Useful Tips to Improve Your Time Management

Time management is a difficult skill for most people to master, even those who might seem to have it together. If you want to be an effective personal trainer, it is time to reflect seriously on your time management skills. Do you succeed at accomplishing tasks on time, or do you frequently struggle? Read on to learn some top tips for time management.

1. Work Out Early in the Morning

As a personal trainer (or an aspiring one), you likely prioritise maintaining and improving your fitness level, and rightfully so. When deciding how to manage your daily schedule, you may be tempted to slot in your workout in the evenings, after you get home from your job or your studies. But is this really the best way to manage your time?

If you postpone your workout until the evening, you run the risk of not getting it done at all. Physical and mental fatigue have a tendency you keep you from being productive late in the day, so make sure to get your workout in while you’re still fresh.

2. Make a To-Do List

Yeah, you’ve heard this one before, but it’s easier said than done, and sometimes you just need a little reminder to plan out your day on a piece of paper or a screen instead of in your head. You’d be surprised how much more you’ll be able to focus on your goals and priorities.

3. Set Aside Time for Learning

Whether you’re an experienced PT or still in school, you can better serve your clients by keeping current with the latest news, science, and technology in the field. It may be tempting to spend time educating yourself when you have a free moment here or there, but the much better plan of attack is to set aside regularly scheduled time for learning.

4. Limit Your Screen Time

The PT lifestyle is all about physical activity and caring for your body, but so-called “screen addiction” has a nasty habit of turning even the most active individuals sedentary. In order to keep up with the latest in personal training, you’ll need to spend some time in front of screens. But in a world where smartphones and tablets can do so much, many people spend hours per day glued to their technology. Be careful of those habits, as they take a toll on your physical and mental health.

5. Don’t Put Off Important Tasks ‘Til the End of the Day

Just as you shouldn’t delay your workout until the end of the day, don’t neglect the other important activities in your life, either. Your studies and your stress relievers shouldn’t undergo neglect, so make sure they take precedence in your schedule.

6. Set a Bedtime and a Wake-Up Time

Oversleeping in the morning or failing to observe “lights out” at bedtime can throw off your schedule for days or even weeks. If you wake up late, you may skip breakfast, which will prevent you from running at 100% capacity at work or school. Setting bedtimes and wake-up times — and, more importantly, sticking to them! — is the first step on the path to productivity.

7. Don’t Overbook Clients

Experienced PTs and PTs in training love to feel that rush that comes with booking new clients. But because they love their work and the increased financial security that comes with each additional client, PTs often make the mistake of overextending themselves with too many sessions each day. In doing this, not only do they shortchange their clients, but they exhaust themselves and fall short of performing at their highest level.

8. Don’t Rush Through Important Tasks

When we find ourselves behind on time, we often make the decision to take care of everything on our to-do lists in a lot less time than we would normally spend on them. There are circumstances in which this is absolutely necessary, but this type of time management can’t be sustained in the long run!

When we’re faced with too much on our plate, the best course of action is to ditch the unimportant tasks and give the ones that really matter the proper time and attention.

9. Take a Deep Breath if you Feel Anxious

Anxiety breeds procrastination, and the two of them feed each other in a vicious cycle that’s difficult to break. If you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed by anxiety to the extent that it cuts into your time management and productivity, take the necessary steps to overcome the problem. Meditation, therapy, and medication can all help you in overcoming anxiety and getting a better handle on your time.

10. Remember Your Studies are the Most Important

Studying to become a personal trainer challenges even the best of us physically, mentally, and emotionally. No matter how discouraged you may feel about the struggles inherent in the process, remember the rewarding career that awaits you when you reach your goal!

Still need help? To become a better personal trainer, visit PT Academy.