The Ultimate List of Time Management Techniques

The idea is pretty simple. Every SMART written goal should be written down following the next criteria:

• Specific – clearly defined desired outcome, what you want to achieve
• Measurable – there must be away to measure progress
• Achievable – the goal can be met with available resources
• Relevant – it must fit a bigger picture and you must know why you want to achieve something
• Time-bound – a clear deadline for when the goal will be achieved

Only around 10% of people have written goals.

Once you have your goals written in a SMART way, you should break them down into concrete and actionable tasks. 

Then the tasks need to be prioritized.

This matrix recommends arranging tasks in one of the four quadrants:

1. Urgent + Important (Do first)
2. Not Urgent + Important (Schedule)
3. Urgent + Not Important(Delegate)
4. Not Important + Not Urgent (Eliminate)

You should tackle urgent and important tasks. 

You have to spend most of your working time in this quadrant (urgent + important).

Kanban is a Japanese word meaning a billboard or signboard. The main idea of the Kanban board is to have a visual board that helps you to track progress on your goals.

Draw several columns on the whiteboard, visualizing the stage of each specific task. 

The columns on the blackboard are usually:

• To Do
• In Progress
• Done

Then you need sticky notes. 

Every sticky note represents a task that needs to be completed. 

Simply, write the name of the task that needs to be completed. 

That`s it.

software that supports the Kanban method:

• Trello
• KanbanFlow‍
• Kanbanize
• Kanban Tool

Do your search and see a YouTube tutorial for how to use these softwares.

Deep work is a term developed by Cal Newport, stating that all intellectual activities should be performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes your cognitive capabilities to their limit.

On the other side deep work is “half-work” or “shallow work”. That kind of low‑value work usually goes along with multitasking, working on many projects, and having distractions in the environment (email, chat, and others).

Software that can help you do deep work:

• FocusList
• One Big Thing

Doing deep work, you should never forget to take breaks. Tomatoes can remind you to take your breaks.

The idea of Pomodoro is very simple. 

• You should break down your daily work and complete it in intervals separated by short breaks. 
• You work for 25 minutes straight, which is called one Pomodoro, and then take a 3 – 5 minutes break. 
• After 4 Pomodori, you take a longer break of 15 – 30 minutes to recharge.

Look at the next Idea for applying this.

Here is a summary of the six Pomodoro steps:

1. Decide on a task to be done
2. Set the Pomodoro timer
3. Work on the task
4. End work when the timer rings after 25 minutes (one Pomodoro)
5. If you have fewer than four Pomodori, take a short break (3–5 minutes)
6. After 4 Pomodori, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), then go back to step 1

Here are a few useful Pomodoro timers:

• Pomodoro Tracker
• Tomighty
• Tomato Timer
• Pomotodo
• PomoDoneApp

Try it and see how effective this can be.

The main idea of the flowtime technique is that you set a specific time period (usually between 10-90 minutes) and use it as an experimental time frame to see how long you can work in focus and when you need a break.

Simply, try to figure out your focus time and work on it.

Spend 7 minutes in the morning to plan your day and 7 minutes before you go to sleep to review your day and prepare the plan for tomorrow.

You divide the tasks into the following categories:

• A: The most important task
• B: Less important tasks
• C: Tasks with no consequences
• D: Delegate
• E: Eliminate

Anything less than 3 minutes, do it now, without any delaying, thinking, or planning.

20% of the tasks that you do are responsible for 80% of the outcomes, so focus on that 20% of the highest value tasks.

Work smartly hard.

Tony Robbin’s planning method that considers big vision, emotional motivation and taking massive action for each of your goals. Answer the following questions:

• What do I really want? What’s the outcome I’m after? What’s the specific measurable result?
• What’s my purpose? What are my reasons? Why is this not just a “should,” but a “must” for me?
• What do I need to do? What’s my massive action plan?

That`s it, have a productive day.