This post originally appeared onFast Company.

In fact, some of our biggest time management mistakes are simply borne of ignorance.

So how do youknowwhen youre doing something wrong, simply because you dont know any better?

Cultivating Knowledge

One area where Im a novice is gardening.

This year, Ive tried and failed several times to sprout flowers from seeds.

(Trust me, its harder than you think.)

Preoccupied with giving them what Ithoughtthey needed, I overwatered a good many of them, and they died.

My next attempt involved petunias.

But despite frequent downpours, they soon looked desiccated.

I reached out to a friend with a green thumb, and she set me straight.

And I realized the same goes for some of the most common time management issues.

For one project, you may just need to becced on certain email updatesrather than weigh in directly.

But on a different project, email itself might not be enough.

The point is that theres no one-size-fits-all solution for your business activities.

It takes experience and trial and error.

Awareness itself can make a huge difference in how well you allocate your time.

Where do I see warning signs that I need greater involvement?

How can I get either more or less involved, as the individual case may require?

It was the outcome of my actions that mattered.

Senior managers who report to you will typically be okay with strategy-focused meetings once or twice a month.

Whatever frequency you determine is best, keep in mind that everyone appreciates when you stick to your commitments.

Ask yourself what each one needs from you to thriveand decide whether they could do with more or less.

If you dont know, reach out to them directly and find out.

Id conquered my ignorance, but I hadnt yet put my new knowledge to work.

That approach might be overkill for you, but its what worked for me.

Let your calendar do some of the work for you.

This isnt being clinical, its just being practical.

Its genuinely hard to remember things.

Decide which technological tools work best for certain things and which analog ones might work better for others.

Then put some new approaches into action and see which ones work.

Ignorance can be a very big hurdle to get over, but its no excuse.