Time Management Really Is About Self-Management
The idea of time management is typically defined as one’s ability to use time productively and efficiently, especially in cases such as school and work.
However, David Allen, productivity consultant and the inventor of the “Getting Things Done” method, says time management is a misleading term. “You can’t manage time anyway. Time just is,” David said. “But you can manage yourself during time, so what you manage is your attention, your focus.”
Managing Ourselves During Time
Every single one of us has the same amount of time each day. There’s no way to store, to borrow, to save, or to increase time. The only thing we can do is to decide how to use it, and we all want to use time on activities of higher value rather than lower. What it all comes down to is that time management is a game of choices, or in other words, knowing how to manage ourselves during the time that we have.
We are continuously squeezing as many tasks as we can into our days, when in fact, it’s really about simplifying how we work, getting things done faster, and doing things better. By doing so, we’ll have more times for play, rest, and doing the things we love. Isn’t that what we all want?
Instead of working harder, try investing in working smarter.
Write Your Own Time Management Rulebook
Below, you’ll find five of my preferred and favourite techniques. They are a combination of principles, rules, and skills that allow you to put your focus on the things that matter. It will also allow you to get more done and help you be more productive.
But keep in mind that everyone is different. These are the time management or self-management techniques that I find useful in my life, but you might not. Adopt the ones that work for you and always seek to refine your own practices by regularly thinking about how to improve in managing yourself.
When you write your own time management rulebook, you’ll find out that there are really enough hours in a day for everything you’d like to do. It just takes a bit of rearranging and re-imagining to find them.
1. Plan Around Your Energy Level
You may not realise this, but productivity is directly related to your energy level. Get to know yourself and find your most productive hours. When you know that, plan your work around those periods. Schedule it in such a way that you first do the high-value and high-energy task, and then followed up by low-value and low-energy tasks.
For example, I’m a morning person, so I do my most critical work from 9 AM till noon. I know that after lunch, my energy level will crash a bit, so it’s a great time to clear my inbox, make some phone calls and read some articles or blogs.
It’s also good to know your energy levels by day. Some hate Mondays, just because. Tuesday may be your most productive day? Wednesday…, anyways, if you don’t have a clue, map your work and energy levels in a spreadsheet for a couple of weeks until you identified your productivity patterns.
2. Identify Your Most Important Work
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And If it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first,” Mark Twain once said.
That frog is your Most Important Task (MIT) for the day and it’s best to tackle that first, because your MIT should be that one task that creates the most impact in progression on your work. When you get it done, it will give you the momentum and a tremendous sense of accomplishment early in the day which sets up the rest of your day. That is how you can achieve big life goals, day after day, with continuous efforts.
Look at your “to-do” list and decide which tasks help you get closer to your goals and make progress in meaningful work. Put these at the top of your list so you can focus on them first and resist the temptation of tackling the easiest tasks at the start of your day.
3. Set Time Constraints For Yourself
Learn to set deadlines, because you become more productive when you allocate a specific amount of time to complete a specific task. Parkinson’s law states: “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. So, in other words, if you reduce the time you have to complete a task, you force your brain to focus and complete it.
Set deadlines even when you don’t need to. What happens is that you force your brain to focus. This way, you create a sense of urgency that pushes you to focus and be more efficient, even if you end up having to go back and add more time later.
For example: When I edit an article or a blog, a task that normally takes me around 60 minutes, I reduce the time available to 40 minutes. I create an urgency for myself, so I can increase my focus to work as hard as I can to beat 40 minutes. Also, knowing I only have 40 minutes to complete editing will ensure I don’t waste 20 minutes on checking the feed on social media.
4. Eliminate Distractions Around You
Get rid of all potential distractions, because they will hurt your productivity and focus. A study from the University of California Irvine found that it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task after getting distracted.
In addition, let’s say that you have found your focus, but you got interrupted, it can take you twice as long to get back into the rhythm. Half an hour completely focused on a task is more productive than two hours switching between tasks. Let that sink in for a bit. That’s nuts, right?
Meanwhile, eliminate distractions from your work to avoid switching tasks.
In one of my previous blog post, I explained some potential reasons why we get or want to be distracted. It might provide you with some clarity.
5. Work From A Calendar
I have recently picked this one up: to work from a calendar instead of a to-do list. What I find useful is that a calendar forces me to rethink my work from tasks to time units. It is a small change, but it increases the chance of getting things done.
Basically, a to-do list is where you list and define “what” your activities are, while a calendar is where you identify “when” you’re going to do those things and how much time is needed to complete them.
Here’s why it works: the more you plan and schedule your time with purpose, the less time there is for others to take over your schedule. Do this mindfully and leave enough room for unexpected tasks that require immediate attention. There’s no way you’ll get it right immediately, so move things around and reschedule when needed as you progress.
Enjoyment Is Your Fuel
We all want to spend more time doing things that we enjoy, and that includes our job. Work can and should be fun. Nowadays, it’s so easy to get caught up in our busyness that we forget to enjoy what we’re doing.
Therefore, use time in activities you value, such as spending time with your family, visit your dear friend who misses you, or practising a new hobby. The enjoyment you get from these activities will become your productivity fuel at work.
- How do you manage yourself?
- Do you have any other tips?
- Do you find enjoyment in what you do?
Have your say in the comment section 🙂
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This is a really great blog that I loved reading. I am working on my attention and effectiveness with TIME! Is there a certain calendar app you like or use? I have struggles with the Iphone Calendar being effective for me so I find my to-do list to not be 100% in use all the time. Any insight how to best track the “to-do” list and calendar? Thanks for so much great content on your site!
This was really informative and sounds quite challenging! Especially number 4 (struggling to do that!) Thanks for that 🙂
Hi Shruti, thank you! I find it challenging as well, but the productivity level will improve a lot 🙂
I love that quote from Mark Twain! What a great article. My biggest hurdle is “eliminate distractions”. Working on that!
Hi Remy, that’s great! Keep it up 🙂
[…] https://ye-chen.com/time-management-really-is-about-self-management/ […]
I sincerely agree that one should identify the most important task and give attention to it first. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Joseph!
Thank you for sharing so many great tips. I am not great at time management so I will be implementing some of these.
Hi Cheryl, you’re welcome and good luck 🙂
You really have some great insight! This was an awesome read
Your post really made me realize how much time I take to do things and I think getting distracted really adds to my problems. Understanding ourselves in regards to time management is so important to maximize our potential to utilize our time. I’ll definitely be working to improve on some of the time I spend on tasks in 2019! Thanks for the inspiration.
Your post really made me realize how much time I take to do things and I think getting distracted really adds to my problems. Understanding ourselves in regards to time management is so important to maximize our potential to utilize our time. I’ll definitely be working to improve on some of the time I spend on tasks in 2019! Thanks for the inspiration.
I struggle with time management. I get up super early, sometimes as early as 3am. I bust my butt in the morning and by the time afternoon rolls around I am burnt out.
Hi Kimmy, may I ask what it is that you do? It sounds to me that you’re doing a job that requires at least two people.
These are great tips Ye Chen and on point, I also love eating the biggest frog for breakfast. That way, I can work with ease and grace the whole day. However, time management is my biggest issue and I tend to chase my tail every single day. As I type this, I set the timer so I can move on to the next task when it goes off. This gets me on my toes and to think that though I don’t want to feel rushed, I still have other things that I want to accomplish. I learned something new from you today. Happy Sunday!
Hi Dani, keep it up! 🙂 You’re doing great! I’m glad it helps. Thanks and happy Sunday to you too !
Great tips! I certainly struggle with distractions! As a beginning blogger, I am chasing way too many shiny objects. Just call me Dory…
Hi Melanie, great Finding Nemo reference haha. I think we all have this struggle occasionally 🙂
Well written and motivational. I am back in the writer’s chair after an absence. I spend most of my free time filming for my YouTube travel channel but have set aside a few hours for my blog. When I was a journalist I simply wrote to a deadline, under pressure of course, but I didn’t worry too much about it—I just got the job done. Left to my own devices, writing about what I want to without a pay cheque at the end of the month for my work, I am far too lax.
Hi David, great you could manage yourself to do both YouTube and writing 😉 I will make sure check your YouTube channel tonight as well! Thanks!
Ah – time management – I just finished a post on such today. I think quite a few of your tips I can link into Ye – but I got my post done and my time block worked out well. Now for all the promoting. 🙂 I like the idea of the calendar… Good thinking. Excellent post as usual!
Hi Deborah, thank you and yes, let’s do cross promotion 🙂 I inserted a link to your post. Appreciate the read!
Awesome article Ye :). Loved reading it, so well written!!
Hi Michelle, thank you so much! 🙂
Oh God, Ye! I don’t want to sound like I am whining, but I just got back to my full-time job and my writing just today after 2 weeks. My children have been ill and still are. I even got what they have now. I tried everything in this list and my most recent attempt was the editorial calendar. I wish it can be easier. I do love what I do. I am absolutely in love of what I do, but when you are taking care of lives (like your own little ones), nothing else matters. Thank you for this read, Ye! Never cease to amaze me! Well done as always!
Hi Donna, your message resonates with me! Sounds like your super MIT’s are your children’s and your own health 🙂 Thank you for reading and take good care all!
We will, Ye! Thank you! I really appreciate it…❤️
Awesome overview, Ye Chen.
I’m currently reading a book called “The ONE Thing” by Gary Keller. It kinda resonates with your 2nd point.
In his book, Gary taught us to focus on our most important work or our ONE thing so that by doing so, it makes everything else easier or unnecessary. Sometimes the things which are the most important don’t always scream the loudest.
How does setting time constraints work for you?
On one hand, it helps to hold you accountable for your time and set you on the right path away from distraction. On the other hand, would that have a negative impact on your quality of work?
Hi Yuyu, great hearing from you!
You have a good point there. I think most of the tasks we do, we spend more time on them than actually needed, right? At least, that was in my case.
How often would you go back to a certain task to re-check if everything is alright? There’s nothing wrong with checking your own work for a second time. But what I did was overanalysing everything and I purposely looked for errors. When I do that long enough, I start to see errors in what was good in the first place. So, basically, I sabotaged my own work by wasting more time and quality on that one task. Besides that, quality is hard to measure. Often, for many others, it’s already good or good enough.
And I came to realise that my initial time estimation for a task is always more than I needed to complete it. Therefore, I challenge myself to do my tasks in less time. Sometimes, it’s good to have it done than to have it perfect.
I recently picked up working with a calendar too! I have many recurring tasks and this has been super helpful!
-Marielle
Hi Marielle, that’s great! 🙂 Keep it up!
Number 4 is definitely my pitfall!!
I feel your pain Paulien.
I’m definitely more productive when I leave my phone in another room other than the one I’m working in.
I haven’t thought of working around my energy levels – that’s a great idea thanks!
Hi Sheena, it will help a lot! You’re welcome 🙂
Really useful tips, well explained. I believe these tips will be of help to many people out there.
Hi John, great to hear from you 🙂 and thank you!
This is great for people like me who sometimes get distracted and put things off too late…Thanks for posting!
Hi Amber, thank you 🙂
I feel like I’ve been struggling lately with the number of things I need to get done. I used to work a little on one task and then move over to another one for a few minutes. I was all over the place. Your post has given me some perspective about my time management skills. I’m going to focus on the second one this week and see how much of a difference it makes.
Hi Disha, I have been there as well and it took me a while to get organised. I think when you identified you (top 3) MIT’s, your focus will increase. Good luck 🙂
With having ADHD, this article hit home with me and gave me some ideas I hadn’t thought about before. Especially with still working full-time and trying to launch a blog. Thank you for sharing!
You’re welcome Anna! I hope you can put it to good use. Having a full-time job + launching a blog is really demanding. Don’t forget to fuel yourself with enjoyment 🙂