What Is Time Management?

Skills Soft Skills Time Management Article

Time management refers to how an individual utilises their time effectively, efficiently and productively by employing numerous approaches and methods.

Time blocking, Parkinson’s law, and protected timing are some of the techniques used by individuals to organise their time.

Time blocking refers to creating time frames for your entire day. Making time blocks for reading, emailing, reading, phone conversations, and other activities is an example of time blocking. Time blocking is a strategy that is nearly as old as the use of calendars. Time blocking can help people be more pragmatic about what they can accomplish in a day and organise their days more successfully.

Protected time is something used very often in order to provide required attention or to prioritise an activity over another.

Time constraints encourage workers to take purposeful breaks from their work areas, lowering the risk of representational burnout. This can help people feel more stimulated and valuable at work. Furthermore, scheduling individual time, such as breakfast at the start of the day or leisure, might assist to greatly reduce work-related anxiety.

Some of us assume that balancing multiple tasks together would help us get more accomplished, however the contrary is true; humans are often more efficient when we focus on one task at a time.

Many famous personalities use this technique of time blocking in order to keep their schedule on track and to prioritise mental health. Elon Musk implements this technique effectively by splitting his day into 5-minute segments for each activity.

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it.”

Let’s look at individual A and individual B’s schedule. Individual A uses time management, hence, is able to keep up with meetings while focusing on his personal knowledge and priorities. Individual B who doesn’t use time blocking is far away from what is called good work-life balance and is caught up with work.

The purpose of the above is to display the difference between an individual who uses time blocking vs who doesn’t. With time blocking one can get way more done in the same 24 hours compared to those who don’t use time blocking.

One major reason to use time blocking is to increase productivity. A task which takes 45 minutes can take 3 hours if one doesn’t use time blocking because the more time you have the longer you tend to take. Hence, the effect of time blocking is quite effective and evident.

The greatest “time managers” set defined goals for themselves. They set SMART Goals to help them organise their time more effectively. To-do lists, time tracking are all methods used to commit to goals and help stay more organised and productive.

Another famous technique used by many is Parkinson’s Law which states that the more time you have, the longer you’ll take to complete a task and put in less effort. One should set artificial deadlines to increase the efforts and complete a task on time. This is the concept behind Parkinson’s Law, which asserts that work grows to fill the time we devote to it.

A good example of how people can put more effort in less time would be when a student learns a topic which they couldn’t even comprehend from past 2 months in just 1 hour during examination due to less time being available.

Protected time is something used very often in order to provide required attention or to prioritise an activity over another. This is a distraction free time where a person focuses just on that one activity. This is suggested to everyone who’s trying to give more time to their passion. Protected time allows an individual to structure their schedule accordingly since time for that activity is already secured.

Protected time is used by individuals to take out time for themselves in early hours or during the day. It helps to accomplish personal goals while achieving professional growth. It is suggested to people with extremely busy schedules who are trying to take out time for themselves.

Several work counsellors recommend dividing your time into “focus” and “buffer” days. The first can be used for long-term goals such as policy formation. Buffer days, on the other hand, are allocated for shortstack tasks like paperwork and groceries. Doing so will allow you to save time for tasks which need to be prioritised while also completing other tasks and responsibilities.

An individual doesn’t have to employ techniques used by famous personalities, one can simply manage time effectively by good calendar management and keeping track of time spent on each activity.

One has to make time management an integral part of their schedule in order to keep thriving and exploring. We live in a world of social media, where thoughts could be shared from one continent to another with just a click and if you want to prioritise your thoughts and keep a grip on what comes into your mind, you’ve to make time for yourself which is only possible through good time management.

Time management helps an individual to become more aware and conscious about not only themselves but also their surroundings.

“It’s surprising how much free time and productivity you gain when you lose the busyness in your mind.”

Brittany Burgunder

Time management is crucial for a good balance between personal and professional life. Hence, leading to better productivity and mental health.