Welcome,
Unique learners!
In this talk I will cover multiple time management techniques and discuss what combinations have worked for me.
Why do we need time management?
Well,
Heard yourself saying,
But I don't have the time.
I'm always busy.
Why can't I have more time?
Later,
Later,
I will do that tomorrow.
I know that I've struggled a lot with time management,
Especially during my PhD.
I always say a PhD is 10% hard work and 90% working even harder by beating yourself up that you're not doing that hard work in the first place.
We all can do more and have fun with time management,
Even though we cannot control time or pause it whenever we like it.
We can take action on it to a certain degree.
Well,
There are multiple time management techniques which actually help me to become more efficient and feel more at ease.
I wish I've learned about these techniques earlier in my career.
By finding the best combination of techniques,
Which work for me,
I actually started doing more in less time.
It's the same thing as with meditation and thinking,
Oh,
I'm wasting time,
But actually it provides you with more time.
And I would like to stress though that these techniques,
As with everything,
Can work well for each individual very differently.
But I would like to inform you about multiple techniques and what has worked for me.
The first one is the Pomodoro technique by Francesco Cirilio.
The Pomodoro technique has six simple steps.
One,
Choose a task you like to get done.
Two,
Set the timer,
Aka the Pomodoro,
For 25 minutes.
Three,
Work on the task until the bell rings,
So not looking on social media or having your telephone ring or watching television.
And four,
When it rings,
Give yourself a pat on the back or cross that off your to-do list.
Another task done.
Five,
Take a short break,
Which does not involve work.
Some suggest five minutes,
So not a year please.
And six,
After four of these time tasks,
Take a longer break for 20 to 30 minutes.
Why this works for me is it makes me accountable for not overdoing it.
I always start fast and then burn out halfway during the day because my battery is low.
And in between these tasks I give myself a pat and cross it off my to-do list,
Which makes me feel more efficient.
Unfortunately,
Not every task can be done in 25 minutes.
So maybe the technique timeboxing is for you.
In his book Rapid Application Development,
James Martin explains the timeboxing technique,
Where you allocate beforehand an estimated time.
Let's say this task will take 50 minutes and then I need a 10 minute break.
This is again a great method for those perfectionists like me,
Who you need to remind them of,
Stop your exercise,
Drop that pencil.
If it's not for you,
I advise you to look into the flow time technique,
Which also times your task,
But at the end you evaluate whether you are in the flow,
Aka the zone.
I can continue on this task.
I know that doesn't work for me,
But perhaps for you it will.
The thing with time management techniques and focusing on one task is that they do not really help with multitasking.
And maybe your own calculation of time may be off.
And what if you get an important phone call?
Or your supervisor just dropped an urgent email,
Which in the first place you shouldn't have noticed because your notifications are on silent and you effectively spend time on emails and you are not doing this while you are doing your task,
Right?
But this is where the third technique comes into play.
The Eisenhower matrix.
In other words,
Prioritize,
Prioritize,
Prioritize.
It's simple,
But not easy.
The Eisenhower matrix makes you divide your task into four quadrants.
The first one are tasks that are very important and urgent and you should do them immediately.
The second one are important tasks but not that urgent.
You should make a plan when you tackle them.
The third is tasks that are not important but are urgent and you should delegate these tasks to your colleagues or ask for help.
And the fourth are tasks that are not important and not urgent and you should eliminate them altogether from your schedule.
Again sounds easy,
Right?
Trust me it isn't.
This is where I needed to have an honest look at myself when suddenly answering every email immediately became urgent.
Or my attitude of everything should have been finished yesterday.
This is where there is a line between action,
On spending your time efficiently,
And acceptance.
Another area which is great to discover more fully in meditation.
And I'll end with this,
My final question.
What about those big projects and time management?
Always divide your big projects into smaller projects.
As I've said it before,
It is important to look at your achievements along the way.
Otherwise I know I will become overwhelmed.
I'm only human.
And I find it helpful to divide everything in little steps because then I can see what worked really well and it is motivating.
And in the end all we want to do is work efficiently but also be able to continue our work and more importantly love doing what we do.
So unique learners,
I hope this talk about four time management techniques and my own experience with them was useful and will help you along the path you are working towards to work more efficiently and get a peace of mind.
Every individual needs their own approach.
Therefore I would like to invite you to think about what works for you and what doesn't.
I always value feedback on these talks I do and would love to read what has worked for you.
Till next time!
