Effective Time Management

1. Tools and Techniques

An essential component of strengthening your productivity skill is being able to manage your time. As discussed in the previous lesson, you need to be able to prioritize your tasks, and, in order to do that, you must know your goals. When you have specific goals in mind, you can figure out how much time will be required to achieve them.

did you know

Although the way you approach scheduling your tasks will depend on their deadlines, it is also important to consider the kinds of tasks you need to complete, because that can make the difference in prioritizing them.

There are two main types of tasks:

1. Sequential tasks. These cannot be started until other tasks are completed.
2. Parallel tasks. These do not depend on other tasks for their start dates.

Sequential Tasks	Parallel Tasks

think about it

To figure out whether your tasks are sequential or parallel, you should ask yourself the following questions:

• When can you start, and when is the deadline?
  
• Does something need to be completed before you can start the task?
  
• How long will it take to complete the task?

Keep in mind that there is more to time management than listing out the order of work. You need to be able to create a detailed plan, and there are tools and techniques that can help you do that.

terms to know

Sequential Tasks

Tasks that cannot be started until other tasks have been completed first.

Parallel Tasks

Tasks that do not depend on any other factor for their start date.

1a. Time Blocking

Time blocking is a time management method that divides your day into blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task, or group of tasks, and only those specific tasks. This helps you stay focused on one thing or set of tasks at a time. And from the previous lesson, you know that this focus is important.

IN CONTEXT
Jesse recently began to work remotely from home. He struggled to keep his personal life separate from his work. He was stressed and wanted to take some steps to create better boundaries. He decided to set up blocks of time each day for certain activities.

Task	Time Block
Morning items (get ready, feed dog, check personal email, and review news on phone)	7 a.m.-9 a.m.
First half of workday	9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Lunch	12 p.m.-1 p.m.
Second half of workday	1 p.m.-4 p.m.
Evening items (feed dog, dinner, gym, and other activities—this will vary)	4 p.m.-10 p.m.

The chart above is very simple, but even this level of detail can help keep Jesse on track during the day. You could create something similar and customize it so that it works best for you. You will read more about how important it is to make sure your tools work for you in section two.

1b. Calendars

One very helpful tool when it comes to time management is a calendar. You could use a paper calendar, or any number of online options like Outlook Calendar or Google Calendar. No matter what type you use, it can be a useful visual to see how you have blocked off your time. When used optimally, you can see your day, week, or month at a glance, and use your agility skill to revise and edit quickly, as needed.

The image above is a digital calendar app. You can see that the person using this has blocked out time for each event. Calendars like this often have features like different colors for different categories to help you organize anything you add.

try it

Use your technology skill to find a calendar tool, or just open one you already use. As mentioned earlier, there is the option of Outlook or Google, but there are also others that you can review on this blog post from Calendly. Take some time to add events for the coming week. Look around the app, or do some research online to find out more about the available features to try.

Whether or not you already use a calendar, it is worth the time to learn how you can optimize your use of tools to manage your time. Remember, a paper option could work as well. Again, it is about knowing what will work best for you.

people to know

Stephen Covey was an American educator, author, businessman, and keynote speaker. The company Franklin Covey was founded based on his work. The company sells numerous items, and provides various services, but they are known for their calendars and planners.

1c. Checklists

Another technique that you can use to manage your time effectively is creating checklists. You don’t need anything fancy for this strategy. You can easily write down your tasks on a piece of paper, and check them off as you go. Some calendars have a task list tool that you can use with events you create on the calendar.

Just as your goals need to meet certain criteria, the items on your checklist should also have standards to help you get the best results. The AIMS acronym can help you keep some important elements in mind when deciding how to prioritize and schedule tasks.

A Action-Centered	I Incremental	M Measurable	S Scheduled Realistically
Identify specific actions to meet your goals	Break actions down into smaller (manageable) activities	Include criteria that you will use to measure if each task has been completed successfully	Be realistic in your expectations about the time it will take to complete tasks
(Dumitrascu, 2017)

The key to successfully using a checklist is to understand that each task takes time. Some days, you may be able to complete 20 tasks with success, while other days, you may only have a list of four items that you can realistically complete. You can find a list of some popular checklist apps on this blog post from Toggl.

2. Understand Yourself

As stated above, the techniques and tools that you use should depend on how you work best. You need to think about yourself as you arrange your days and determine times for each task. Some questions to consider when you are determining what system to use are:

• Are you a visual person?
  • Do you like to color code?
  • Do you use bold font?
    
    
• Do you work better with paper or digitally?
  • Which app will you use?
  • Will a paper calendar work, or a digital planner?
    
    
• Do you need/want to share your items with others (family or colleagues)?
  • How can you share it with them?
  • Will they be able to edit or add new items?
    
    
• What kind of access will you need for whatever tool you use?
  • Do you need it at home? At work?
  • Should you put the app you use on your phone, computer, or both?
    
    
• Are you motivated by being able to cross off things out as you complete them?
  • Do you want a simple checklist, or does deleting items from a calendar as you complete them work for you?
    
    
• Are you a morning person or a night person?
  • Should you tackle your toughest items first thing, or wait until later in the day?
  • When is the best time to schedule breaks each day?

watch

As you think about the tool(s) that you may want to use and the best approach for each day, consider what is shared in the video below. “Eating the Frog” is an approach that helps to push back against procrastination. If you eat the frog, you take it on, and overcome it sooner. You need to determine if this approach will work for you or not.

In addition to understanding what to tackle first, the list above shared the importance of making sure that you schedule some quiet time when you don’t need to be focused on any particular task. As you may recall from a previous lesson, long periods of productivity with no breaks can actually lead to burnout, which is counterproductive. Taking time to rest will not only let you recharge, but it will also give you the opportunity for spontaneous thoughts that can promote creativity.

did you know

It matters what type of activity you engage in during your breaks from completing complex tasks. Doing things that require a lot of mental energy (like checking your emails) during a break will not give your mind the rest that it needs, whereas activities that do not require much thinking (like listening to music or taking a walk) can elevate your mood, reduce stress, and improve performance and productivity.

Take a look at this list of activities that you can do during breaks to increase your productivity.

Remember our example of Jesse? He was struggling to balance work and home. By expanding on his initial schedule, he could make sure to find some time during each part of his day to take a break. You might want to keep that in mind when planning your own schedule. As you select the best tools to help you with time management, consider the benefits of including downtime in your schedule so that you can avoid exhaustion and increase productivity. Pay attention to what techniques work for you, and what doesn’t, so that you can find strategies that fit your goals and priorities.

terms to know

Counterproductive

Getting in the way of achieving an intended goal.

Downtime

Time during which a person relaxes and does not engage in any work-related activity.

REFERENCES

Dumitrascu, S. (2017). Effective time management: A practical guide. Independent Publishing.

Boitnott, J. (2019, May 28). 8 Non-Work Related Activities That Increase Productivity. Entrepreneur. www.entrepreneur.com/article/334237