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[What You Need To Know] How Time Management Techniques Help You Do More

time management techniques with leather day planner on table

Procrastination is a tell-tale sign for poor time management. We’ve all been there. Whether it’s at school, at work or with family, we put tasks and events off, reschedule, and avoid things even though they’re important to us. How often have we heard ourselves and others say that “we don’t have time” or that we are “running out of time”? However, running out of time is a human construct–it is not real. We all have the same number of hours in a day. Highly productive individuals understand that how you manage time is what makes all the difference.

Rather than tell you how you should manage your time, I am going to give you a time management toolbox packed with sound analysis and practical examples. Explore the many tools highlighted to help you maximize your day and get the most out of life. Strong time management skills reduce stress, increase productivity, and open up more time to create opportunities, be with those you love, and do more of what you enjoy. Some people use apps, a calendar or a schedule maker to manage time. Others dig deep and address their time management challenges on a behavioral level. Whatever method you select, you are en route to r control of your life.

This page has my best articles on effective time management techniques, strategies, and hacks based on research from the best in the field.

Top Articles on Time Management

This Meeting Could have Been an Email: From Time Suck to Unstuck

This Meeting Could have Been an Email: From Time Suck to Unstuck

We’ve all been in a dumb meeting—one that makes you think, “This doesn’t even apply to me,” “I’m learning nothing from this,” or, worst of all, “This meeting could have been an email.” I’m sure you’ve commiserated with colleagues over what a time suck dumb meetings can be. Still, you might have resigned yourself to dumb meetings, accepting them as an inevitable facet of the workplace. But dumb meetings are not inevitable; they’re totally avoidable.
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Scheduling for Life’s Surprises: When Timeboxing is Toast

Scheduling for Life’s Surprises: When Timeboxing is Toast

Some days, the world seems intent on sabotaging your timeboxed calendar. A meeting goes longer than expected. The daycare center calls to say that your child is ill and has to be picked up ASAP. A project you thought would take an hour to complete instead took three. Before you know it, the end of the day arrives, and you’ve barely given time to the tasks you had wanted to do. But what can you do? Some events are just outside your control… right?
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Messaging App Madness: How To Stay Productive [and Sane]

Messaging App Madness: How To Stay Productive [and Sane]

When they came on the scene in the 2010s, enterprise messaging apps delivered the fast collaboration companies craved. A new world of internal messaging dawned in which anyone could ping anyone and get a near-immediate response. But in offering a potent solution, group messaging apps also introduced a problem: constant distraction at work. We’re drowning in notifications that lure us to diversion and degrade productivity.
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The 4-Day Workweek: How To Do More With Less

The 4-Day Workweek: How To Do More With Less

What would it look like if the world moved toward a four-day workweek? Time magazine says 2023 could be the year of the four-day workweek. But if the world is going to attempt this paradigm shift, we have to do our best to eliminate the obstacles. Companies and employees can use the methodology described in my book, Indistractable, to navigate this sea change.
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Managers, Stop Distracting Your Employees

Managers, Stop Distracting Your Employees

It’s no secret companies spy on their staff. The rise of remote work has made corporate leaders paranoid, thinking they must monitor their employees’ every digital move. When employees know their performance is being measured by the rules of productivity software, they become motivated to prioritize emails and messages over their core work. Discover better ways to tackle distractions at work.
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5 Productivity Myths Ruining Your Life

5 Productivity Myths Ruining Your Life

Every time I hear a productivity myth described as fact, I cringe as if listening to a snake oil salesman peddle his cures. Let me tell you, when I was writing my second book, Indistractable, I endlessly researched productivity and time management. I tried a lot of recommended methods and techniques myself. Some of them can be so incredibly helpful in controlling your attention and managing your time. But 5 productivity myths are holding you back.
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Make Time for Procrastination

Make Time for Procrastination

If you haven’t finalized your New Year’s resolutions, consider committing to binge-watch a show on a regular basis.Okay, it doesn’t have to be binge-watching. Another guilty-pleasure-esque activity works, too. Perhaps your preferred procrastination is jamming to ‘80s music videos on YouTube or browsing Amazon for new gadgets. Whatever it is, set aside time for it and do it.
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4 Mental Traps That Kill Productivity

4 Mental Traps That Kill Productivity

Productivity has many enemies: too many meetings, external triggers like interruptions from coworkers, whether virtual or in person, and multitasking the wrong way, to name a few. But more often than not, it’s mental traps that trip us up.
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Not Enough Hours in the Day To Slay Your To-Do List

Not Enough Hours in the Day To Slay Your To-Do List

Even the most productive person can’t have it all. At least, not all at once. You can search for the best productivity apps to make you more efficient and focused. You can implement productivity hacks and cut distractions. But you still might feel like there simply are not enough hours in the day for everything you need to get done. Something has to give. Read on for a simple strategy to identify and honor your priorities.
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Best Productivity Tools: 6 That Stuck With Me

Best Productivity Tools: 6 That Stuck With Me

Since writing Indistractable, I’m often asked what tools and apps I personally use to get the most out of my day. But after years of research into the psychology of productivity, focus, and the causes of distraction, I’ve learned that there is no one magic tool. Rather, the best tool is the one you’ll actually use,which is why I only rely on just a few to be at my best.
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8 Productivity Hacks You Can Do in 30 Minutes

8 Productivity Hacks You Can Do in 30 Minutes

Got a few minutes? Then why not use them to implement these quick fixes that cut distraction and aid productivity? I uncovered these productivity fixes while researching how to combat distraction and increase productivity for my book Indistractable, and I’ve relied on them ever since.
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How to Prevent Burnout Using Timeboxing

How to Prevent Burnout Using Timeboxing

A 2021 Indeed survey shows 52% of 1,500 American respondents say they feel burned out, compared with 43% the year prior; 67% believe that burnout worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s not surprising.
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Surprise! There’s a Right Way to Multitask

Surprise! There’s a Right Way to Multitask

Everyone knows that multitasking destroys productivity, right? Haven’t we all seen studies and read articles telling us that it’s impossible to do two things at once? In some ways, that’s true. Lucky for you, I developed a method to multitask the right way. I call it “multichannel multitasking.”
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Planning a Vacation Is Practice for a Great Life

Planning a Vacation Is Practice for a Great Life

When I was 13, my parents and I went to Europe on vacation. It was miserable. My father wanted to hit all the major sites, while my mother just wanted to relax. Because they couldn’t agree on what to do, none of us got the vacation we’d hoped for.
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If You Don’t Plan Your Time, Someone Else Will

If You Don’t Plan Your Time, Someone Else Will

Most people are stingy with their money and generous with their time. We cut coupons, split checks, and debate whether we should buy a 99-cent app. However, when it comes to our time and attention, we give it away to anyone who wants it without thinking twice.
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How to Stay on Schedule Even When You Go Off Track

How to Stay on Schedule Even When You Go Off Track

Don’t let one distraction keep you from what you intended to spend your time on. Here’s how to stay on schedule.To-do lists are supposed to keep us on task. It turns out they do the opposite. I’ve written about the many reasons why. To regain focus and be more...

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Timeboxing: Why It Works and How to Get Started in 2024

Timeboxing: Why It Works and How to Get Started in 2024

Timeboxing is the nearest thing we have to productivity magic, yet most people don’t utilize it. It amounts to boxing out periods of time to work on distinct tasks each day. But when I recommend perhaps the most effective technique ever devised to help people stay on track, most of them balk.
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“Just Say No” Is Bad Productivity Advice

“Just Say No” Is Bad Productivity Advice

Try schedule-syncing instead.You’ve probably read this advice before: “The best thing you can do for your productivity is to say no more often.” By freeing yourself from unnecessary tasks, the thinking goes, you can spend more time working on the things that really...

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Be a Schedule Builder, Not a To-Do List Maker

Be a Schedule Builder, Not a To-Do List Maker

Imagine you bought a new phone, but at the end of each day, every day, the operating system crashed. Would you keep using the faulty phone? Of course not. You’d take it back to the store, complain, and get a new one. And yet, many people run their entire lives on a...

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Indistractable Schedule Maker Tool

Below is a free schedule maker template (it’s a Google sheet available here) to create your own timeboxed weekly calendar. After you open it, click on the blue “Use Template” button to create your own copy—it will show up in your Google account at drive.google.com. To...

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How to Get the Most Out of Your Calendar

How to Get the Most Out of Your Calendar

These Two Questions Will Completely Change the Way You Use Your Calendar: It’s all about reflecting and refining.It doesn’t so much matter what you do with your time; rather, success is measured by whether you did what you planned to do. It’s fine to watch a video,...

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What You Need to Know When Visualizing Your Goals

What You Need to Know When Visualizing Your Goals

Nir’s Note: This guest post is written by Dr. Todd Snyder. Dr. Snyder is a Psychologist and Productivity Coach at ToddSnyderCoaching.comThe world is full of self-help myths and half-truths. One bit of folk psychology that won’t seem to die is the idea that we can...

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This is How to Repair a Toxic Work Culture

This is How to Repair a Toxic Work Culture

When Harvard’s Leslie Perlow began to study The Boston Consulting Group, she was well aware of the firm’s round-the-clock reputation. After conducting interviews with BCG’s staff, Perlow found that this reputation was coming at a major cost. Employees were leaving the...

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How to Master Hard Skills Quickly with “Ultralearning”

How to Master Hard Skills Quickly with “Ultralearning”

Scott Young is an “ultralearner.” He’s known for learning M.I.T.’s grueling 4-year computer science curriculum in just twelve months. He speaks six languages. In fact, he’s presented his lecturers to audiences in Chinese. It’s fitting that Scott is also the author of...

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1 Thing You Need To Know To Save You From Your Email Inbox

1 Thing You Need To Know To Save You From Your Email Inbox

Is your email inbox taking over your work-life? Are you unable to get any “real” work done because you’re too busy responding to emails? Do you feel stressed, distracted, and overwhelmed when you see new emails pop up in your email inbox? You’re not alone. The average...

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Research Reveals How to Take a Better Break

Research Reveals How to Take a Better Break

Until recently, when I needed a break I’d grab my phone. Whether I was bored, mentally fatigued, or just wanting a pick-me-up, I felt relief checking the news, Facebook, or Instagram. However, new research suggests there are good ways and not-so-good ways to spend our...

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How to Stay Informed Without Losing Your Mind

How to Stay Informed Without Losing Your Mind

Around the election, in a desperate search for answers about our nation’s future, I found myself scrolling, reading, and watching everything I could. I was trapped in an endless pull-to-refresh cycle of consuming more news, tweets, posts, and videos than was good for...

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Three Steps To Get Up To Speed On Any Subject Quickly

You have just a few days to learn everything there is to know about a subject you know nothing about. Now what? "Don’t boil the ocean," Terry said as he slapped a tall stack of papers on my desk. "Just tell us what we need to know." I was staring at a serious problem....

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Email Habits: How to Use Psychology to Regain Control

"You teach best what you most need to learn." - Richard Bach I don't usually write about personal and revealing matters, but recently I've noticed something I don't like about myself--I check email too often. This confession doesn't come easily, because, ironically, I...

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Escape From Message Hell

We are caught in an endless cycle of messaging hell and the pattern is always the same. First, a new communication system is born -- take email or Facebook, for example. Ease-of-use helps the product gain wide adoption and reach a critical mass of users. And then...

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Being a Quitter Makes You a Good Entrepreneur

This post is part 3 of a 3-part series.  See part 1 here and part 2 here. When we look at successful entrepreneurs, it may appear that they spend their lives relentlessly driving towards a singular goal.  We assume the path to success was a straight shot, lined with...

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Why You Should Run Your Business Barefoot

This post is part 1 of a 3-part series.  See part 2 here and part 3 here. When I run, I don’t wear much clothing.  Just my tighty whities and an old pair of Umbro shorts.  I don’t wear shoes. Why I don’t wear shoes while running is another topic, but by the looks I...

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