The 3-3-3 Method combines simplicity and balance. And it’s great for starting to balance your work life. But it doesn’t consider your mandatory free time. Everyone should get at least three hours of free time every day. For this reason, I suggest the 3x4 Method to manage your time.Here’s what balance looks like with the 3x4 Method:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">3x3=9 hours of work</li><li class="ql-align-justify">3 hours of free time</li><li class="ql-align-justify">3 hours to survive the day (a.k.a cooking, eating, etc.)</li><li class="ql-align-justify">and 9 hours of sleep</li></ul>Personally, I never sleep for more than 7 hours. But for the sake of balance, this is perfect!

How to Upgrade the 3-3-3 Method

In <a href="https://www.amazon.it/Four-Thousand-Weeks-Time-English-ebook/dp/B07X3DH41F/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2WJZXEGKFSDD6&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.LC8gTnD5NrroIy055xu0VePfdPimtsCwGf5F6Sq_kn57TLBs295nNfQdK73xKJoFNor-Zy-hGixEkNfoLt9uK9hEPxx7p_28FiI20VqLus2oWzepUEbBWuFGW1oXqYKxo7IIQdl5Nd1P50HSTYe3rQUV1cGb2IFpLVFaQ-fjTTSo6gMHnlFjoIM_BkSRTMN7.WtnqxOKGGwUHYPMmSKRzDKOHD778UdvWvWPQvtbkluE&dib_tag=se&keywords=four+thousand+weeks&qid=1720362986&sprefix=four+thous%2Caps%2C137&sr=8-1">Four Thousand Weeks </a> , Oliver Burkeman introduces people to the 3-3-3 Method.According to Burkeman, you should split your working hours into three parts of three hours each.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Three hours for deep work on your most important project.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Three hours on smaller tasks that take less time and concentration.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">And three hours for maintenance activities for when you feel tired.</li></ul>

1 — The 3x4 Method

Time management is an essential skill to boost productivity.Productivity strategies make you do more in less time. But if you don’t have the time, it doesn’t matter. Learn how to manage your time and split between work and free time.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Your work time is essential for your productivity.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">But if you don’t take a break occasionally, it will be rough to keep working.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">And then, there’s procrastination. Too much free time can turn into a problem. And nobody wants to deal with problems.</li></ul>So, how could you manage all these variables?

Time Management and Productivity

Dai Clegg created the MoSCoW method to track project requirements. Therefore, it focuses on four main development initiatives.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">Must-have covers all fundamental initiatives you have to complete to consider the project finished. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Should-have includes all initiatives and tasks that are important but not vital. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Could-have includes all the nice-to-have initiatives that have a trivial impact on the project if left out. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Will-not-have covers every initiative you are leaving out of the project’s scope for now.</li></ul>But how do you get from software to personal development?

M-S-C-W Method Explained

I always think about the strategies to reach the top 1% of people. But it’s not that simple because I don’t know who the top 1% of people are. I’m not talking about any conspiracy or puppeteer story here. Don’t worry.But I don’t think Mask, Zuckerberg, or Jobs are the examples we should follow.They may have reached the top 1% in their industry. But what about their private lives and free time? I want more balance if I ever enter the top 1%. So, I would like to find strategies that help me reach that 1% in a balanced way.Is it possible?Here are 4 strategies I'm using to achieve it.

The Top 1% of People

To this day, The Eisenhower Matrix is one of the most efficient ways to prioritize your tasks. And once you know the highest priority, you can shape your time around it.I created a bunch of specific content for the Eisenhower Matrix:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">You will find an explanation in my article about <a href="https://cosmopolitanmindset.substack.com/p/mastering-prioritization">mastering prioritization</a> (where you can also download the free infographic ).</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Or you can get the Notion Template by buying a premium subscription to The Challenge (here’s the <a href="https://cosmopolitanmindset.substack.com/p/the-challenge-of-the-month-march">link to the article</a>).</li></ul>Yet, here’s a brief explanation for those who don’t have time to catch up.

2 — The Eisenhower Matrix Method

The Eisenhower Matrix is a prioritization method that focuses on two metrics:<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">the importance of a task</li><li class="ql-align-justify">and its urgency.</li></ul>You can build a matrix with four sections based on these two metrics. And you can use this matrix to categorize your tasks or goals.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">DO contains every urgent and important task.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">DELAY includes activities that are important but not urgent. Schedule them.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">DELEGATE contains duties that don’t require your direct intervention. Someone else can do them for you.</li><li class="ql-align-justify">DELETE contains all the unimportant and not urgent tasks. If they are not important, you can delete them safely.</li></ul>

How Does the Eisenhower Matrix Work

Usually, we subdivide software projects into initiatives. An initiative is a collection of new developments or updates that refer to the same section of the project. The same goes for a good goal strategy (or, at least, it should).You can split a goal into milestones. Each milestone refers to a specific section of the goal. And it will include all the tasks needed to reach that goal.So, pick up your goal. Split it into milestones. And find what’s a must-have first. Define the shoulds and coulds. And leave out everything that’s not strictly necessary.

How to Use the MoSCoW Method

Time blocking’s principle is simple but requires more strategy and knowledge.<ul><li class="ql-align-justify">You build strategy by noticing relationships between tasks. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">You build knowledge by <a href="https://www.cosmopolitanmindset.com/how-to-achieve-flexibility-and-more-free-time/">analyzing your timings</a>. </li></ul>So, how do you block time? <ol><li class="ql-align-justify">List of all your tasks (my Notion templates are perfect.)</li><li class="ql-align-justify">Take notes on the completion time of every task. Include distraction time into this tracking because you will get distracted. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Split your calendar into half-hour slots. </li><li class="ql-align-justify">Plan your tasks in the calendar slots. Start with the highest priority following the Eisenhower Matrix.</li></ol>Now, you have your schedule. Stick to it!

How to Use Time Blocking

The MoSCoW method is a prioritization technique I discovered lately. But it helped me gain new perspectives on my projects.I use it a lot as a software developer when interacting with clients. But I also find it helpful to define the entity of my goals.How does it work?

3 — The MoSCoW Method

Prioritization techniques are essential for balanced time management. But once you get your list of tasks, how do you plan them on your calendar?Do you pick the top task on the list every day?That’s a simple strategy, but it gets the work done. And if you sort the list in any way, you will get some of the most efficient techniques out there. Eat the Frog, for example, focuses on the hardest task of the day, every day. And it works.But all these techniques have one flaw — they don’t give you much control and flexibility. That’s why you need something more elaborate as time blocking.

4 — The Time Blocking Method

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Before You Go

You are reading an excerpt from <a href="https://cosmopolitanmindset.substack.com/">The Challenge</a>, a newsletter where I discuss self-improvement, goal-setting, habits, time management, and health tips and tricks.Every week, you will get the following:<ul><li>a challenge to pursue to improve your life</li><li>an infographic to track it.</li></ul><a href="https://cosmopolitanmindset.substack.com/subscribe">Subscribe now</a> to help me continue publishing this type of content.

The Challenge

We found the four time management techniques that will get you in the top 1% of people in a balanced way.How do we use them to build a schedule? Here’s your challenge of the week.1 - Write a goal and split it into independent milestones.2 - Write a list of repetitive tasks you must achieve to reach each milestone.3 - Track each task’s timings.4 - Schedule your tasks on your calendar following the Eisenhower Matrix priority.5 - Respect the 3x4 Method to balance work and free time.[<a href="https://cosmopolitanmindset.substack.com/p/the-4-time-management-strategies">DOWNLOAD</a> THE FREE INFOGRAPHIC]

Discover the time management strategies used by the top 1%! Learn 4 proven techniques to maximize your productivity and achieve elite success.

THE CHALLENGE OF THE WEEK

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