4 Time Management Tips that Work

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…Or at the very least will make it much more productive!

It’s true: the one thing all of us need more of is time, especially when you are trying to live Uncommonly. Many of us are working full-time, supporting family, and trying to set up our Uncommon Vocations. It all gets done…but sometimes it feels like it barely gets done! Time for relaxing or just for regrouping and processing is in short supply.

So in the spirit of giving you a little bit of wiggle room and allowing you to breathe, I am going to share the 4 time management techniques that changes my life and helped me take better care of me.

1. Know Thyself

To quote the amazing Baz Lurhman, forcing yourself to work (or do the bulk of your work) at a time of day you are not very productive is “about as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.”

In order to truly manage your time, you need to know when you are naturally most productive. For example, I am a morning worker – the hours between 7am and 12pm are my optimal working time.

However, I can also be productive from 7pm until around 11pm if I have more work I need to finish.

The key with knowing when you are most productive is to understanding while you have an optimal working time, you may also have other moderately productive times you can use throughout the day. These can be considered back-up times (in case you don’t finish what you need) or they can be utilizes as second session hours.

Part of knowing thyself and understanding when you work best is also to be conscious of when you absolutely are not productive. When you identify what your no-go times are, you can stop trying to force yourself into working then and use it to be productive in other things.

For example, the afternoons are basically dead work time for me, which is why I like to go to the gym them, visit with friends, watch TV, do my house work, etc.

I’ll acknowledge that sometimes you are on a deadline and just have to work through your unproductive times. But making it a habit to work primarily during your optimal productive times during non-crisis moments will help you get surprisingly more done and allow you to fit other important things into your schedule without feeling guilty.

2. Establish a W-List

Waiting around, especially waiting around unexpectedly is one of the most frustrating wastes of time. Keep unexpected waiting time from dragging you down by creating a W-List: a list of mental topics that need your attention that you can focus on when you have some waiting time.

Here’s an example: my W-List includes things like brainstorming marketing techniques for TLU, thinking about upcoming blog topics, reviewing how I’m progressing toward my yearly goals, and dreaming up content for clients.

As you can see, this list includes things that require a lot of thinking and not a lot of action. These are perfect for waiting around, because all I have to do is remember them and get to work thinking. I can do it anywhere, for any length of time, and need virtually nothing but myself.

I do however recommend having a pad and pen, digital voice recorder, or smartphone handy in case you have a brilliant break through or want to take notes on your thoughts.

3. Create Limits

Before you sit down to actually start a task, create a limit as to how much time you can devote to it. Some tasks will just eat away your time without really getting anywhere. After the time limit is up for completing the task, you just need to set it aside to deal with it later and move onto the next project (that has its own time limit of course!).

Here is a perfect example of a black-hole project: last week, I spent 3+ hours messing around with my garbage disposal and dishwasher to try to get to the bottom of the drainage problem I was having, only to remember that I live in an apartment and have a staff of maintenance men to do this type of thing for me. I should have followed my own rule, set a limit on how long I could work on the situation before I put it down an moved on. Instead, I wasted the whole morning (my most productive time!) and couldn’t get back into the groove the rest of the day.

Shame on me! Don’t let this type of foolishness stop you from being successful – set time limits on your projects!

4. Slow Down

While advice may seem contrary, it is the best time management tip: slow down. We live in a world where everything needs to be done yesterday, where we all have too much on our plates and too many responsibilities fighting for time. We think that getting something done fast is the key, but the real key is getting it done right.

Slow and steady wins the race.

Not only does going slow and being thorough mean you will mess up less, but it also means that you will be on a more even emotional keel. When you race around to get stuff done, you work yourself up and stress yourself out, making it harder to focus and really be productive. Taking it slow and steady means you keep your wits about you, and that in the end you will get as much (if not more!) done as racing around.

So breathe deep, take it slow, limit your time, creating a waiting list, and know yourself – it will all get done!

Here’s to your Uncommon Life,