As I grew up and went through school, I was younger and less experienced with life and I was not an expert in time management. I did whatever had to be done, whatever was urgent. Many people live their lives like this. They wake up and start putting out fires right away. They run around like chickens without their heads and really don't get much accomplished. That was me for many of my days in my life, especially when I was in school. Another type of person procrastinates and is calm and relaxed until it's the last minute. That was never me. If I had something to do and it was undone, I would be worried about it until it was done. It would have made much more sense for me to just do it rather than worry about it. All of that energy could have gone to getting it done.
A concept I wish I had growing up was a time budget. Just like a financial budget, one can make a time budget. Even though I just recently started doing this, following a time budget has already made a huge difference in my life. I am now keenly aware of activities of which I am overdoing or not doing enough. However, just like a financial budget, it takes time to prepare and upkeep. It is well worth the investment! With this practice in place, I am living life on purpose and taking control of my life. The largest variances are due to incorrect budgeting, which is done because this practice is still relatively new for me. Other than that, it is a very helpful exercise.
Now my time budget is extremely detailed and I personally enjoy knowing where every minute is going. This can be done in many different ways. For example, start with just a few major activities and track them - i.e. work, family, chores, etc. This is also very helpful if you know of an activity that you want to cut such as social media, TV, Internet, etc. As I get better with time budgeting, I hope to help you get just as excited as I am.