Training courses relating to time management focus on topics such as effective communication, strategic planning, organization, project management and decision making, to name a few. Training courses are available via many platforms, including face-to-face classroom-style sessions and public seminars. Online-based training, also known as e-learning, includes courses delivered via virtual classroom, self-paced online courses and web conferences.
Time management skills training offers personal and professional benefits to the individual taking the training. Being more organized at home will allow for more time to relax and have fun. At work, being more organized can lead to higher individual and organizational productivity, which will also help boost financial profit. In addition, research has shown that employees who are aware of the daily goals that they must meet are more content at work and less likely to quit.
The main component of most time management skills training courses revolves around an individual's ability to set and prioritize goals. These can either be daily goals or long-term project goals. Time management tools, including day planners and software applications that help track progress, are available to keep individuals focused on the main goals they need to accomplish.
According to Peter Turla, an expert in time management and the founder and president of The National Management Institute, time management training courses related to priority setting should instruct learners how to focus on the future and not the past, on problem preventing rather than problem solving, on long-term fixes rather than the "quick fix," and on high-impact priorities that matter to a lot of people, to name a few tips.
Certain pitfalls exist that can jeopardize a person's ability to effectively apply time management skills they will learn through training programs. To avoid these pitfalls, training programs should encourage the popular SMART goal-setting paradigm, which purports that goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. An article on SelfGrowth.com written by Tristan Loo, business philosopher Jim Rohn once said "We want to set the goals that our heart conceives, that our mind believes and that our bodies will carry out."