Our Blog

Management of your Time Tips and Techniques, keeping you on track on your tasks & objectives

3 Time Management Techniques to Keep You on Track

Time management is something we all struggle with from time to time. Keeping the balance between all aspects of your life can start to feel overwhelming, and that in and of itself stops you from focussing on what matters most to obtain that balance in the first place. Effective time management lets us get the most out of our days, accomplishing your main tasks, and prioritising new goals makes the largest impact.

Everyone requires different techniques because - due to the wonders of our world - we're all different. We dress different, we speak different, we think different, so therefore the techniques that we might find help us, may end up not being as effective for others.

Getting a technique that works for you can really open up a world of possibilities, allowing you extra time to see friends and family, whilst also maintaining a healthy balance with your work, and with time solely for yourself.

 

1. The Pomodoro technique 🍅

The Pomodoro technique is great for creative thinkers and students. You take control of your time without restricting yourself to finishing what you're doing then and there, simply allowing yourself to take a break after a certain amount of time. The Pomodoro technique utilises blocking out time into intervals of 25-35 minutes to set yourself easy to reach goals, with a small break at the end of each block to focus your attention again. After doing this four or five time, you increase the amount of time you work and see how it goes from there.

 

2. Parkinson's Law 💻

British historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson rose to fame through his book 'Parkinson's Law' and its first law “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” That might sound a bit too grandiose to some, but really it comes down to the amount of time you give yourself to complete a task is the amount of time it will take you to complete that task.

There's not a set amount of rules or steps to follow for Parkinson's Law, but for some - namely those that work well under pressure, and can sometimes be procrastinators - it can be hugely beneficial. It works by doing things like working on a laptop without a charger. You have until the laptop runs out to do your work, if you don't finish it in time, it's gone or not complete to your deadline. Set yourself deadlines, tell yourself that it will be done in three hours, and then cut that time in half.

 

3. Eat the frog technique 🐸

This technique comes from Mark Twain's famous "Eat a live frog in the morning and it'll be the worst thing you do all day" quote. It's simple really; identify the highest priority, hardest task to complete, and complete it. Each task after that will feel like a breeze.

 

Getting work done efficiently and effectively doesn't have to consume all the time you have in a day. Working out how to organise your work day to fit your life can make things so much easier, and ultimately make you healthier in your mind and body (lower stress - lower cholesterol - lower chance of heart disease).

Sometimes its within our nature to favour complexity and forego the simple things, but finding a simple solution to fix a potentially long-lasting habit that makes working harder, can make things that much better. The most effective methods are the ones that require the least energy so we can easily follow them and fall back on them.