Time management - what is it?

Meli Steinberg
Jul 27, 2021
4 min read

You are likely to have at least one person in your life who is seemingly able to accomplish all their tasks and still have time to spare. But how do they manage to do so much in a limited amount of time? The answer lies in something called "time management"!

Assistante indépendante et la gestion du temps qu'est-ce ?

Time management is the way we organise and allocate our time between activities to maximise productivity and achieve our goals. Good time management can reduce stress levels and improve work performance and quality of life.

High performers are not born to be productive. They have learned and practiced the skills needed to do more in less time. Productivity is not a talent. It is a learned skill that each of us can develop.

It is possible (and actually quite easy) to develop good time management skills.

There are a wide variety of tips, tricks, and methods to help you, here are some of them, which I would like to share with you in individual articles, so as not to give you too much reading each time:

Time management - planning
Time management - strategies and methods
Time management - tips and tricks
Time management - tools
Time management - learning techniques
Time management - work-life balance

Let's talk about planning

Starting your time management journey with a plan will create a solid foundation for your future habits, increasing your chances of success.

N° 1: Create a time audit

The first step is to find out what you really spend your time on. There is often a gap between what you think and what actually occupies your time.

For example, let's say you have to write a three hundred word e-mail. You may think: "Writing an e-mail is easy, it shouldn't take me more than 5 minutes", but you are more than likely overestimating your speed and underestimating the other small related tasks you need to do to achieve your final goal; proofreading, checking the language choice and searching for e-mail addresses can all add to the length of the task. With these additions, that 5-minute e-mail could actually take you 20 minutes, 500% longer than you originally planned.

Now let's say you have this same problem for several tasks. What started out as a balanced workload may turn into a series of increasingly stressful tasks as the day progresses.

The aim is to get a realistic idea of what you can do and what really takes up your time. That is why it is worth taking stock of your time.

The easiest way to do this is to use a time tracking application. There are many apps out there, many of them free (here is a link to some of them) that allow you to get an accurate picture of your time use, simply by tracking all your tasks and the time they actually take.

Do this exercise for a week and then look at the results and see how much time you spent working on different tasks. With this data you can easily find areas for improvement. For example, you may be spending too much time in unproductive meetings. With this insight, you will be able to get a clear picture of how you spend your time and plan accordingly.

This brings us to the next tip.

N° 2: Set achievable goals and prioritise your tasks

If you have too much to do, time management won't help you get everything done!

However, now that you have created your time balance, you are able to see if you simply need to manage your time better or if you have too much to do.

If you think your goals are achievable, you can go straight to the third tip. But, if you think you are trying to do too much, try creating an Eisenhower matrix or using the '4 D's' of time management: Do, Defer, Delegate and Delete (see below). Both methods help you prioritise your tasks into one of four groups:

Do: Tasks that are important and urgent.
Defer: Tasks that are important but not urgent.
Delegate: Tasks that are urgent but not important.
Delete: Tasks that are neither urgent nor important.

Using these techniques will help you determine which tasks you need to prioritise and which you need to schedule and plan, delegate or delete.

Whatever your goals are, they should also be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely.

N° 3: A daily plan or to-do list

To create your daily plan or to-do list, schedule a time either in the first block of your working day or in the last few minutes. Use either of these time blocks!

When creating your list, keep it simple. Seeing a list half done day after day can be discouraging. You are better off promising less and achieving more, even when it comes to personal productivity.

Formulate the items on your list as if you have already accomplished them. Instead of "Submit report to project manager", write "Report to project manager submitted". This little trick will give you an extra boost of motivation when it comes to crossing things off your list.

N° 4: Plan your week on Sunday

By approaching your working week with a plan, you can focus on your main priorities. It also eases the transition from the carefree mindset of the weekend to a productive working mindset on Monday morning.

Take a few minutes on Sunday to create a plan for the whole week. Increase your chances of success by breaking down your weekly goals into daily tasks. This way you can see at a glance what you need to do each day.

Increase your chances of success by scheduling low-priority tasks for Fridays and other low-energy times. Remember that your energy and creativity levels fluctuate throughout the week.

Focus on creative and demanding tasks on Tuesday and Wednesday. Schedule meetings on Thursdays, when your team's energy levels start to drop. Use your Fridays and Mondays for planning and networking.