My Personal Approach to Time Management: A Plan I Can Stick With

There is a time for everything in our lives. There’s a time to optimize for speed and a time to savor slower rhythms.

So many people boil their identities down to a simple binary—either being busy all the time or laid back and simply enjoying life. As for me, I’d like to enjoy the best of both those worlds. The way I’ve found to do that is to be as efficient as possible in the times I’m working, so that I can be as present as possible in the times I’m not.

That’s not to say I’m not present or don’t enjoy my work.

In fact, I find that trying to manage my time and maximize my day adds a sense of excitement and challenge. It’s a fun little game that I like to play, and it helps to keep me engaged and focused. A 2021 meta-analysis in PloS One journal found this to be a common experience—discovering that time management practices are positively associated with well-being and life satisfaction.

The art of time management, however, is a very personal endeavor.

If I’ve learned anything in my years of trying to perfect my own system of time management it’s that you really need to know yourself. The best plan is the one that you want to stick with because it fits with your personality and makes your day more enjoyable.

In the long run, if you hate something, you won’t stick with it. That’s an iron rule of motivation if there ever was one!

In that spirit, I share my list of tips designed for busy people who want to find a better balance of work and rest in their lives. I recommend that you try them out and adapt them to make them your own. Keep a handful of these tools in your mental toolbox and grab whatever one helps you to get the job done today.

Start With Your Most Important Task

One surprising aspect of motivation is that it doesn’t get used up. If you start your day on a good note—by knocking out an important task—you’ll feel good about yourself and more likely to want to continue to be productive with the rest of your time. But if you waste the morning, good luck trying to find motivation in the afternoon. That’s why it’s the first item on my list—getting an early win guarantees progress is made, and sets the stage for a productive day emotionally.

Work in Small Blocks of Time With Clear Goals

Whether to work in big blocks of time or small ones depends on your schedule and personality. But after experimenting with so many different methods, I can say confidently that what works for me, is short blocks of time with a crystal clear idea of what I hope to get done in that time. What’s considered short? I like to work in 25-minute chunks of time, and I track these completions with a simple dot on a sticky note. 

Set Realistic Expectations 

Another tip that might be personal to me, but has had a powerful effect, is to set realistic expectations. I used to set ambitious goals each day with the hope that it would motivate me to work hard. But the opposite happened. I ended up feeling frustrated early in the day if I wasn’t progressing fast enough and then discouraged if I couldn’t get it all done. So, I switched to setting modest expectations and found that it felt great to consistently accomplish my daily goal. It works so well that I sometimes feel motivated to do a little extra—and I love the feeling that I’m “working ahead” as opposed to playing catch-up. 

Don’t Be a Perfectionist

Here’s one principle I live by: progress begets more progress. We are all motivated by the sense that we’re accomplishing something and discouraged when we feel like we’re spinning our wheels. You might think that higher standards are better in the long run, but I’ve found that if those standards are too high, they keep you from moving forward. So to keep your motivation high, your progress fast, and don’t worry about being perfect. Just do your best and trust that you’ll keep getting better over time.

Be Consistent in Your Efforts

I’ve heard it said that people overestimate how much they can get done in one day, but underestimate how much they can get done in a month. That’s been my experience as well. 

In terms of making progress and managing your time well, it matters far less how much you get done in any one particular day, than the number of consecutive days you accomplished nothing. If I’m not feeling into something I set a timer for 5 minutes, and just get to work. Often, I feel like going for longer, but if not, I’ve still made real progress, and you’d be surprised how much that can add up over a month or more.