Time Management Tools and Techniques

The relationship that human beings establish with time is complex since a person may not take advantage of the full potential of the current moment because they are not focused on what is happening now. This is what happens when the object of his attention focuses on a past memory or, on the contrary, when the rush of continuous anticipation leads the protagonist to focus on what he will do when he finishes what he is doing right now. It is vitally important to organize and manage time to make the most of the hours, optimize time and be more productive. In this PsychologyFor article, we list a selection of time management tools and techniques.

Time management tool

If you want to improve time management and make better use of your hours, you will wonder what resources you have to optimize your minutes. Here are 5 time management tools:

1. Agenda

This is one of the most used means of time management and is present in both paper and electronic formats. Choose the option that best helps you structure your weekly calendar of tasks and projects.

2. Desk calendar

This type of format is practical to have this visual anchor of the temporal context present on the work office desk. For example, you can check it immediately if you receive a phone call to set up a meeting. Correctly organizing tasks and effective time management helps prevent work stress.

3. Schedule

Time management seems more complex when it comes to measuring time realistically in the fulfillment of a long-term project. This planning a task script that make up this challenge can help you visualize the process to follow from now on.

4. Time management courses

Training around this competence is also present in those formation programs with content linked to this learning objective. Participation in a training experience of these characteristics can help the person realize what they are right and what their mistakes are in managing minutes. This learning resource is one of the most important to acquire new skills and abilities in time management.

5. Resources on-line

Through new technologies you can also have digital media aimed at this purpose. Some resources on-line that you can use as time management tools are Todoist, Google Calendar, Evernote and MyMemorizer.

• Todoist is a time management tool that allows you to keep an updated track of your projects, identifying what you have to do that day and being able to cross out those points that you have already completed.
• Google Calendar It is another support resource that can accompany you in this process of organizing your calendar and managing time better.
• Evernote It is another time management tool that helps you constantly keep in mind what your goals and time frames are.
• MyMemorizer is another time management resource that helps you remember important data through its calendar format that helps you schedule your tasks.

Time management technique

How can you optimize your time by improving your productivity at work? In addition to time management tools, that is, instruments that help organize, there are also time management techniques: methods that you can follow to make better use of your hours. Below we show 8 time management techniques:

1. Group similar tasks to do them in the same fragment of time to avoid the constant break in rhythm produced by the passage from one matter to another totally different one.
2. Specify the tasks on your agenda indicating the start and end time. This example can be applied, for example, to the calling of work meetings. Just as important as being punctual at the start of a job is also finishing it on time.
3. Avoid interruptions. One idea is to place an information sign on the door of your office during those moments of maximum concentration when you want to avoid any type of interruption so that the interlocutor knows that this is not a good time to knock on the door.
4. Avoid distractions. Silence your cell phone when you can to avoid constant distraction from the news you receive. The willingness to improve time management also starts from planning.
5. Make a list weekly or daily with the enumeration of the tasks to be carried out. In this time management technique, it is important to differentiate the objectives on this list in order of importance and urgency.
6. Take advantage of the trips. To optimize time management when carrying out different errands, you can also carry out these tasks in the neighborhood where you live or in the area close to your workplace.
7. Choose the most appropriate channel for communication to transmit information to another person. For example, how many WhatsApp conversations are prolonged in a sequence of messages when that issue could have been clarified better and more quickly through a phone call?
8. SWOT Analysis time management. To delve deeper into this objective, you can also carry out this analysis by differentiating four sections of weaknesses, threats, strengths and opportunities around which you can structure the information. What are the weaknesses you identify in your time management? And the strengths that you want to continue maintaining? What threats do you identify in relation to this objective? And what are the opportunities present in this scenario?

Time management: tip

In addition to the time management techniques and tools explained above, some tips should also be considered. The 6 most important tips to improve time management are the following:

1. Don’t postpone what you can do today for another time. Taking care of that issue today will help you avoid accumulating this responsibility for the next day.
2. Disconnect from work during the weekend or at the end of the day. Prolonging the day at home until late from Monday to Friday negatively affects productivity because rest is a basic need and lack of sleep affects our brain.
3. Set clear and realistic objectives. Planning connects with a direction to follow, which is one that identifies the point of arrival. You may experience disorientation if you don’t know clearly where you are going.
4. Keep it real and keep a real vision of your time. Wanting to cover more projects than you can really take on in a given period will only make you feel overwhelmed by the feeling of not being able to finish them on the scheduled date.
5. Take into account your status and organizes tasks based on it. Through self-knowledge you can identify, for example, when you have the best conditions to be more productive. It is also better to complete the most difficult tasks early in the workday, rather than leaving that effort until the end when fatigue has an effect on concentration.
6. Leave room for unforeseen events. It is very important to manage time, plan and be specific with tasks, times and dates. However, it is also important to be flexible and take into account that unforeseen events may appear.

Time Management: Summary

Below, we show a summary of the tips, tools and techniques for time management, organization and planning of tasks, optimization of time and productivity.

This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Time management tools and techniques we recommend that you enter our Personal Growth and Self-Help category.

Bibliography

• Broc Cavero, M. Á. (2011). Willingness to study, regulation of effort, effective time management and academic performance in university students. Journal of Educational Research, 29(1).