November - 2010 Newsletter

Twenty-four hours in a day doesn't seem to be enough anymore. We seem to never have enough time to get everything done. Most people will struggle with time management at some point in their life. Ineffective time management skills can lead to stress, poor interpersonal relationships, and difficulties at work or in school, etc. Below are tips to using your time more effectively. By using some or all of these tips you can begin to take control of your time and get more out of life.

• Identify the outcome at the beginning. By knowing your desired goal you can work on only the most important aspects for accomplishing it.
• Get committed. If you're not committed and excited to do it, you're not going to.
• Consider the obstacles you might encounter beforehand. By knowing what might slow you down you minimize the time it will take you to achieve the goal.
• Legal rights, representation, advocacy and when to consult with an attorney.
• Concentrate on the portion of the task that has the most impact towards the goal.
• Avoid little tasks or loose ends. These can keep you busy and provide a sense of accomplishment but they never end and will keep you from achieving the larger goal.
• Prioritize your to-do. Identify one or two must-do items on that list and focus on those first. Even if you don't accomplish everything on your to-do list you will have completed your must-do items for the day.
• Learn about what you want to accomplish before you do it. Being effective requires knowledge. Sometimes, being effective means knowing what not to do. This can save you time as you will be less likely to make mistakes.
• Finish one project before starting another one. This frees up your mental space and allows you to concentrate on one thing at a time. Also, finishing what you start will help you develop the habit of completion.
• Compare yourself to your own personal best, not to others. Discipline yourself to do things that others don't ask of you. Create your own deadlines.
• Keep your energy high. Knowing what to do won't help if you have no energy to do it.
• Complaining, asking why something happened, or blaming others doesn't change anything. Spend the majority of your time figuring out and working on a solution rather than focusing on the problem.
• Ignore problems or tasks that don't add anything to your life. You'll find that they usually work themselves out.
• Minimize distractions. Turn off computers, phones, email, instant messengers and communicate your intentions of focusing to those who tend to distract you. Stopping and starting a task due to distractions requires several minutes of refocusing, which can quickly add up. This is wasted time and effort.
• There's never going to be a perfect time to start something. If the task is worthy of your time, start it today.

Start applying these tips now by thinking about some of these questions:

• Is there an area of your life that you want more control over?
• What outcome would you like to have in this area?
• What task can you do that will have the greatest impact in achieving this outcome?
• How can you incorporate the above time management tips in this task?

Holtz Psychological Services provides complete evaluations for Learning Disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Please inquire about our new Parenting Groups as well as our new Social Skills groups.

HPS is also pleased to announce our close association with Heather Grossman, PhD, CCCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist. She provides Speech-Language Therapy and Evaluations as well as Social-Language Skill Groups. Her specialty is in providing therapy for Stuttering. Please visit her website at www.SpeakFreelyLongIsland.com.

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