This post is continued from Tips for Time Management :: Part 1.

And now, we continue the tips for time management, giving you more practical advice for getting things done quickly & effectively.

-Break your tasks into slices & sections.

It is always a good idea to break up your work into sections and slices; meaning that if you have a large multitude of tasks to carry out, you’ll want to make passes, switching every 20-30 minutes or so to a new task, making passes again and again until you get it all done. This will allow you to keep focus on the subject you’re working on without drifting off into a daydream or making a massive task seem daunting. Some would say it is inefficient to change frequently, and it is; but the ideal time for study sections is often 20-30 minutes. Others say that this differs for different people.

So for instance, if you are dealing with a number of college classes and you’ve got a lot to take care of with all of them, it is best to switch whatever work you’re doing for a different class every time segment. Work on Biology for a bit, then switch to English Composition, etc.

-Always make sure your priorities are straight. ALWAYS MAKE SURE you’re PRIORITIES are STRAIGHT.

This is one of the last ones and really it is one that I feel I cannot stress enough – always make sure your priorities are straight. It’s a bit old fashioned, and it’s nothing fancy; it’s a simple message to organize your “to do list” in a hierachy of most important to least important.

-Minimize your reading time by changing your reading method.

For some, taking a speed reading course can drastically improve their reading time and cut down on the amount of time they’re having to spend working with printed information. Myself, I use PhotoReading, a system created by Learning Strategies Corporation and Paul Scheele, which allows you to intergrate the use of both your conscious and subconscious mind during the act of reading and going through material. Other programs that you can try are Evelyn Woods, and EyeQ.

Moving on from the simple tips, there’s a number of things we can talk about when we get into particular activities or niches where you can manage time more effectively ranging in topic from playing RTS computer games to running a corporate business. Perhaps in the near future we will explore some of these niches in more detail, but until then, you can always turn to the prior core principles and apply them, and also look at other resources. Chances are, you’ve already Googled “time management.” Chao until next time.