What are the Most Important Time Management Tools?

If you find yourself searching for time management tools to help you increase productivity and spend your time efficiently, you’ve come to the right place. You may be someone who misses deadlines, waits until the last minute for urgent tasks, or loses track of time while scrolling for hours on your phone. If that sounds like you, check out these five time management tools to help combat those unproductive habits. 

Time Management Tool #1: Establish a Routine

The first time management tool is establishing a good routine because everything else will fall into place after a schedule has been created. Think about what your average day entails and what your work, school, or other schedule looks like. Create a routine that works for you to have effective time management. Maybe you’re a full-time worker and part-time college student, so Monday-Thursday evenings are when you do schoolwork. Whatever your schedule is, sticking to a consistent routine is a great way to help you feel more organized and fruitful.

Time Management Tool #2: Time Block Your Day

After you have created a good routine, the next time management tool is to time block your day. Think about your peak productivity hours, and assign tasks to certain parts of the day. To obtain better time management, set appropriate time blocks that are realistic for completing the task. For example, don’t set a 15 minute block to study and a 60 minute block for free time, if you know you are capable of studying for longer periods of time. However, if you need to set breaks for effective time management, then absolutely do that. The point of time blocking is to help create a visual schedule, monitor your progress, and create a balance between work and free time. To learn more about time blocking, check out this article. If you do this intentionally, then time blocking will become a go-to tool.

Time Management Tool #3: Tackle Small Tasks First

When thinking about how you’re going to time block your day, implement the time management tip of tackling small tasks first. If you are someone who loses motivation from dreadful to-dos, then knocking out the easier ones first may help you. Completing the small tasks first will improve your time management and preserve your ambition for the longer ones. For more ways to stay motivated while completing tasks, check out one of our other blogs. Motivation and momentum are essential.

Time Management Tool #4: Do One Thing at a Time

Now that you have created a routine and time blocked your schedule, doing one thing at a time is the fourth tool. This means that you only work on the task that you scheduled at that time. It is vital that you refrain from multitasking and jumping around your schedule, if you are someone who struggles with time management skills. You could end up only starting or doing a little of every task instead of fully completing them because you were not prioritizing them one at a time. For more time management skills check out this article from Purdue Global. Using this time management tool will allow you to stay focused and follow through with tasks from start to finish

Time Management Tool #5: Eat That Frog Technique

If time management tool #3 doesn’t seem like it would work for you, then our final tip is a solution to that problem. Some people feel more productive if they can tackle a higher quantity of tasks in a period of time. However, if you value quality as better time management, then the “eat that frog technique” inspired by Mark Twain, may suit you. This strategy follows Twain’s quote, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning, and nothing worse will happen to you for the rest of the day.” This tool, in other words, means complete the most dreadful, tedious, or boring task first and everything else will seem easier and doable.

Using these five time management suggestions will help improve the way you organize and use your time. Whether you are a full-time or part-time employee or student, someone who prefers quantity over quality and vice versa, or just looking for time management tools, EFC has you covered!