Time Management Tips and Techniques

- 21 tips on time management that will work for you

Invest time to learn and apply the time management tips, techniques and ideas below, and you’ll:

• Be more effective at work and in your personal life.
• Have a greater sense of control, confidence and competence.
• Do more of what matters to you.

These time management tips are organized into two sections that all tips on time management boil down to:

Decide what to do. You may get things done effectively and efficiently. The question is, are you getting the things done that matter to you most? This section has time management tips and ideas to help you improve the quality of your choices.

Do it. Once you know what to do, how effectively do you do it? These time management tips focus on how to actually get things done to your satisfaction:-
Time management techniques that will help you work effectively and well.

‘Decide’ and ‘Do’ are not completely separate. They mingle with each other throughout the day. The trick is to encourage them to get along without fighting!

Have you got any great time management tips and techniques? Share them here

Decide what to do

1. Know what matters to you. There are two considerations here – in the short term, what’s important to you today, this week or this month? Clarify that by using a ‘capture tool’ to work out your current priorities. In the long term, knowing what matters means investing time to discover your true purpose and priorities.

2. Know your roles. Make a list of your roles and responsibilities, both at work and in your life. Use them to form the basis of everything you decide to do, then build them into an effective to do list.

3. Know your goals. We constantly set goals, whether we’re aware of it or not. Conscious goal setting will improve the quality of your time management and your level of achievement in your various roles – you have something clear to aim for.

4. Track your time. This is more of a tool than a time management tip. The time management matrix is one of the most effective ways to analyse time that you'll come across. Essentially, all that we do has a degree of urgency and importance. The time matrix will help you do more of what matters.

5. Plan you time. Do you plan your evening meals? In our house, we spend so much less on grocery shopping when we do this. Because we know what we want, we’re less likely to buy things we didn’t actually need. It’s the same with time. Plan what you want to do, according to what matters, but keep it simple – leave some open time for the inevitable interruptions.

6. Plan ahead to fill the gaps. Are you ready for the spare 5 minutes when you're waiting? Can you use it or will you spend it?

7. Apply the 80-20 rule. What's the likely return on your time investment? Whatever it is...is it worth it? Typically 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts. What tasks and activities give you the most bang for your buck?

8. Learn the Pickle Jar theory to help you clarify how much time you have for what needs doing and what wants to be done.

The time management tips above focus on what. Once you’ve decided, you need to...

Do it

Use these time management techniques to do what matters:

1. Start the task. Timebox it - this could be one of the best time management tips you'll ever learn for overcoming procrastination.
   If a task seems too big or overwhelming, you can timebox to get the ball rolling. Commit to something for a small block of time to get you started. This works particularly well for making progress with roles, goals or projects that are important but not urgent.

2. What’s the next action? Identify and perform the very next physical action you will take to move on one more step.

3. Ask others. Develop this habit and you'll save huge chunks of time. It's easy to struggle on by yourself, but it so often leads to wasted time and effort. Ask others – they may or may not help, but you'll benefit one way or another.

4. Delegate. Another time management technique that helps as a habit. Do you really need to it, or is there someone with more time and less pressure? Learn how to delegate work.

5. Do one task at a time. Multi tasking is usually counter productive, particularly at work. Give what you do nearer 100% of your attention - you’ll do it quicker and better. You may also be surprised at how much more you enjoy it. Stress seems to melt away when you live and work like this. By the way, 100% attention doesn’t mean apply 100% effort – see number 11 below.

6. Fit the task to the time. Have you got five minutes? 20 minutes? An hour? What happens if you take on too much? Estimate how long it will take and fit it in. This time management technique improves with awareness.

7. Do the hardest task first. Time management techniques free up thought as well as time, and this one really works for doing that. If you absolutely have to do it, get it done so you’re not thinking about it all day and then doing it anyway when you’re more tired. Enjoy the feeling of satifaction that comes from getting it done early.

8. Capture. Do you trust your memory to store it so you can recall it all? No, neither do I. Get it out of your head! Use the simplest and most portable 'capture tool' you can to record and recall what you want to do.

9. Ready-Fire-Aim. As I'm writing this, my son is bowling. He's got a chance to knock the pins down when he's ready and 'fires'. He's got a chance when he aims and fires. He's got no chance if he's ready and just aims. Whatever it is, get ready then fire - you can always re-adjust your aim.

10. Do less. How many things are you committed to? Everything you take on reduces your open time. Imagine your life and work as a garden – are these commitments going to make your garden more beautiful or leave too many weeds to tackle? Learn how to say ‘no’ to requests.

11. Aim for ‘good enough’. Going back to the 80-20 rule mentioned earlier, time spent on most tasks has an optimum point of effectiveness – the last 20% is usually a time trap.

12. Know what the end actually is. How do you know when a task is finished? The more specific and measurable you make it, the easier it is to know when it’s done.

13. Justify the end. When you decide to finish something, it’s always for an underlying reason – you just need to know what it is. Ask yourself why you finished it when you did. I’ve learnt not to worry or feel overly guilty about it. I remind myself that I made what I thought was the best decision at the time.

People are encouraged to invest money, but I’d argue that investing in time is even more worthwhile. Money can always be created, but time is finite. Invest time in improving your time management, and you’ll be amazed at the benefits. These time management quotes may interest you as well.

Reading these time management tips is a start. It raises awareness of the issue. To really get the most out of them, practice them throughout the day. The tips for time management work if applied - you'll make real progress in your personal and professional development.

How do you manage your time in your circumstances?

What tips and techniques have you found work for you?

Share your strategies here!

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Getting Things Done, Organizing Time
and Saying No 

Here are 3 things I do:

Getting things done

I make sure I always have something to look forward to at the end of the job I am getting out ...

What Works For Me 
Here are some time management tips that I find work well for me. I work long hours in an intense job so time management is important.

1. I always leave ...

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