Time management is the way we organize and distribute our time between activities, with the result of maximizing productivity and achieving goals. It is possible (and easy) to develop good time management skills. We’ve gathered our best 32 tips to help you make the most of your day.
Schedule relaxation time
During a regular workday, we all do tasks that require effort
- Our bodies respond to this output of effort by accelerating the heart rate, elevating blood pressure, and increasing fatigue and put stress on the body
- Make time for recovery at the end of the workday
Sleep well
Tired people procrastinate more and get distracted more easily
Make the most of waiting times
Use idle time to answer emails on your phone, catch up on missed calls and messages, stretch/exercise, relax or meditate.
Train the other side of your brain
Find a productive activity you enjoy and you’ll be able to stick with over a period of time.
- Some examples are reading, cooking, dancing, gardening, meditation, language learning, volunteering and improv. Productive hobbies engage brain areas that are not used as much during work hours but are important for high mental functioning.
Don’t strive for perfection
Done is better than perfect
Organize your email
Archive emails that might contain important info but don’t need an immediate answer
- Create actionable labels like URGENT, WAITING, NEEDS ACTION
- Use filters to automatically assign labels to incoming mail based on sender or some other information/keyword they contain
Tip #20: Let go of bad habits in the meantime
The best way to break bad habits is to start small
- Smaller changes are less likely to trigger physiological stress responses, making them easier for your body and mind to accept and repeat
- Pick a habit, set a schedule, and stick to it
Complete your most important and demanding tasks first thing in the morning
Oddly enough, you can focus more easily when your brain isn’t fully awake.
- Use this to your advantage and take on your most mentally demanding tasks right after waking up
- The first few hours of work are the most productive.
Tip #11: Be one day early
Projects often take more time than initially thought making it difficult to actually complete projects on time. Set an earlier deadline for yourself and stick to it.
Use your calendar
A calendar is good for so much more than just scheduling meetings. Use it for time management, keeping track of deadlines, and automatically adding locations to events.
Don’t wait for inspiration-do it now
Inspiration and focus can also be gained through the attempt to work through periods of low inspiration
Tip #13: Before meetings, determine your desired results
Make an agenda and share it with meeting participants in advance. You and your team will waste less time and get back to work as sooner.
- Everyone has been in a Zoom call that went on way longer than needed. Make sure there is a clear purpose for each meeting.
Tip #3: Create a daily plan or to-do list
Word your list items as if you’ve already completed them
- This will give you an extra boost of motivation when you go to cross the tasks off your list.
- It’s better to under promise and overdeliver, even when it comes to personal productivity
Turn your system into habits
It is necessary to form the above ideas into sustainable habits. Set a reasonable schedule you can maintain over the long term (at least a month).
- These behaviors will become increasingly automatic over time.
- A study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology found it takes more than 2 months before a new behavior becomes automatic-66 days to be exact.
Take advantage of golden hours or biological prime time
Break your workday into 3-5 time slots and keep track of your productivity using a notebook or free time tracking tool.
- Rank these time spots from most to least productive and use that information to plan your week accordingly.
Tip #21: Don’t multitask
Pick one thing to do, set a timer and work on only that thing until either you finish or the timer goes off
- This will help ensure both your focus and your quality standards
- Avoid distractions and improve your focus
Learn to say no
Your time is precious. Don’t waste it on tasks and projects that don’t align with your mission and goals
Use time management apps
Monitor your progress and figure out your procrastination patters using apps such as Toggl Track, Clockify, Harvest, or Time Doctor
- Starting a timer can help increase your focus and works as a signal to your brain to switch into work mode
Exercise often
Short and intense exercise sessions are just as beneficial as longer ones
Use the 80-20 Rule
80% of an outcome generally came from only 20% of its inputs
- Find out what that activities are a part of that 20 percent
- If you’re unsure of what activities are in your 20%, you should do a time audit or use a time tracking tool
Put a time limit on tasks
Tasks expand to fill the time they’re given, or so argues Parkinson’s law
- Set a time constraint on those tasks to improve focus and work more efficiently
- If you still find yourself going beyond these time limits, examine your workflow and determine if you should assign more time to those tasks in the future
Plan your week on Sunday
Create a plan on Sunday to break down your goals into daily tasks so you can see what you need to do every day at a glance
- Set yourself up for success by scheduling low-priority tasks for Fridays and other low-energy times
- Complete creative and demanding tasks on Tuesday and Wednesday
Set achievable goals and prioritize your tasks
SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely
- The 4 Ds of time management: Do, Defer, Delegate, and Delete
- Put tasks into one of 4 groups: Do (important, urgent, or unimportant), Defer (important but not urgent), Delegate (urgent, but not important), and Delete (not urgent, not important)
Create a time audit
Find out where you’re actually spending your time
- Humans are bad at knowing how long tasks take
- Track everything you do for a week using a time tracking application
- At the end of the week, look at the reports and evaluate the time you spent working on different tasks
Tip #10: Add a “done list” to your to-do list
On Sunday, revisit your accomplishments from the previous week and congratulate yourself on your successes
Related Reading and Additional Resources
Best resources on time management, productivity, and working from home
Schedule breaks between tasks
During both waking and resting hours, the human brain goes through rest-activity cycles or BRAC for short
Have a great time-no matter what
Don’t obsess about checking off all the items on your to-do list. Finishing an oversized workload today isn’t worth an unproductive, burnt-out day tomorrow.
- Work steadily and stay at your best pace. Rushing through tasks reduces work quality and creates stress
Use the Swiss cheese method
Break down larger projects into smaller tasks or time chunks
