Managing your time is about managing your energy

Managing your time is about managing your energy. If you learn how to balance important and urgent tasks, you’ll be able to make the most of your time and increase your overall productivity. And, perhaps most importantly, you’ll feel more at peace with how you’re spending...

Important tasks are usually things you want to do because you think they’ll make a difference in your life or the lives of others. They can be big and ambitious projects like writing a book, starting a business or creating an app. Or they might be as simple as buying flowers for your mum every we...

You can trick the brain into thinking something is urgent by setting a deadline. Deadlines are great for keeping you focused because they add urgency to your work and give you a sense of purpose.

If you’re trying to finish a project, set an arbitrary deadline — for example, “I will finish t...

We juggle multiple responsibilities and tasks to get more done. Science has shown that multitasking doesn't make our days more productive. Multitasking is inefficient and can be stressful.

Stanford and Caltech researchers found that multitasking reduces focus by 40%. Hundreds of experiments...

When should you prioritise? Important tasks aren't always urgent. Urgent tasks can be done quickly, but their importance may not be obvious. They can also be crucial to a project or task. If your boss needs his computer fixed right now so he can get his work done before an important meeting tomor...

A million things can demand your attention when you're busy. Urgent and important difference because what's important isn't always clear.

You're late for a 9 AM meeting. Your boss sends an urgent email. This email could be fired. If your manager had explained why this email was so urgent (o...

The goal is to be able to complete the most important task first and then move on to the next most important task.

Keep two lists: one of all your tasks and another of urgent ones only. Then rank them by importance (how much time they take or how much money they generate). Start with the mo...

It's easier to say, "I should stick to deadlines," than to do so. There's no one way to set and meet deadlines, but you can take some simple steps. Effective methods include

Create rewards for yourself (like breaks) or upon completion (like getting out of work early). Sometimes 15 minutes o...

Urgent vs. important, as the saying goes. The former refers to tasks due in the next day or two, while the latter refers to those you want to complete eventually. Consider writing your college application essay before the deadline. You might start it right away because of its importance, but if a...

Urgent vs. important differ. Urgent tasks include submitting homework and responding to work emails before the weekend. Urgent tasks are time-sensitive, but important tasks don't have to be. When you finish important tasks, you feel better about yourself and your life.

You have assignments ...