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.

6. 7 Minute Life


Based on our research, testing and opinions of productivity experts, here are the best time management techniques you need to know:<ol><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#smart-goals">SMART Goals</a></li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#eisenhower-matrix">The Eisenhower Matrix / The Eisenhower box</a></li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#kanban-board">Kanban Board</a></li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#deep-work">Do Deep Work / Avoid Half-Work or Shallow Work</a></li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#pomodoro">The Pomodoro Technique</a></li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#time-tracking">7 Minute Life</a></li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#gtd">A</a>BCDE</li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#okr">D</a>o it now</li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#scrum"> Pareto Analysis, 20/80</a></li><li><a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/time-management-techniques/#BoJo">Rapid planning method‍</a></li></ol>Now let's dive deep into each one of them.

The wall of fame for the best time management techniques

The idea is pretty simple. Every SMART written goal should be written down following the next criteria:<ul><li>Specific – clearly defined desired outcome, what you want to achieve</li><li>Measurable – there must be away to measure progress</li><li>Achievable – the goal can be met with available resources</li><li>Relevant – it must fit a bigger picture and you must know why you want to achieve something</li><li>Time-bound – a clear deadline for when the goal will be achieved</li></ul>Only around 10% of people have written goals.

1- Smart goals

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:<ul><li><a href="http://focuslist.co/">FocusList</a></li><li><a href="http://www.onebigthing.co/">One Big Thing</a></li></ul>

4. Do Deep Work / Avoid Half-Work or Shallow Work


Here is a summary of the six Pomodoro steps:<ol><li>Decide on a task to be done</li><li>Set the Pomodoro timer</li><li>Work on the task</li><li>End work when the timer rings after 25 minutes (one Pomodoro)</li><li>If you have fewer than four Pomodori, take a short break (3–5 minutes)</li><li>After 4 Pomodori, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), then go back to step 1</li></ol>Here are a few useful Pomodoro timers:<ul><li><a href="https://pomodoro-tracker.com/">Pomodoro Tracker</a></li><li><a href="https://tomighty.github.io/">Tomighty</a></li><li><a href="https://tomato-timer.com/">Tomato Timer</a></li><li><a href="https://www.pomotodo.com/">Pomotodo</a></li><li><a href="https://pomodoneapp.com/">PomoDoneApp</a></li></ul>Try it and see how effective this can be.

How to apply Pomodoro

Some of the best time management techniques are simple and straightforward, others a little bit complex, but all of them can actually be easily implemented into daily practice.We decided to provide you with:<ul><li>a detailed description of the 10 most useful time management techniques, but if you don’t find any of them the right fit for you,</li><li>we added a comprehensive list of all other time management techniques we found out there with a short description and a link to more information, if available.</li></ul>

Time Management Techniques

You divide the tasks into the following categories:<ul><li>A: The most important task</li><li>B: Less important tasks</li><li>C: Tasks with no consequences</li><li>D: Delegate</li><li>E: Eliminate</li></ul>

7- ABCDE

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

8- Do it now

Kanban is a Japanese word meaning a billboard or signboard. The <a href="https://www.spica.com/blog/kanban-board">main idea of the Kanban board</a> 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:<ul><li>To Do</li><li>In Progress</li><li>Done</li></ul>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.

3. Kanban Board

software that supports the Kanban method:<ul><li><a href="https://trello.com/">Trello</a></li><li><a href="https://kanbanflow.com/">KanbanFlow‍</a></li><li><a href="https://kanbanize.com/">Kanbanize</a></li><li><a href="https://kanbantool.com/">Kanban Tool</a></li></ul>Do your search and see a YouTube tutorial for how to use these softwares.

software for Kanban board

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:<ol><li>Urgent + Important (Do first)</li><li>Not Urgent + Important (Schedule)</li><li>Urgent + Not Important(Delegate)</li><li>Not Important + Not Urgent (Eliminate)</li></ol>You should tackle urgent and important tasks. You have to spend most of your working time in this quadrant (urgent + important).

2. The Eisenhower Matrix / The Eisenhower box

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.

9- Pareto Analysis, 20/80

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. <ul><li>You should break down your daily work and complete it in intervals separated by short breaks. </li><li>You work for 25 minutes straight, which is called one Pomodoro, and then take a 3 – 5 minutes break. </li><li>After 4 Pomodori, you take a longer break of 15 – 30 minutes to recharge.</li></ul>Look at the next Idea for applying this.

5. The Pomodoro Technique


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.

The Flowtime Technique - A more flexible Pomodoro Technique

Tony Robbin’s planning method that considers big vision, emotional motivation and taking massive action for each of your goals. Answer the following questions:<ul><li>What do I really want? What’s the outcome I’m after? What’s the specific measurable result?</li><li>What’s my purpose? What are my reasons? Why is this not just a “should,” but a “must” for me?</li><li>What do I need to do? What’s my massive action plan?</li></ul>That`s it, have a productive day.

10- Rapid planning method‍

We prepared the ultimate list of more than 50 time management techniques, tested and selected the 10 best ones for you.

1- Smart goals

Similar ideas to 1- Smart goals

6. Build SMART goals

Write Your Personal Goals

SMART goal-setting framework