Time Management Techniques For Peace Of Mind (Part 1)

This talk covers four time management techniques to help you learn about feeling more at ease whilst working more efficiently. The session is great for anyone who wants to work, write, or study productively with some peace of mind. Furthermore, I share my experience of combining these time management techniques during my Ph.D. so that I could do more with less time.

Reviews

These tips are a great way to look ahead to hold time and space for what matters most and will help me more to accomplish my goals and dreams!!

Thank you for sharing your techniques. Some helpful points to reflect on. You have reinforced for me the importance of regularly feeling a sense of accomplishment. Reminding myself that I am achieving tasks helps maintain my motivation.

Lovely . Let me apply these principles to improve my life.

I’ve heard of the Pomodoro technique and am going to try it. That sounds like one that could really work for me

Thanks for describing these methods in one talk. I use my little kitchen timer shaped like an apple to do the Pomodoro method. I always enjoy your soft voice and gentle delivery. See you again soon

Great ideas!!! Thank you!

Looking forward to continuing this exercise.

Thank you for sharing these tips. I like the Important vs Urgent.

Great strategies. I more recently have been using “the one thing technique” where you devote several time blocks each week to a project. To read more about The One Thing, check out the book by Gary Keller & Jay Papasan.🌼

Thank you :) I will try these ideas out

Thank you so much for this very helpful insights 🌻

Such a beautiful talk, Yvette. Could you elaborate difference between urgent and important task in last method? Also is there any research showing decline in age and learning? Thanks and best regards,
Arpit
India.

I appreciated hearing your information on the different techniques! I was only familiar with Pomodoro and time blocking before. I like Pomodoro, but find if I don’t start it first thing at work, I end up spending the whole day staring at email and never get to it, lol. Thanks for the interesting and inspiring talk! I’m definitely looking forward to listening to more and coming to your live talk on procrastination.

Having just now listened and commented on how wonderful your talk on procrastination was, I immediately followed you here, set up notifications for your new releases, and then noticed the wealth of tracks you have already published here. I just bookmarked all of them (the ones in English, anyway) for reference. 😁

The Pomodoro technique has never worked very well for me. Of the four techniques you mentioned, the Eisenhower matrix and Flow method work best. However, my actual process is more along the lines of a daily routine. At the end of the day, I write down the tasks that MUST be done the next day, with any constraints such as open business hours, time zone differences, people's vacation times, etc. I include phone numbers and emails and anything else necessary right there so I don't waste time searching for it in the morning or worse yet, getting distracted while doing so and never returning to actually doing the task. I set aside the last half hour of my work day to prepare my list for the next day so I can walk in and get right to work without needing to think much about what to do first.

I schedule blocks of time during the day according to my natural energy levels. Certain tasks, the mindless ones requiring little thought, like filing or routine work, is reserved for the morning. I begin to become more mentally alert in the late morning to early afternoon, so more creative or thinking-based (or active tasks) are done during those times. Because this is when I am most energetic, this is also when I employ the Flow technique, only I use a timer set for fifteen minutes. I have a tendency towards perfectionism, so the frequent breaks to assess progress permit me to stop, breathe, step back and evaluate, and determine if I NEED to continue or just WANT to continue because it is not up to my satisfaction (even if it is more than adequate otherwise).

I have been working to limit my expectations of myself to working at 70% of what I am capable of doing. That way I always have some reserves to draw upon if a task becomes unexpectedly difficult (or I experience a health issue), and I am perceived then as an overachiever rather than not doing my best if the task ultimately is too complex to handle alone. (This 70% mindset has been invaluable the last 2-3 years.)

Utilizing principles from the "Getting Things Done" method by David Allen has been helpful as well, and I give myself a daily to-do list of no more than 5-7 items. I try to limit myself to three major tasks though. Anything critical from the matrix goes on the list, but after that are the "important but not critical" tasks. I always include at least one "fun task" on the list, and there are two items that I don't usually count because they are habitual now but make me smile. The last item on my to-do list is always "Make checklist for tomorrow" and the first item I put on that checklist being created for the next day is a checkbox for "Look at this list and get started."

I check that off as soon as I look at the list, and the "seeding" of one checked off task gives me motivation to continue the checking off of tasks until the entire list is done. 😉

I do keep a "filler" list separately of those things I want to do but have no time limits. Most are personal - try a new hobby or look up what movies an actor I just saw is in so I can go watch other performances later, that sort of thing. Sometimes they are work tasks like re-arranging the office's bookshelf as I've acquired more books and need to re-organize.

As I also serve as the American Red Criss instructor for our company, I learned from other instructors very early on, about 17 years ago, to double the amount of class time the book says a class should take to teach. The book does not take into consideration interaction with students, physical activities and demonstrations, lunch breaks, stretch breaks, and the like.

I apply that doubling principle to my own time estimates of every task. My time estimating skills are poor under the best of circumstances, so overestimating is far superior to underestimating in my case. It helps me to keep my task list short, gives me breathing room in case of disruption, and also provides me with the option of using any free time remaining to complete a task from my filler list - or be spontaneous and watch some Netflix with my feet up, knowing I achieved everything I had assigned for myself that day. Having the option is nice. 😊

I do make sure that for critical tasks, I keep a written copy of the expectations and standards or purpose right with the task itself. That serves to let me evaluate my work against expectations when using the Flow technique to determine if I have already met the standard and can move on, or if I need to continue because the standard is not yet met. That also helps put my perfectionism in the back seat somewhat.

So that's what generally works fir me. There are always days that don't go as planned, or course, but in general, this system works for me. I tweak it as needed, too.

Thank you for sharing these techniques with us. I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤🤲🏻

Helpful ideas! Thank you for sharing. ❤️🙏❤️

very useful, thank you. I am working hard to reduce procrastination and deal with the most important job first each day. I think the Pomodoro technique will help and will try it.