Time Management: Effective Time Management Techniques

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It happens that the to-do list becomes very long, and it is not clear what to tackle in the first place. In such a situation, time management will help to correctly plan tasks. What it is, and what techniques and methods of time management exist, we will figure it out in this post.

What is time management​

Time management is a special approach to the allocation of time. It helps you correctly plan your workload and prioritize, rather than chasing ideas to “catch it all”. These skills are especially relevant in a rapidly changing world: when it is not easy to keep focus in the flow of information, processes and events.
People use a variety of tools to focus on tasks and goals without being scattered about secondary things. But before moving on to specific methods, let's note the general ideas that underlie time management.

• We control time, not us. We all have the same number of hours in a day. But how to dispose of them and spend your resource - everyone decides for himself.
• Time is often compared to a river, but this does not mean that you always have to go with the flow. It is sometimes helpful to relax and trust the flow. But it’s better to do it when you know how to swim and know exactly where you are taking you.
• Time management is based on three pillars: planning, goal setting, and self-organization.
• Time management does not require any special knowledge. His tricks are simple, and sometimes even too obvious. But what he really requires is internal discipline and the desire to work on himself. Time management is a skill. And you need to practice regularly to develop it and make it a part of life.

Time management principles​

All time management methods include 3 components:

• Prioritization. Before starting a task, you need to determine how urgent, complex, and important it is.
• Planning. It is important not only to highlight priority tasks, but also to prescribe specific deadlines for their implementation. To do this, add the task to your schedule and mark the deadline.
• Structuring. All tasks should be divided into sub-tasks to make it easier to track progress and move towards the goal.

Time Management Secrets​

There are 5 rules to help you master effective time management faster.

Find your motivation​

A motivated person knows how to perform even the most interesting and inspiring tasks. One is motivated by a big goal and result. Another is the ability to influence the development of the product and the company. The third is important that he can maximize his potential and learn new things.
So it's important to find your personal sources of motivation to show consistent results over the long haul.

Get regular rest​

According to the Pareto principle, 20% of the effort gives 80% of the result. So spending all your energy on continuous work is not the best plan. Indeed, in such a regime, concentration is still lost, and efficiency decreases.
If you've been working hard for a while, take a longer rest. Hard work without interruptions quickly leads to burnout and produces minimal results in the long run.

Learn to say no​

There is nothing wrong with backing up a colleague with an urgent task, or following a little request from a friend. But if the requests of others begin to cause discomfort, and they always have to help at their own expense, then it's time to set boundaries. At first it will not be easy: you are not used to refusing, and the environment is hearing your refusals. But each time it will be easier to say “no”, as well as to find a balance between your needs and helping others.

Get rid of the "time eaters"​

This category includes anything that distracts you from the planned activity and takes an unreasonable amount of time. It can be flipping through social networks, a too talkative colleague in the neighborhood, acquaintances who like to call and chat aimlessly.
To calculate how much time you waste every day, write down the sequence of your actions and the number of minutes / hours allotted for them in a notebook during the week.

Organize the surrounding space​

Perform a general cleaning in the house and throw / distribute unnecessary items. Your desk, including your office desk, should be in perfect order.
The same goes for the contents of the bag. Streamlining helps you manage your time more efficiently. As a result, you not only find the thing you need much faster, but also feel as collected as possible.

Popular time management methods​

The following are the basic time management techniques that have become the basis for many time management techniques.

Eisenhower Matrix (4D)​

It is one of the best time management techniques used to prioritize and assign tasks.
Its basis was formulated by US President Eisenhower: "What is important is rarely urgent, and what is urgent is rarely important."

The Eisenhower Matrix proposes to divide all tasks into 4 categories, depending on the degree of their urgency and importance:

• Urgent and important - that is, necessary. Such tasks need to be completed here and now. Usually, there is little time to complete them, so you need to tackle them right away. These include everything related to health and safety. Business issues, the failure of which critically affects the result and the overall goals of the company.
• Not urgent and important . Ideally, they should be the backbone of your daily routine. Assume planning and execution without haste. If you devote most of your time to just such tasks, it means that everything is in order with the organization of personal and work affairs. Only here, too, you should not relax too much, otherwise the cases from this category will go to the "burning".
• Urgent and unimportant - requiring delegation. They need to be performed, however, it is better if someone else does it. Otherwise, there is a risk of exhausting your internal resource. For example, it is unlikely that a large entrepreneur should hand out flyers on the street on his own to save some money. It is more logical to entrust this matter to someone, and at this time to do something that no one else really does.
• Not urgent and unimportant . They can be performed later, when there is free time, or they can be abandoned altogether. An example is regularly flipping through the news feed on social networks.

It is important to make sure that at each point you always have no more than 8 tasks.
The technique is suitable for executives, managers and people who need to prioritize or are faced with a large volume of work and do not know how to approach it.

Timeboxing​

This is a fairly simple time management technique. Its essence is that the whole day needs to be divided into blocks - temporary boxes. One time box - one task: you focus only on this matter and do not get distracted by other issues. And as soon as the allotted time is over, then proceed to the task in another box, even if the previous one could not be completed.

How to use timeboxing

• Make a list of tasks. Write down everything you need and want to do.
• Determine timing and priority. The entire list needs to be filtered. Surely, some tasks will have shorter deadlines or higher priorities. If you want to sort things out very clearly, you can use the Eisenhower Matrix, which we wrote about above.
• Make a schedule. Blocks need to be scheduled for the entire week at once. The easiest way to do this is in the calendar: the schedule is always at hand on the phone and on the computer. Another plus - the calendar will remind you that it's time to move on to another task.

This technique is suitable for those who find it difficult to focus on one task for a long time. Switching between blocks helps to relieve the brain and not get stuck in a routine.
It is also a good way to combat procrastination. For example, the task is difficult and it is not clear how much time it takes, so I don’t want to take it. And if you know that you don't have to sit at it all day, but only 50 minutes, then it's easier to start.

Tomato Technique​

This is one of the most popular time management techniques. It is aimed at eliminating procrastination, maintaining an adequate level of productivity and concentration during the working day. The technique was invented by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s.
The method involves alternating 25 minutes of work without being distracted by extraneous interference and 5 minutes of rest. This thirty-minute period (25 minutes work + 5 minutes rest) is called a tomato. In this technique, a person works as if in short sprints.

Procedure:

• Decide what task you need to complete right now.
• Set a timer for 25 minutes.
• Work on the task without interruption until the timer goes off.
• Get distracted for 5 minutes.
• Continue working again and set the timer for 25 minutes.
• After four tomatoes, rest a little longer - from 15 to 30 minutes.

To track progress, each interval must be recorded in a notepad.
The technique will help those who are easily distracted and often procrastinate, cannot concentrate on the task at hand, or perform many monotonous tasks.

ALPEN method (Alpa method)​

This technique focuses on increasing productivity and reducing stress. The author of the technique is the German professor Lothar J. Seivert. According to him, planning takes no more than 5 minutes daily. But its results are amazing. The main thing you can't do without is self-discipline, paper and pen.
ALPEN consists of 5 elements:

• A ufgaben ("Action"). Write down on a piece of paper all the tasks you need to complete in the day. Their scale does not matter.
• L änge schätzen ("Duration"). Calculate the specific time it will take to complete each of the previously recorded tasks. Don't underestimate or exaggerate it.
• P ufferzeiten einplanen ("Reserve"). Short-term buffering periods should be planned between tasks to reduce stress and reduce workload. Calculate in advance that tasks will take 20% more than planned time, and another 20% will be spent on breaks and minor tasks.
• E ntscheidungen treffen (Prioritization). The start of the day should be devoted to the most important and urgent tasks.
• N achkontrolle ("Analysis of results"). At the end of the day, check the list and determine whether the planning was effective, whether everything was achieved. And also note if there have been unreasonably extended buffer periods, which could be optimized and improved.

After that, you can start planning the next day.
The method is useful for people who like to procrastinate or need to correctly prioritize. It is also effective for executives.

Time management tips from celebrities​

Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, recommends the following:

• While the task is running, close any tabs in your browser that you don't need to work on a particular case. Sites with entertaining content are especially in the way.
• Check your e-mail at a strictly allotted time, turn off notifications about new letters.
• Don't let social media take control of you - 10-15 minutes a day is enough for communication.
• Ask your colleagues not to distract you any time soon. If you work from home, explain to the children that you have an important business and that they should not enter your room.
• Write down current tasks and global goals so that you can constantly see them in front of you and stay on course.
• Schedule mandatory daily breaks during which you completely shut off all thoughts of work. Fight chaos and don't let it defeat you.

Tips from Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett:

• Use a two-list strategy. Eliminate unimportant things to keep you focused and prioritized.
• Try to reduce the time you spend traveling. Try switching to remote work or leaving home early to avoid getting caught in traffic.
• Give up everything meaningless. Warren Buffett once reported that the personal boundaries of successful people are so strong that they give up almost everything. At the same time, the CEO himself often has days in his personal calendar for which nothing is planned.
• Set aside 5 hours weekly to learn something new.

Recommendations from Bill Gates look like this:

• Time is a valuable resource that requires a responsible and serious approach (even more serious than money). Don't waste it.
• Keep a book handy so you can make a good break.
• Develop long-term thinking. Events that will occur in the next 1-2 years are always overestimated, and changes that will come in 10 years are always underestimated.
• Structure your time. According to Bill Gates, he divides tasks into short time frames, sometimes even in 5-minute increments, and often uses timeboxing.
• Don't waste time on actions that don't bring you closer to meeting your goals. This will only take you further away from what you are striving for.

Despite the fact that there are many methods of time management, and there are even more principles of time management, it is worth studying at least what is described above. And try to introduce into your life, if not the whole method, then at least part of it. This will definitely have a positive effect on your productivity.
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