Discover 51 time-management ideas

The period of our life is limited. So it is important to split it the time we have into smaller units. In this post, I want to share with you 51 time-management ideas, you can already apply in your daily life and should help you to become the master of your time.

1. Know your fears: fear of dedication, fear of loneliness, fear of change, or fear of determination. What is the factor that retains you from managing your time?
2. Know your strengths and weaknesses – so ask yourself: Which of my daily activities are particularly easy for me? What can I do better than friends and acquaintances?
   What special skills do I see in the people around me? Which of these could I not do at all or only with great effort? What can I do as well as them?
3. By knowing your personal factors you are able to find personal goals, which help you to master your time.
4. There are two types of goals: complementary and competing goals – complementary goals match perfectly with each other, whereas competing goals make your life difficult.
5. If you decide on competing goals you have to prioritize them.
6. Do not let yourself disturbed by other people while you work. Every noise drains your power and makes working more difficult.
7. Your physical resources are limited every day so use them wisely.
8. If you have to concentrate on a difficult task you have to protect from distraction.
9. Every activity has its own time to cost – if you say “yes” to something you say at the same time “no” to another thing.
10. The most common time thieves are  time allocated computer problems, delay times, virtual noise, lack of information, and fatigue
11. There are apps to stop Social Media while working
12. Identify time thieves and reflect upon you can manage them.
13. Identify your inner time thieves: Maybe perfectionism, complaisance, speed, or success orientation?
14. Make yourself a plan to achieve your goals. Divide your plan into the short-, medium- or long-term.
15. The Pareto-Principle says that only 20% of activities bring 80% of success.
16. Put priorities where you see the best progress.
17. Don’t work hard, work smart.
18. According to the Eisenhower time-management model, there are two dimensions – the importance and the urgency of a task.
19. A-Tasks are very important tasks and you have to do them on your own, they are not necessarily urgent at a fixed timepoint but can become so in the future.
20. B-Tasks are medium important tasks. They are goal-oriented and have to be done on your own. They are not urgent.
21. C-Tasks are routine tasks, they are urgent. Handle those tasks by delegating them to other persons or by eliminating them.
22. Efficient work can be sustained by work blocks. Similar tasks can be blocked at a one-time point or can be done when your performance is low.
23. Build a personal view of your life for a goal-oriented time-management.
24. Think about your body and soul and your relationships.
25. When formulating your goals be as specific as possible.
26. Think about a strategy to achieve your goals. Think also about problems you could be facing on your way and the possibilities to handle them.
27. Define milestones you have to work on to be able to achieve your overall goal.
28. Analyze the situation: Do you have everything you need? The necessary skills? The strengths?
29. Which weaknesses do you have? What are the tasks that cost you much time to do? (These are maybe tasks you can delegate to other people).
30. So it is best to act according to the motto “Open your eyes and through!” And to persevere even with difficult tasks, of course with appropriate breaks during the process.
31. Performance peaks are the most important hours of the day because they are limited. Put A-Tasks in these periods.
32. Make a noise analysis and discover the factors that disturb you regularly. In this way, you can react to them in the future.
33. Use a schedule book: It serves as a planning, control, and information system. In addition to the goals and the schedule, it also includes the know-how that allows you to pursue your work with a high degree of professionalism.
34. A day is the smallest planning unity of time-management.
35. The foundation for scheduling a day is the weekly schedule.
36. The weekly schedule gives the flexibility to react to future appointments.
37. Plan only 60% of the day and block 40% of the day for unexpected events.
38. If you still have free time work on the tasks of the next day.
39. The daily schedule has two columns – on the left side you write the appointments and on the right side, you mention the activities of A- and B- priorities.
40. In the morning you should spend on A-Priority tasks, after finishing those work on B-Priorities. You should spend your power on those tasks.
41. Estimate the time you need for the tasks and write them down in a book. The best method is to measure the times with a watch and to write them down in a chart.
42. Plan breaks by observing your personal performance curve.
43. Tell yourself in the evening the story of the day. Think again about the day – you can use a dictaphone, write it in a book or type it into your computer.
44. In your evening reflection, you can ask yourself: Has today brought me closer to my goals? What have I learned today? What activities could I have done without? What important ideas have I not noted down yet? How can I reward myself today? What is the best, I can still do?
45. Verify your strategy periodically and ask yourself the following questions: Have I got closer to my goals today / this week / this month? Did I act according to my personal ideas about life? Are the goals still relevant? What concrete results can I show today / this week / this month? Are there any shortcomings in the results? How do I deal with them? Does the strategy still appear to be the best for achieving the goals? Or should a new strategy be chosen?
46. For planning on short-, middle- and long-term use a chart with three columns you should use deadlines. Help yourself out with a calendar.
47. Digital calendars can make your life easier – you can switch between different time periods (week, month, and year view) and you can use colors to categorize tasks according to roles.
48. Use lists to make yourself an overview of the upcoming tasks.
49. For long-term and middle-term plans use lists.
50. For short-term plans make use of to-do-lists.
51. Make use of the PDCA-cycle: Plan, execute, check, and act.

How can you continue this list? I am curious to read your ideas in the comment box below!