each day he cut fewer and fewer trees. The woodcutter wondered if he was becoming weak.

He told the king that he did not understand what was happening. The King asked, “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” The woodcutter replied, “Sharpen my axe? I had no time for that! I have been too busy cutting trees!”

Mayo Oshin wrote this story for the website Thrive Global. The point of the story is that sometimes people work more and more. But they forget what is important. With a small fix, they could be working smarter. Today’s Spotlight is on managing time to do more.

Everyone has things they need to do. These things can be school, work, or things at home. People may need to care for children, fix a broken window, or sit through a meeting at work. These are all important things. They all take time and attention. But everyone also has things they want to do. These could include finishing school, writing a book, or learning a new language. These things help us change, improve, or add to the world. So how do you balance the things you need to do with the things you want to do?

You can learn to use your time in better ways. Maybe like the woodcutter in the beginning of this program, you just need to sharpen your axe! You may need to just work in a smarter way. Here are six tools of time management you can use.

The first tool of time management is to remember the big picture. Instead of thinking about all the things you have to do, think about where you want to be in one year. Write it on a piece of paper. Put it where you will see it every day. It could be in your kitchen or bathroom. You could make it into the wallpaper on your phone. This will remind you of your bigger goals.

The second tool of managing your time well is to plan out your week. When you plan out a week, you can make sure that you are spending time on things that are important. Plan out everything! Plan time for work, but also plan time for learning, exercise, rest, and time with family and friends. You may think this means you cannot have any fun. But a good plan can create freedom. Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky wrote a book called “Make Time”. In it, they write,

“When you do not have a plan, you have to always decide what to do next. You can use a lot of time thinking about all the things you should or could do. But a completely planned day provides the freedom to concentrate on the moment. You do not have to think about what to do next. You can trust the plan set out by your past self.”

A good plan is a good start. But this is only the beginning. The third way to manage your time is to avoid distractions and interruptions. Distractions and interruptions stop us from concentrating on something. When we are distracted, we lose the progress on that important work. Deep Patel wrote about distractions for the website Entrepreneur.com

“Even with the best of effort, we still look at social media when we should be working on a project. We touch our cell phone when we hear a noise. If we are not checking our email every five minutes, we worry we may miss something important. Statistics show that distractions cause a huge loss in productivity. Employees spend 28 percent of their time dealing with interruptions and then trying to get back to work.”

Distractions and interruptions are everywhere. But the fourth way to manage time is to minimize distractions. You cannot avoid all distractions – that is impossible! But you can try to have fewer distractions in your day. Turn off your phone. Turn the internet off on your computer. If possible, go somewhere that is not your office. Even if you only focus for an hour, you can get a lot done. There is very little in life or work that cannot wait one hour.

The fifth way to manage your time is to do your most important thing at the beginning of the day. Oshin explains,

“As a rule, plan your most important and creative work in the early hours of waking up. This is when you have the most energy. On the other side, you could plan your low creative work, such as email, social media, or phone calls later in the day. This is when your energy is lowest.”

The sixth, and final way to manage your time is to know when to stop working. Many people take their work home. They even bring their phones into bed with them. People are always connected to each other and their work. In a survey from Forbes, 82 percent of people say they stay connected to the office even when they go home. The same survey said 50 percent are still connected when they go to bed.

Managing time can help us get more work done. But it can also help us do more of the things we want. Following these tips can help you do both. Then you can follow one common English saying: Work smarter, not harder.

How do you plan your week? Do you use an app? Do you write a list of things to do? What is your best tip for time management? Tell us what you think. You can leave a comment on our website. Or email us at contact@spotlightenglish.com. You can also comment on Facebook at Facebook.com/spotlightradio. Subscribe on Youtube at youtube.com/spotlightenglish1.

The writer of this program was Adam Navis. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen to this program again, and read it, on the internet at www.spotlightenglish.com. This program is called, ‘Six Tips to Manage Your Time and Do More’.

Visit our website to download our free official app for Android and Apple devices. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.

Question:

How do you plan your week? Are you good at managing your time?