Today, we are constantly interrupted by tools, notifications, emails, social media.

What is time management?

Time management is the practice of managing your work in order to ensure you’re spending your time as intentionally as possible. Time management can increase productivity—but the biggest advantage of effective time management is the ability to better prioritize your day so you can make space for rest and self care.

6 time management strategies to increase productivity

1. Timeboxing

Timeboxing is a goal-oriented time management strategy where you complete work within “timeboxes.” This strategy helps you break down large tasks into smaller pieces, and then complete those pieces in a reasonable amount of time. Each task should have its own unique timebox that lasts no more than three hours.

2. Time blocking
 

Time blocking is similar to timeboxing, but instead of scheduling specific time for each individual task, you’ll practice blocking off set periods of your calendar for related work.

To create a time block, start by figuring out your daily or weekly priorities. Then, group similar tasks so you can work on them in one time block.

3. Pomodoro method

The Pomodoro method helps you tackle work within short time frames and then take breaks between working sessions. The Pomodoro time management strategy is particularly helpful because it actively encourages regular breaks, which are good for intrinsic motivation—and good for your brain.

To use the Pomodoro method, you need a timer, a prioritized to-do list, and a “snooze” feature on your notifications. Start by setting your timer for 25 minutes, and try to spend that time exclusively working on a task—avoid checking your text messages or social media if possible. Then, once time is up, take a five-minute break.

4. Eat the Frog

Mark Twain famously said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.”

The Eat the Frog time management strategy takes inspiration from this quote and encourages you to tackle big or complex tasks first before working on your less important or less urgent work.

5. Pareto principle

The Pareto principle is the opposite of the Eat the Frog method—this strategy encourages you to get quick tasks out of the way, so you can feel more accomplished and motivated as you head into your day.

Often called the “80/20 rule,” the Pareto principle has one fundamental rule: you spend 20% of your time on 80% of your work.

6. Getting Things Done (GTD)

The Getting Things Done method was invented by David Allen in the early 2000s. According to Allen, the first step to getting things done is to write down everything you need to do.

Capture all of your upcoming work in one place. Then once you have written down everything you need to do, sort and prioritize your work.

Six time management tips to get more done
 

1. Connect daily work to goals
 

Time management isn’t always about getting all of your work done—rather, it’s about identifying and prioritizing your most important work. In order to do that, you need to connect your day-to-day work to team or company goals.

2. Prioritize and organize your work

Why does prioritizing work matter? You might be familiar with burnout, which impacts a growing number of global employees every year. Knowing which tasks to prioritize can help reduce that feeling and increase confidence that you’re working on the right tasks every day.

3. Plan ahead at the end of each day

The workday often feels like a scramble because we’re already behind by the time we get started. If you’re the type of person who goes through emails every morning trying to figure out what to prioritize for the day.

4. Say “no”

It’s not always easy to say “no” to work—but it helps when you can explain that you’re saying “no” because the work doesn’t align with your current priorities.

Defining priorities for yourself—and sharing those priorities with your team members—can give everyone more clarity.

5. Audit your tasks

Take some time to look through tasks you committed to a while back and are still working on. Is there anything that’s currently on your plate that no longer aligns with your team’s goals?

When you find these tasks, ask yourself if this work needs to be done at all. If it’s no longer important to your team, consider putting the work on hold.

6. Ditch handwritten to-dos—use a tool

If you’re still tracking your work by hand, it’s time to upgrade to an online tool. As satisfying as it can be to take notes manually, written to-do lists are disorganized, prone to mistakes, easy to lose, and ineffective.

6 time management quick wins

The time management strategies and tips we outlined above are helpful—but they take some time to implement. Looking to get started in the next five minutes? Try these six quick wins to improve your time management right now.

1. Snooze notifications

We’re constantly bouncing between apps, notifications, and tasks. In fact, the average knowledge worker switches between 10 apps up to 25 times per day. That’s why it’s harder to focus on the task at hand and get into a good flow—which means work takes longer.

When you can, turn off your notifications or use “Do not Disturb” features to temporarily disable notifications. That way, you can dive into deep work.

2. Organize your physical space

Take a quick five-minute break to organize your desk. Throw away any papers that are no longer necessary, stack your books in a neat row, and coil any stray wires that might be lying around. Then, when you get back to work, you may find that it's easier to focus.

3. Group like tasks

Try to group like tasks. See if you can work on all of your tasks for one project, or all tasks for the same deliverable, in the same time block. When you do, you’ll spend less time context-switching and more time focused on getting high-impact work done.

4. Work on quick tasks in between meetings

You likely have a few tasks every day. If you have this type of work, save these tasks for those five minutes between meetings or 10 minutes immediately after lunch as you get back into the swing of things. Not only will you be able to quickly tackle this work—and feel good for doing it—they also won’t take up valuable mental energy that could be spent on more complex work.

5. Stop trying to multitask

When you attempt to multitask you’re actually forcing your brain to quickly switch between tasks. Every time you switch between work, your brain needs to find the information and context for that task. Not only does this take more effort than simply focusing on one to-do, it also exhausts your brain.

Instead of multitasking, aim to work on one task at a time, so you can get into flow while working. 

6. Take breaks

If you struggle to remember to take breaks, consider scheduling them into your calendar. Then when the break pops up on your calendar, force yourself to take it—even if you just stand up to stretch. Even though it might feel stressful to take that break, you’ll feel better once you do.

Source: Asana