Top time management techniques for work and studying that you forgot existed
This post is all about time management strategies.
I know you have a million things on your plate right now, because I do too and 90% of the people I know are crazy busy as well!! The truth is, it doesn’t matter how busy your schedule is… EVERYONE needs to learn the time management strategies that are actually effective for them.
Whether you’re a student, a working professional, a parent, or have any other responsibilities, I know you’ll thrive better when you have effective time management techniques to help you stay organized, reduce stress, and achieve your goals.
Please know that the point of this blog post is NOT for you to adopt all 17 time management strategies.
You just need to adopt the ones that work best for you!
Please don’t feel pressured to do it all, but save this link as a resource to come back to whenever you’re struggling with time management so that you can test some new strategies.
This post is all about time management strategies.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll earn a commission if you purchase through my link, at no extra cost to you. Our full disclosure policy is pretty boring, but you can read it here.
TIME-SAVING PRODUCTIVITY TECHNIQUES:
1. Set daily priorities
Do you find it hard to stay focused and manage your time because of overwhelm?
If so, I can completely relate!!
Overwhelm is often the reason that it becomes difficult to manage time and stay productive, but setting priorities is the best way to help overcome overwhelm.
Instead of being stressed about all the things you need to do, pick 3-5 priorities every day that are absolute MUSTS. These are tasks you have to get done. If you accomplish more than those 3-5 tasks, that’s above and beyond!
This time management strategy will improve your sense of accomplishment and give you clarity on what needs to be done vs. what can wait.
2. Put EVERYTHING in Google calendar
I only started doing this recently, but it has been life-changing for my time management skills.
Put EVERYTHING in Google calendar.
I don’t mean just using it for appointments and meetings. Put literally everything that you want to remember into your Google calendar (or iCalendar, or whatever platform you use) and it will be so much easier to keep track of everything.
For example, I meal plan the week out and then put my dinner ideas in each day as an all-day event. Since I started doing that, I’ve stuck to my meal plan way better and have stopped wasting time thinking, “what should we have for dinner?”
You can also do this with tasks, social outings, reminders of what time you need to leave for something, etc.
3. Keep a physical calendar on the fridge
It’s awesome to have a digital calendar as a go-to resource where you can see everything, but sometimes you also just need to see a high-level overview of what’s going on.
Especially if you’re managing multiple calendars (for your kids, partner, or roommates), writing all the main events on a calendar and leaving it on the fridge will be super helpful for keeping a general understanding of what’s happening on any given day.
4. Set goals & review them often
Having specific goals will give you the drive to stay productive even when you’re lacking motivation!
Setting goals isn’t just for New Years – you can set goals effectively at any time. Download our free goal setting workbook and it will help guide you through how to set effective goals!
5. Use Notion to create to-do lists
Notion is a learning curve, but after I started using it, I grew to absolutely loveeee it.
It can be hard to start out with because it’s a little complicated to set up if you don’t know what you’re doing, but if you start out with a template, it’s incredibly easy!
This is a great video on how to use Notion for time management.
6. Break tasks into smaller chunks
This is one of my go-to time management strategies. I used it a lot in college and I think it’s one of the best time management techniques for students.
When you have a task that feels daunting, breaking it down into smaller chunks and just focusing on a couple aspects of it per day will help you get it done without feeling like it’s such a huge undertaking.
7. Don’t multitask
Multitasking is tempting, especially when you have so much to get done in one day. But you’ll be a lot more productive if you just zone in one one task at a time and really get yourself into a flow state of working!
8. Set a 40-minute timer
40-minute timers have been my best friend recently.
I don’t know what it is, but an hour sounds so overwhelming. On the flip side, less than 40 minutes sounds like too little time to get anything done.
You can play around with what time frames you like best, but for me, I love setting a 40-minute countdown and just cramming as much high-quality work as I can into that 40-minute session.
9. Let ChatGPT do some work for you
One of my favorite time management hacks lately is letting ChatGPT help me with my schedule!
For example, you can ask ChatGPT to make you a whole meal plan each week. Tell it what you have in your fridge, or what types of food you want to eat, and it will create a whole meal plan for the week!
There are several different similar ways that ChatGPT can help simplify your life! Try asking it to:
- Create a travel itinerary for you
- Make a meal plan for you
- Make a grocery list for you
- Set a budget for you
- Find new recipes for you
- Find empty timeslots in your calendar to set appointments
- Create a savings plan for you
10. Use time-blocking
Time blocking is a helpful time management tool that will help you get things done faster!
Essentially, it’s all about grouping similar tasks in the same day so that you don’t have to switch tasks as frequently, which helps you get into a flow state where you’re able to get more done.
If you’re interested in testing this time management strategy, I have a whole post on it! Read my post on time blocking here.
11. Leave wiggle room
If you try to schedule 100% of your time, there’s no doubt that you’ll get off track.
The truth is, life happens. So you have to leave some wiggle room in your schedule to allow life to happen!
Otherwise, when one thing gets off track, the domino effect will happen and your whole life will suddenly be off track. That’s the last thing you want when you’re trying to improve your time management!
12. Use a physical planner
Sometimes nothing beats a good old paper & pen.
I love my digital calendar, but there are times when writing down my to-do list is an essential step towards actually making it happen.
I don’t know what it is about handwriting your schedule or to-dos that makes it feel like you’re committing to it more… But this strategy has been proven to work for a lot of people!
Here are some tips on how to organize your planner. The strategies in that post are specific to students, but the same concepts can be applied to your planner no matter what stage of life you’re in!
[RELATED POST: The Best Planners for College Students (ACCORDING TO SENIORS)]
13. Communicate with those who share your space
This is such an underrated but important tip.
If you live with other people, it makes a huge difference when you communicate with them about not only how much you have on your plate, but WHAT it is & WHEN you need to get it done.
When you’re working or studying from home, it can be difficult for the people you live with to draw the line between working and living your home life. I’ve noticed a huge difference in my productivity when I communicate with my husband about what I need to get done, because it means that he is able to understand and respect my focus since he knows why it’s so important in that moment!
14. Track your habits
A lot of people overlook habit tracking because they find it stressful, but it doesn’t need to be a stressful thing.
This year, I’ve taken on the challenge of habit tracking without judgment. This means not judging myself if I didn’t get a certain habit done every single day, but rather tracking habits with the understanding that the more I track, the more I’ll be able to understand my progress and challenges over time.
Here are some ideas of habits you can track that are related to your time management skills:
- Waiting 1 hour before going on your phone in the morning
- Writing a 1-3 page brain dump in your journal
- Meal prepping weekly
- Meal planning weekly
- Tracking your budget and spending
- Taking a weekly self-care break
15. Do the calendar-blocking test
This is my absolute favorite time management technique for professionals and students that I always recommend to anyone struggling with time management.
The calendar-blocking test goes like this:
- Plan out your week by scheduling it out in your calendar
- Rather than sticking to your calendar 100% of the time, simply use it as a guide, and any time you don’t follow it how you planned to, update it to reflect what you ACTUALLY spent your time doing
- At the end of the week, review how you actually spent your time and see if you can find any patterns (e.g. that you weren’t able to be productive in the morning, or you forgot about something you had to do on Monday, etc).
- Do this every week for a few weeks and see what other patterns you notice.
- Uncovering these patterns will help you schedule out your time more effectively in future months because you’ll be able to understand your natural patterns and ways of working!
16. Keep your space clutter-free
Having a clutter-free space really does help with keeping you on-task.
It also helps save you time because if you’re able to maintain a decluttered space by cleaning just a little bit every day, you’ll be a lot more efficient with your time than if you let the clutter build up and then have to do a long cleaning session every week.
17. Prioritize your wellness
The truth is, you won’t be as effective with your time or your energy if you’re not prioritizing your wellness.
Your mental, emotional, and physical health really does make an impact on how effectively you’re using your time and energy. So, one of the best ways you can help with your time management skills is to prioritize your health and wellness!
Which of these time management strategies will you be trying?
This post was all about time management strategies.
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