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Time is our most precious resource. And whether you’re a high-powered executive or just starting your career as an intern, it doesn’t discriminate: We all have 24 hours in a day!

But, when the temperatures get warmer and the A/C is blasting in the office, those 24 hours all of a sudden seem even shorter. Even as a dedicated professional, you might find yourself longingly looking at the clock while trying to power through your tasks as fast as possible so you can head out and dive into the non-working half of your life.

The good thing is that depending on how you manage your resources, you can manipulate time and get the most of your working hours — and enjoy life outside of work to the fullest as well. Oftentimes, when you try to implement some of the mentioned elements, you may run into challenges.

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So, before you dive in and enthusiastically adopt a new workflow, it’s important to embrace a couple of important mindset shifts.

First and foremost, you need to switch your thinking from time spent to results achieved. The most effective time-management tactics are about improving efficiencies and maximizing the impact of every minute spent — not all tasks and activities are even and every working hour is precious.

Keeping results at the forefront of your mind will help you get the most of any productivity method. Set the 80/20 rule which states that 80 percent of goals achieved are the result of 20 percent of efforts. Think of your most important project and its most crucial deliverables and outcomes. Are you spending most of your time on activities that move the needle towards the successful completion of that project? Or do you regularly get caught up in things like attending meetings with unclear agendas or answering emails?

Next, you must be willing to be real with yourself when it comes to the way you currently spend your time. Are you stuck in a spiral of over-commitment because you’re afraid of saying no? Do you tend to procrastinate or are you a multitasking addict? 

Assessing the present with honesty and humility is the first step towards building a schedule that allows for more freedom. Try time-blocking which is about dividing your calendar into blocks allocated to specific sets of activities. 

If you’ve got a lot on your plate, you can fight off that feeling of overwhelm by planning in advance how you want to split up your various activities throughout the week.

As long as you regularly check in with yourself and your productivity levels and are willing to focus on working smarter instead of harder, time management should be a piece of cake to enjoy (watch the calories though!).