A Quick Guide to Time Management: Techniques for Boosting Productivity

No stories to start today’s post.

Because if you are here, all you want is a quick guide to time management so that you can boost your productivity, finish off all pending tasks and get ready for the weekend. Or the much anticipated vacation. Or whatever else you look forward to doing.

So let’s dive in.

Just to set the context and get in the mood, I will start by talking a bit about the importance of time management. Because most people think time management is necessary for success in professional life, whereas it helps you find happiness and fulfillment at a personal level too.

Importance of Time Management

Effective time management is crucial for not just boosting positive productivity but also beating procrastination, achieving goals, maintaining work-life balance and reducing stress.

If you think about these words or concepts deeply and for long, you will realise that they are interrelated concepts that are held together by time management.

Which means that by managing time efficiently, you will have a much better quality of life than we have now. Time management skills contribute to not just improved productivity but a sense of greater control over your life, which leads to increased satisfaction and overall well-being.

Common Time Wasters

Are you aware of where your time goes? If at the end of the day you often feel like you wasted a lots of time, try tracking your day. Here is a handy spreadsheet where you can track your day in slots of 15, 30 or 60 min. Go as deep or as high level you want.

From what other have reported, some of the most common time wasters are:

Social Media
Multitasking
Helping others
Getting interrupted
Looking for files and resources

Remember, identifying and addressing these common time wasters is essential for better time management and overall productivity. Through the techniques I share now, you can do exactly that.

Effective Time Management Techniques

#1. Setting goals

Effective time management starts with setting goals. Rather, setting SMART goals. Goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound.

If you want to know about setting SMART goals in depth, read this article I wrote. If you just want to continue without disruption, here are a few examples of specific, measurable and time bound goals:

I want 10,000 followers on Insta at the end of 2023 (rather than saying I want more followers).
I want to increase my income to 10K per month (rather than saying I want to increase my income).

You need your goals to be realistic too. If you need to do two jobs to pay your bills, becoming a millionaire in 5 years may be an unrealistic target. But becoming debt free may be doable.

Choose your goals judiciously. If you choose wrong unattainable goals, you will get nothing but frustration and setbacks.

#2. Work with smaller doable tasks

The goal in itself may look daunting to achieve. So you need to break it down into smaller, doable steps that will eventually lead to the goal.

To reach your goal, be it taking your family on a vacation or securing a raise in the next review, you need to break it down into smaller doable steps. And it’s those smaller tasks that should go on your to-do lists.

When you strike these tasks off the list, you literally feel you are getting closer to your goal.

#3. Prioritize your tasks

Prioritizing tasks ensures that you are working on important tasks that take you closer to your goals, not always firefighting and working on urgent tasks. There are many frameworks that you can use to prioritize tasks:

Eishenhower matrix
ABCDE method
Pickle jar theory
Eat the frog

All frameworks are different but fundamentally same too. Among all the tasks on your list, you need to decide which task or group of tasks is more important to finish than the others. Then the next most important task and then the next and so on.

To decide this level of importance you can assign numbers 1 to 5, alphabets A to E or simply say high, medium and low.

To read more about how to set priorities, read this article.

#. Using digital tools

Leveraging time management tools can enhance organization, planning, and execution of tasks. These tools include:

Planners & calendars: Keep track of appointments, events, deadlines, and tasks in digital or physical planners.
Task management: Use apps like Trello or Asana for organizing tasks, setting deadlines, and collaborating with teams.
Note-taking: Capture thoughts, ideas, and notes with tools like Evernote, OneNote, or Google Keep.

#4. Time blocking and timeboxing

Time blocking involves dedicating a specific block of time to a particular task. Meanwhile, timeboxing is the process of allocating a fixed period to complete a task or activity. Both techniques help manage and optimize time.

Here is how it works:

Schedule uninterrupted blocks of time to work on tasks.
Assign timeboxes for limited-duration tasks or activities, such as responding to emails, engaging in social media or taking breaks.
Adjust time blocks or timeboxes as needed based on progress and task complexity.

#5. Schedule your day in advance

Don’t just stop at time blocking for certain tasks. Take a look at your whole day and schedule whatever you can. But do take care not to schedule every minute of your work day. Keep buffer time between tasks for taking breaks and buffer when you need more time to complete the task.

With time and practice you would be needing less and less of buffer time because your estimates of time needed for a task gets more accurate. But even then keep ample buffer time in the schedule. Because life can happen any time and you will need those buffers to keep you on track and sane.

Time Management Can Help Manage Procrastination

Procrastination can be a major obstacle when it comes to managing time effectively. But before we talk of how to beat procrastination, I want to remind you of its definition (from Oxford Dictionary).

I love this example because it highlights the fact that procrastination may mean you are “deliberating” over a task, a step or or a decision. Which can be a good thing.

What I want to say is that procrastination may or may not be a bad thing. You can’t be sure about it unless you know why you are delaying.

There will be days when you are too tired. Or, your mind space is so taken up by something else (think a personal crisis or large project or sickness in the family) that you don’t feel like focusing on any task. Or, you are being simply lazy.

So you don’t know if your procrastination is legit or not.

But yes, what you can be sure of is this – procrastination is a truth of life and you must learn to deal with effectively. If you don’t want one incident, situation or occurrence to jeopardize everything else in life.

At times like these, time management practices like having a superlist or scheduling or maintaining a calendar help keep you on track.

For instance, currently my mother is not keeping too well and even though I don’t need to care for her continuously, her needs can arise any time of the day and I must be available then.

Here is what I do.

I schedule my day normally with lots of buffer time. Whatever I can finish during the day, I do. Then, in the evening, I sit at my desk, open Todoist or Google Calendar and start finishing whatever pending tasks I can. And reschedule whatever was left. This way, none of the critical tasks.

You can also be in better control of your time, whether your procrastination is legit or not. The first step has to be identifying the cause.

Identifying Procrastination Triggers

Understanding the reasons behind procrastination can help in address it. Here are some common triggers:

Fear of failure: The fear of not succeeding or being ridiculed can cause procrastination.
Distractions: A cluttered environment or too many interruptions can lead to procrastination.
Perfectionism: The belief that everything must be done perfectly can lead to avoidance of tasks.
Lack of motivation: Feeling demotivated can make it difficult to find the energy to complete tasks.
Overwhelm: Feeling overwhelmed by a large task or too many tasks can cause a delay in starting them.

Strategies to Beat Procrastination

Once you’ve identified your procrastination triggers, you either need to remove those triggers or develop strategies to overcome its effects. My experience has taught me to implement strategies to overcome the effects first, and then slowly work towards removing the triggers.

In fact some triggers resolve themselves with time. For instance, if your child or someone else in the family is sick, they will get better with time.

So here are some strategies that have helped me manage procrastination.

Break tasks into smaller steps: Divide large tasks into smaller, more manageable parts that can be completed in one time block, whether it’s 15 minutes or 60, depending on your time availability.
Prioritize tasks: Use a to-do list to prioritize tasks based on their importance and deadlines.
Set deadlines: Set specific, realistic deadlines for completing tasks to hold yourself accountable.
Minimize distractions: Keep your workspace clean and remove unnecessary distractions. Consider using a timer to work in focused intervals.
Reward yourself: Celebrate your progress by rewarding yourself once a task is completed, which can help increase motivation.

Remember to be kind and patient with yourself. When you yourself are in a good place, only then can you do something good.

Monitoring and Reviewing Progress

Monitoring and reviewing progress is a crucial aspect of time management. It helps you assess how well you are managing your time and make necessary adjustments to increase productivity and have a fulfilled life.

Tracking Time Spent

One effective way to monitor progress is to track the time spent on each task or activity. There are various tools and apps available that can help you track your time, or you can use a simple pen and paper method.

Create a log of your daily activities, including start and end times.
Note down any distractions that may have affected your productivity.
Review your log at the end of each day or week to identify patterns and areas for improvement.

By gaining more insight into how you spend your time, you can make informed decisions about how to allocate time for different tasks and set realistic goals.

Adjusting Time Management Techniques

As you monitor your progress, you might need to adjust your time management techniques based on your observations and experiences.

Reevaluate priorities: As you track your time, you may notice that certain tasks take longer than expected or require more attention. Adjust your priorities accordingly to ensure that you allocate sufficient time to the most important tasks.
Set new goals: If you find that your initial goals were too ambitious or not challenging enough, revise them to create a more achievable and effective time management plan.
Eliminate distractions: As you identify distractions that hinder your productivity, consider strategies to minimize or eliminate these factors. This can help you stay focused and on track with your time management plan.

Regularly reviewing and adjusting your time management strategies ensures that you stay in control of your time and continue to make progress towards your goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are worksheets effective for time management?

Effective time management worksheets help you organize your tasks and prioritize them based on their level of importance and urgency. They can boost your productivity by clearly listing down your goals and breaking them into smaller, achievable tasks. Many worksheets offer sections for goal setting, task breakdown, and time allocation.

Why do we need time management at work?

Time management at work is crucial for maintaining productivity and meeting deadlines. Employees can improve their time management by setting clear goals, prioritizing tasks, avoiding multitasking, taking regular breaks and minimizing distractions. Employers can also provide employees with sufficient tools and resources to help facilitate effective time management.

Free workbook?

Several free time management workbooks are available online. These workbooks often include goal-setting templates, habit trackers, and weekly/daily planners. Websites like Trello, Asana, and Todoist also offer free time management tools to help with task organization and collaboration in teams.

High school assignments?

Time management plays a significant role in high school students’ success. Managing assignments effectively involves breaking projects into smaller tasks, using a planner or calendar, setting aside dedicated study time, and setting realistic deadlines. Employing the Pomodoro Technique and staying organized with subject-specific binders can also aid students in managing their workload.

4 Ds of time management?

The 4 Ds of time management are a simple strategy to prioritize tasks more effectively. They include:

Do – Perform essential and time-sensitive tasks immediately.
Delegate – Assign tasks to others when possible, to maximize efficiency.
Defer – Postpone less urgent tasks but schedule a specific time for their completion.
Delete – Eliminate non-essential tasks to free up time for higher-priority activities.

7 time management principles?

The 7 time management principles are a set of guidelines to help individuals manage their time more efficiently. These principles are:

Set goals: Establish clear objectives to organize and prioritize tasks.
Prioritize tasks: Determine the importance and urgency of tasks to allocate time and resources accordingly.
Plan: Create daily, weekly, and monthly plans to structure activities and allocate time effectively.
Eliminate distractions: Maintain focus on tasks by minimizing interruptions and time-wasters.
Delegate: Distribute tasks to others when possible, to maximize productivity and efficiency.
Set boundaries: Protect work time by setting limits on personal and professional obligations and knowing when to say no.
Review: Regularly assess time management practices to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments.