Time Management Tip: What Type of Learner are You?

You may be wondering how there can be a correlation between how you like to learn and a time management tip, but there is. The way you learn is also the way you like to process information. When you can get information in the format you like to learn in, you can save yourself time and make things easier for you. So think back to when you were in school. Was it easier for you to learn when you could see things like a map, table, or diagram (visual learner)? Were you able to learn just by listening to the teacher (auditory learner)? Did you do your best learning when you could actually get your hands on things and manually manipulate them (kinesthetic learner)? You probably can learn any of these ways, but there is one way that is your preferred way of learning. Let’s take a closer look at how you can translate your preferred learning style into improved time management.

Visual learning time management tip. If you’re a visual learner a calendar probably works pretty well for you. You can take it a step further by using a To Do list and charting your thought process. A To Do list is a list you create on a weekly basis listing all the actions you need to take that you prioritize on a daily basis as you check things off your list. Charting is a technique you might benefit from when planning out things that are a little more complicated and include multiple actions. You simply record the end result in the center of a piece of paper and then start connecting related actions to the end result until you can’t think of anything else. Once everything is captured on your chart you can then begin to organize, prioritize, and delegate the actions. Those actions go on your To Do list and you’re off and running.

Auditory learning time management tip. Once you hear something you want to remember your mind holds onto that information like a locked vault, but it also clutters your mind with more thoughts than you really need to keep track of. One way you could increase your time management effectiveness is to carry a small tape recorder, use a voice recording service that emails you a transcript of your recorded message, or simply leave yourself a voice mail message for the things you want to remember. This allows you to quickly and easily capture important information, so you don’t need to think about it anymore. When you’re faced with a more complicated outcome you can simply talk your way through it into your audio recording device until you have it broken down into the actions that go on your To Do list. At your leisure you can then add these thoughts to your To Do list. You may even benefit from using an audio recording to tell yourself your top 3 priorities for the day including the actions you need to take, so you can just listen at the start of each day.

Kinesthetic learning time management tip. You learn best by doing. Writing is a kinesthetic activity, but you can take it a notch further and really improve your time management. As you like to actually handle things and learn a lot by doing so, when you’re thinking your way through something a little more complicated or with multiple action steps you may want to take advantage of something more physical in nature. A calendar and To Do list are fine, but you may also want to include the use of note cards or sticky notes or something else that can be written on and manipulated. Now instead of charting like the visual learners you put all your thoughts on a note card until you capture all your ideas in relation to the outcome you want. Now you can physically sort your ideas based on their relationship to each other or perhaps topic. After you’ve sorted this way you can rearrange your cards again for logical order or priority. Then you can add additional cards breaking out the individual actions you take and delegated actions. These actions are then easily transferred to you To Do list.

Use your preferred learning style to your advantage in your time management strategies. As you look at how you manage your time now identify what isn’t working as well as it could be. Is there a way to change how you’re approaching what isn’t working to incorporate your favored learning style? Brainstorm some ideas and then give your best idea a try. Something as simple as changing the how you approach time management can have a significant impact on the results you get.