Want to improve your time management? Lower your expectations

I feel like such a failure: Nothing ever goes according to how I plan, and no matter how hard I try, I can never get everything done that I want to do. Sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. As a time management coach for almost 18 years, I’ve seen that the gap between what you plan to do and what you actually accomplish is the biggest factor in how satisfied you feel with your time management. Imperfect planning and execution can lead to missed deadlines and broken commitments. And even if you do get all of your most essential activities done on time, you might give yourself an F on time management if you fail to meet your own expectations. If you find yourself constantly frustrated by the results of your planning, the answer isn’t to abandon the process. Instead, adjust your expectations so that when your plans don’t go perfectly, you can still keep your word and feel good about what you have and haven’t gotten done. You’re Not Going to Plan Perfectly Even if you’re very good at planning, you can’t possibly know how long everything will take down to the minute. Maybe you have one day where you receive a much higher volume of email than normal or another day where a client emer…