Time management is one of the things that changed my life the most. In this course, I will be taking you through all the most important aspects of time management that helped shape me into someone who can complete seemingly impossible tasks in record time and still find time for Baldur’s Gate II (Enhanced Edition!) Let’s break it down! If you get to the end I’ll share something secret that isn’t part of my open course. That’s my little gift to you.
Step 1: Setting Smart Goals
First of all, What Are Smart Goals?
- Specific
- Measurable
- Achievable
- Relevant
- Time Bound
Specific Goals are goals which you can focus on without a lot of distracting threads. Such as for instance, my goal is to write this blog. Ergo, I focus entirely on writing the blog with no distractions to get in the way.
Measurable Goals are ones that I can measure the time taken, so I can set a timer to see how long the project is going to take me.
Achievable Goals are ones you can achieve. Don’t set yourself a deadline of 5 minutes for a goal when it is going to take around two hours. (That’s my estimation of how long it will take to write the blog and embed everything. – Making the videos for it, and setting up the pinned comments on my YouTube are entirely different tasks. (That’s a good blog too by the way, and it’s a LOT shorter!)
Relevant Goals are ones that are actually beneficial. So this takes priority over catching up with my favourite series.
Time Bound Goals – That’s my 2 Hour Time Limit! Let’s GO!
Step 2: Breaking Down Large or Monstrous Tasks
If you can break a large task down into smaller chunks, it will make things easier. Why clean the house in the day when your motivation will deteriorate, when you can clean one room in a small amount of time comparatively, do this over several days and save time because your motivation isn’t shot to hell. Motivation is incredibly important. An example from me is with this course, I filmed all of it one day, edited on another day, I’m writing this on the final day, and because I have time, if I feel like it, I can finish everything off, link everything up like a boss and still have more time to hand than I needed.
Step 3: Planning in Advance
Whilst some people (mainly my ex) have argued with me and said that they get constantly blindsided so there is no point planning ahead, that’s not a good excuse. I don’t use it and neither should you as it will help you massively. If you plan your tasks ahead of schedule, even if you can’t make the time due to unforeseen events taking place, you then have your plan ready made so you can maximise your efficiency. It is an absolute life saver to plan ahead because of unforeseen events. It’s one of the greatest tools in the time management toolbox.
Step 4: Monthly Overviews for Important Tasks
When you’re breaking down your larger tasks, which I highly recommend, it’s good to have a monthly overview to make sure you aren’t getting sidetracked from your end goals. There’s no point in travelling through Mordor, hanging out with Orcs, Elves, Dwarves and Gollums like myself if you don’t throw the darned Ring into Mount Doom. So it’s important to keep an overview and not get completely sidetracked to ensure you are completing your goals to the highest level possible.
Step 5: Figuring Out Your Priorities
You will want to have a good understanding of your priorities. I used to put clients first when I had 18 of them and serving 18 people daily before eating was not good for my health. I believe the most healthy balance is:
- Self – Make sure you’ve got yourself covered above all else.
- Your Company (If you own one!) If either of you die, it’s game over man, game over.
- Your Clients/Workplace – These are interchangeable, but they give you money you need to survive, and they’re not gonna be happy if you haven’t bathed in 12 years. Hence prioritizing self.
- Other Urgent Goals
- Things You Should Really Get Done (But don’t really want to!)
- Fun
Once you’ve got a good understanding of your priorities, life becomes a lot easier, and you can structure your goals much better.
Step 6: Setting Deadlines
Oh we hated this one for coursework at university, yes we did! But deadlines are really important because they help you keep focused on meeting your goals. They provide structure, accountability and motivation, the three main things we all need in life to move forward. Deadlines are really important when it comes to mastering Time Management because they keep us disciplined in the areas we most need it to be successful.
Step 7: Identifying YOUR Most Productive Time of Day
Finding out the most productive time of day is absolutely integral because this is the time you are going to want to be mastering your tasks. It could be first thing in the morning, or maybe, it’s a time in the night, or after lunch. It varies from person to person. Once you know the most productive time, which is usually 1-2 hours, this is where you want to focus your energy so you can get all the tasks out of the way that need strict regimented focus.
Step 8: Mastering the Pomodoro Technique
The Pomodoro technique is a really useful tool because it helps protect you from burnout. In it’s most simple terms it is working for 25 minutes, then taking a break for 5 minutes, then repeating that cycle. This makes sure that you have a bit of downtime constantly throughout the day and keeps your overall focus levels at a much higher peak. You want to be at the apogee of focus and not lose steam and motivation constantly. These things are integral to ensuring you are making the best use of your time.
Step 9: Deep Work
Nope we aren’t going into the mines of Minecraft! Deep Work is a process where you are spending an extended amount of time on a project which it’s best to break into 1 hour and 30 minutes periods. We break it down so we don’t go into burnout which is the place you do NOT want to be! We can further enhance productivity by breaking this up using the Pomodoro Technique. So rather than 1 hr 30 mins. We then have 25/5 – 25/5 – 25/5 and we have better focus maintained throughout.
Step 10: Eating the Frog
Wait! Stop! Don’t go into the garden! I didn’t mean like that! “Eating the frog” is a time management technique popularised by Brian Tracy who taught me a heck of a lot in life. It is based on a quote often attributed to Mark Twain: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.” Think of it like this: The “frog” is your most important, challenging, or unpleasant task the one you’re most likely to procrastinate on. By tackling it first thing in the day, you overcome inertia, build momentum, and ensure that even if the rest of your day is derailed, you’ve already accomplished something significant. It’s about prioritising what matters most and getting it done early so it doesn’t eat you. (Frogs have big mouths!)
Step 11: Batching
Batching is the technique I use most, so I’ll tell you what I’m doing currently as I’m writing this blog, and how I set it up to explain it. At the moment, I have all the parts of my course uploading, I have the final course rendering as a video, whilst I am writing this. These things are all going on simultaneously – but it doesn’t stop there. This is all possible because of good task planning by the way, but I digress. When I filmed this course, I shot all the videos at the same time. Doing work in batches like this is a highly effective way to make good use of time. I didn’t have to go find my clothes constantly just so I could make things seem more seamless. (I’d look like a hack if I was dressed as Barney the Dinosaur in Part 1, then Batman in Part 2 – though it’d probably get me more views on YouTube. Putting the same type of work or similar work in batches can make your life a LOT easier. Try it out! You won’t be disappointed!
Step 12: The Dangers of Multitasking and Split Tasking
The problem with these ideas is whilst they sound great, multitasking and split tasking are dividing your focus which ultimately leads to errors. This means you have to burn extra time going back over everything to ensure you got it all right. This can absolutely destroy your ability to manage your time effectively so don’t do it.
Step 13: Scheduling Your Tasks
Going back to set periods at school may seem daunting, but it creates order from chaos. If you properly schedule your tasks you are not going to be burning yourself out by burning the candle with a flamethrower. If you develop a good schedule taking everything you learn here today into account you will find that it actually frees you up a lot more than if you didn’t schedule your tasks. It will bring order and tranquility to your life and help keep it stress free.
Step 14: Eliminate Distractions
No, I don’t mean taking Rover out back with a tire iron. But you want to make sure that you don’t have things around yourself that will distract you.
- Tidy your workspace
- Don’t have beverages and snacks next to you
- Turn off your phone
- Avoid Social Media
- Eliminate all other things that might distract you
Distractions are the worst. They will throw a wrench in your plans if you let them. Even if you have good self control it’s best to remove things from the equation, drink and eat before you work, and generally avoid anything that might get in the way.
Step 15: Let Friends, Family, Colleagues and Clients Know When You Are Busy
If you forget to turn off your phone, shut down your social media, or other similar things, it’s great if you’ve already let people know when you will be busy. Some people have set calendars so others can automatically see them, I just tell people how I work when I start working with them and that’s done all right by me so far! By doing this you eliminate most of the distractions from the people you care about… Just don’t forget about them completely. It’s healthy to have good relationships.
Step 16: Ensure You Have a Good Productivity Mindset
Having a good mindset is the most important part of being productive. You will be able to work better, harder, and faster if you don’t live in a world of absolute screaming chaos. Removing non essential tasks will help, keep things nice, clear and effective.Rewarding yourself for achieving will keep your work mentality strong. I rewarded myself with a nice Chinese meal for getting the Brobdingnagian task of getting this course sorted out today so you can bet your bottom dollar, I’ll be working like a boss tomorrow for the next reward!
Step 17: Reflection
When you get to the end of the week or month, reflect on everything you have accomplished and analyse it. You will want to think about all of the things that have benefited you and helped you save time, and manage your life and start utilizing them more regularly. All of the things that are distractions that get in the way of your momentum, consider dropping if they are not worth your time. I hope that this course has been helpful to you!
BONUS Step: Micro-tasking
Ok, you stuck with me to the end, here’s my little secret. When breaking things up with the Pomodoro Technique, I always do a little task on the way to lying down, so I remove a can from my desk, something from the floor, or something similar. These little tasks take a very small amount of time and stop me from living in a disgusting pit covered in old kebab and noodles. Thank you for reading!
