What is time management?
• “Self-management” or “personal productivity” are more modern
terms to describing how we organise ourselves and use our time.
• Personal productivity is ultimately about achieving your goals in a
way that manages your energy most efficiently.
• Examine techniques for prioritising, planning, performing, and
evaluating your professional and personal tasks.
Why time management?
Your personality, working style and activities will help you decide which
techniques will work for you.
Improving your time management skills will benefit you in several
ways:
• Greater productivity
• Less stress
• More time for yourself, family, and friends
• Better work-life balance
Your productivity style, what is. Yes, hmmm
Focus masters
Understands organisation and
productivity
Don’t have an issue with time
management
Biggest challenge? Frustrated
with inefficiency of people
around them
Nomads
Consider themselves
focused.
But have wandered from
being organised – pulled by
work structures or workload
– frustrating for them.
Chaos Masters
Struggle with organisation and
productivity
Can still be successful despite
being chaotic and disorganised –
they often have piles of
paperwork everywhere but know
where everything is.
Biggest challenge? To learn to be
organised in a way which doesn’t
stifle their creativity
What is prioritising?
Prioritising is about what to do and what NOT to do.
To prioritise important tasks you need to:
• using your strategic thinking
• long-range vision
• know your priorities and business objectives
• know the difference between urgent and important
It’s NOT about working faster - it’s about focussing on what is needed first.
A long To-Do list can be quite overwhelming - in fact, it can prevent you from accomplishing
anything at all.
Prioritising tasks can stop you feeling overwhelmed
The Priority/ Eisenhower Matrix
Prioritise what really needs doing - then discard
other things until a more appropriate time.
To do this you must understand the difference
between urgent and important.
‘Urgent’ tasks demand your immediate attention
'Important' tasks matter and not doing them may
have serious consequences for you or others.
Not Important
Important
Not Urgent
Urgent
ABC method - A Simple Yet Powerful Technique
• This method helps you visualise factors that
have a decisive impact on the company’s
success.
• It can give you a guiding principle for further
business planning and helps you decide
which tasks you need to tackle next.
• The key to making this ABC Method work is
for you to now discipline yourself to start
immediately on your “A-1” task and then stay
at it until it is complete.
• Prioritise these within the list as A1, A2, A3
and B1, B2, B3 etc
The Pareto Principle
• The Pareto Principle (or the 80-20 Rule) concludes that 80% of output comes from
20% of the effort.
• This method ensures that you spend your time focusing on the tasks that have the
biggest effect.
• This means that you achieve the greatest benefit possible with the limited amount
of time available.
Only choose ‘Drop
It’ when you can
delete it.
Only choose ‘Do it’ if
you can do it in under
3-minutes.
Only choose ‘Delegate’ if you
delegate well or have
someone to delegate to.
But do not abdicate from it.
Only choose ‘Delay’ if you
trust that you will look at it
again.
The A.L.P
.E.N. method
This is more of a technique for better organising your work day, than a tool for business
planning.
It shows you how to structure your day for maximum effectiveness in five steps:
• A: Define your activities.
• L: Estimate the length of time.
• P: Plan buffer time.
• E: Establish prioritised decisions.
• N:Note your level of success.
Pomodoro technique
Named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer used by its Italian developer,
Francesco Cirillo.
The Pomodoro technique breaks down tasks into small, manageable subtasks.
Complete tasks in 25-minute intervals
Take a 5-minute break after every 25-minute interval (pomodoro).
After 4 ‘pomodoros’, take a longer 30-minute break.
Now you’ve completed a full pomodoro session.
By continuously alternating between concentration and rest, your brain is much
more able to stay focused and effective over several hours.
There is an app called ‘The Focus Keeper’ which replicates this theory.
SMART goals
• If you want to complete tasks in a motivated and efficient manner, you first have to set the
right goals.
• Vague, unrealistic goals without a deadline sabotages your chances of success and you
never achieve good results.
• According to this proven method, good objectives must meet five criteria:
‘Timeboxing’ and taking control of your calendar
To start timeboxing, just split up your
day into blocks of time with specific tasks
assigned to each one; Emails, Projects,
Actions, Calls, etc.
Timeboxing creates a productive sense of
urgency.
Timeboxes shouldn’t be too long or too
short, otherwise they’ll create stress, which
impedes good results.
The POSEC method
This is an acronym that stands for “Prioritising by Organising, Streamlining,
Economising, and Contributing”. Start with Prioritise and work downwards
Based on the psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
https://www.ionos.com/startupguide/productivity/time-management-techniques/
How do I cope with conflicting priorities?
Prioritising Tips
Focus on high-value activities.
Finish all the important urgent tasks. (These are the ones that would have a major negative
impact if you did not get them done.)
Start with the end in mind. Ask yourself, “What will be the result if I do not get this done
today?”
Set specific realistic deadlines
Clarify the top three items that must be accomplished that day.
Stop trying to multitask - the human brain can’t perform two or more complex tasks
simultaneously, and can’t perform them to the same standard. You only end up doing 2 things
badly.
Abandon perfectionism – be happy with something that is good enough.
Remember that you and your health are important.
Just because you have lots to do doesn’t mean that doing some
exercise, going for a 10-minute walk or making time to eat properly is
not important.
You should NOT ignore your physical or mental health in favour of
more 'urgent' activities.
What are the time robbers?
External time robbers might include:
• Meetings – No agenda or unclear
• E-mail and phone interruptions
• Other people’s deadlines
• Responding to crises
Self-generated time robbers include:
• Over-commitment (saying yes to everything)
• Lack of organisation and planning
• Procrastination
• Confused responsibilities
• No system of self-accountability
1. Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant,
and Timely.
2. Prioritise tasks based
on importance and
urgency.
3. Helps you be more focused
and efficient. Making the small
extra effort to decide on how
much time you need to allot for
each task can also help you
recognise potential problems
before they arise.
4. It is harder to stay focused and
motivated. Consider grabbing a
brief nap, going for a short walk, or
meditating.
5. Utilise your calendar for more long-
term time management. Write down
the deadlines for projects, or for tasks
that are part of completing the overall
project. Think about which days might
be best to dedicate to specific tasks.
6. Determine what
is significant and
what deserves your
time. This frees up
more of your time
to be spent on
genuinely
important things.
7. Make it a habit to, at
the end of each
workday, go ahead and
write out your “to-do”
list for the next workday.
Do you know the difference between planning and scheduling?
Planning defines WHAT and HOW
Planning should always be done before scheduling. (Planning is, for example, to get the right
spare parts, materials, permits, tools, and skills defined).
Scheduling defines WHEN and WHO.
Scheduling is deciding when and by whom the job is done.
12 Guidelines for efficient planning
1. Workspace and personal space. Take a half hour once a week to file, sort, and keep things
organised. Clutter can be both a real distraction and genuinely depressing.
2. Two time horizons: short and long term goals.
3. Master the calendar it can be your most helpful planning tool.
4. Mind – keep it clear! Structuring time on tasks helps to increase productivity
5. “To-do” list helps focus attention on the highest priority items, either electronic or paper
based.
6. Planning contact with customers, colleagues and/or staff will help minimise disruptions.
7. Pick Your Moment. All of us have times of day that we work better.
Did you know that you can save yourself 2 hours each day just by getting organised?
12 Guidelines for efficient planning cont…
8. Don’t procrastinate, but do ask why you’re tempted.
9. From multitasking to mono-tasking. It’s estimated that it can take our brains up to twenty
minutes to re-focus on the original task after being interrupted.
10. Batching tasks. One quick way of making it easier to focus on one job at a time is batching
tasks of a similar nature together and doing them all at once.
11. Stay calm and keep things in perspective. Feeling overwhelmed can be very stressful.
12. Going home or getting an early night, so that you are fit for tomorrow, may be a much
better option than meeting a self-imposed or external deadline that may not even matter
that much.
The Art of Saying No
You may not want to always say ‘No’, but it’s important to say ‘No’ more than you say ‘Yes’.
Your time is limited, when you say yes to one thing you are in effect saying ‘No’ to something
else. Spreading yourself too thin will sabotage the success of anything you have already
committed to. ‘No’ is the word that allows you to focus.
So, how to say no to yourself?
Create a ‘perhaps’ list filled with those ideas, inovations,
Appropriate procrastination means putting off till a suitable time in the future.
Check yourself
• Limit social media
• Put your phone on airplane mode or sleep mode after 9pm.
• Enable the iPhone ‘ScreenTime’ function or Digital Wellbeing app for
Android (both apps, designed to help you use your phone more
responsibility and prevent distractions/ Do Not Disturb modes and
the Wind Down features).
• Build in no-phone times into family and work times
• Instead of checking your phone when you're out and about, breathe.
Diary
A diary serves as a reminder of;
• appointments
• who you are meeting
• where you need to be
• what time you need to be there
• travel time to allow
• date specific events
• time being utilised /not utilised
It can be either in hard copy, paper form or system-based, such as Outlook.
If you use a traditional paper-based diary, make sure you write all entries in pencil. Why?
Things change!
Always try to use a diary with time slots written in to allow the allocation of your time to be
more specific.
Record time spent on tasks
• Categorise your time
• During the day or after
• Record your time spent
• Review once a month
https://toggl.com/
https://memory.ai/timely
What is a Bullet Journal?
Day planner, diary, and habit changer.
Bullet journals streamline your life and enable you to be more
productive
With sections to log your daily to-do’s, monthly calendar, notes, etc
Entries can include:
• To do lists
• mindfulness & reflection
• a diary
• an index,
• monthly and weekly spread
• Review of activities / projects
Turns the chaos of coordinating your life into a streamlined system
Create a Key for Rapid Logging
Create a key:
Events (moveable)
Tasks
Appointments (fixed)
Complete:
Task complete – or in progress
Event complete
Appointment complete
Signifiers:
Important/urgent tasks
Questions
Things that require more research or
exploration
Migrators:
Migrated
Scheduled
Complete
https://bulletjournal.com/pages/learn
Digital Bullet Journals
• One Note as a bullet Journal
• Using Trello as a Bullet Journal
• www.makeuseof.com/tag/use-bullet-journal-trello-plan-day/
• https://momentoapp.com/ for IOS
• Dynalist - https://dynalist.io/
• Bullet Journal Cheat Sheet
• www.makeuseof.com/tag/bullet-journal-cheat-sheet-quick-note-taking/
Accompany App
Accompany is a web and mobile app that allows you to be the first-to-know and
first-to-respond to relevant news about the most important people in your
network.
You will want to use that information to create interactions with your network
that are perceived as relevant, valuable, and meaningful.
Briefing of attendees - meeting prep, delegated. Anytime they detect someone
new in your calendar, you'll get an Executive Briefing delivered right to your
inbox while you sleep.
Photos and details - put a face to the name in one tap.
Always be in the know - news feeds custom built around your contacts and the
companies you care about.
(free for iOS)
iAuditor
• Build your own health and safety inspection forms
• Complete inspections on any device, even when you’re offline
• Send Instantly generated reports to management or
customers
• Price: Free; professional packages from $9 per month
upwards, include export features, permissions management,
analytics and unlimited data upload
Available on iOS and Android
Office Lens
Office Lens:
• trims, enhances and makes pictures of whiteboards
and documents readable
• can convert images to editable Word and PowerPoint
files
• Pictures can be saved to OneNote, OneDrive or other
cloud storage
• Allows storage and search keeping notes available
and secure
• Business Card mode can extract contact information
and save it into your address book and OneNote
Digitise your notes
Noted
• Record and playback - Seek to a key moment using #TimeTag, without
scrubbing through the whole audio. Noise reduction
• Intelligent playback - Using CoreML to understand the context of your
recording, Noted knows to skip unwanted noise to the next sequence of
speech. Cutting out spurs of silence, applauses
• Note taking - Rich text editor: complete with formatting tools and options.
Capture or import images as references
• Sync & sharing –
• Seamless and secure sync across multiple devices using iCloud;
• Export text in .txt format, share as an attachment
• Export audio in .m4a format, share via AirDrop & more
• Share your note with friends and colleagues
Bring together Notes and Audio
Team Meeting Timer
• No-fuss way to end meetings on time
• Click on timer and move decisions forward
• Helps to focus minds
• Set prompts and the time, and cast to a projector or TV so everyone can see
Price: Free
Available on Android and Web
Remarkable Tablet
• The reMarkable tablet (£549) is a lightweight, minimalist crossbreed
of an iPad and e-reader.
• It replicates the experience of using a pencil or pen paper, while
removing the inconvenience of actually lugging paper around
(whether that's a notebook, sketchbook, or book).
CRM
Customer relationship management is an approach to manage a company's
interaction with former, current and potential customers. It uses data analysis about
customers' history with a company to improve business relationships with customers,
specifically focusing on customer retention and ultimately driving sales growth.
CRM apps:
• Zoho
• Capsule
• Hubspot
• Agile
Inbox Zero
Delete or archive as many new messages as
possible.
Process email periodically throughout the day,
perhaps at 11am and 2pm?
Message allocation
Move new messages that require more than two
minutes to answer and messages that can be
answered later -- to a separate to do or
"requires response" folder.
a rigorous approach to email management aimed at keeping the inbox empty -- or almost
empty -- at all times.
https://zapier.com/home
https://todoist.com/
Zapier is an online automation tool that
connects your favorite apps, such as Gmail,
and Mailchimp. You can connect two or more
apps to automate repetitive tasks without
or relying on developers to build the
It's easy enough that anyone can build their
app workflows with just a few clicks.
https://clockify.me/timeboxing
Focus Keeper
Basic Focus Steps
It’s all about focusing your work efforts in timed
25-minute chunks, with a 5-minute break in
between each burst of activity. (Pomodoro
technique)
Choose a task to be done.
Set the timer for 25 minutes.
Focus on the task until the timer rings
Take a short break (just do something relaxing for
5 minutes)
Once you’ve completed 4 focus sessions, take a
longer break. (20~30 minutes)
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/focus-keeper-work-study-timer/id830466924?mt=8
OneNote
Microsoft offers versions of OneNote for
Windows, macOS, iOS and Android, and it's also
available as part of Office 365 and even as a
browser-based application. ... OneNote uses
OneDrive to sync all your notebooks on all of
your devices, and you need a Microsoft account
login to use OneDrive.
Digital Note taking with bells and whistles!
Can share and collaborate with others.
Teams
Teams is a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines
persistent workplace chat, video meetings, file storage (including collaboration on
files), and application integration. The service integrates with the Office
365 subscription office productivity suite and features extensions that can integrate
with non-Microsoft products.
Trello
Create boards to organise anything you’re working on
Use them solo, or invite your team to work together
Write your ideas down on Trello cards and arrange them in lists on
your boards.
Add details to your cards such as to-do checklists, comments, video,
and project details.
Price: Free; business and enterprise versions from $9.99 per user per
month include additional integration, larger file attachments and
enhanced security features
Trello describes its product as “a collaboration tool that organises
your projects into boards.
In one glance, Trello tells you what's being worked on, who's working
on what, and where something is in a process.”
Available on iOS, Android and Web
Instagram Apps
Repost is an essential tool for sharing user-generated content.
By doing so, you will show your customers that you appreciate them
and their opinion.
Repost is easy to use, all you need to do is click and share the content
you like while acknowledging the person who created it.
HootSuite
Manage your social media from one
location
Easily and efficiently schedule posts
Get the latest updates from hashtags
and trending subjects that you set
Price: Starts at £16 per month for a
Professional plan. Additional
features, users and number or
profiles on bigger plans
Available on iOS, Android and Web
Buffer
Buffer is a software application for the web and mobile, designed to
manage accounts in social networks, by providing the means for a
user to schedule posts to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Instagram
Stories, Pinterest, and LinkedIn, as well as analyse their results and
engage with their community.
Flipboard
- Curates stories relevant to your interest and displays them in magazine form
- Smart magazines can be set up how you want them
- Draws content from news sites, and also social media
Price: Free
Available on iOS, Android and Web
Canva
• Create stunning looking posters and graphics for PR and social media
• Easy to use interface, drag and drop and fully customisable
• Hundreds of premade templates and graphics
• Share designs via e-mail
• Price: Free, with some additional graphics and templates available á la carte
Available on iOS, Android and Web
LastPass
- Password manager
- Stores all passwords in a central “vault”
- Autofills your passwords from site to site when you want to log-in
- Can generate secure and valid passwords
- Price: Standard version is free; Premium version for $2 per month,
which includes encrypted file storage and priority customer support
Available on iOS, Android and Web
Wifi Sweet Spot
Observe how Wi-Fi connection speed fluctuates over time, and locate the fastest and slowest
Wi-Fi spots in your room.
Discover the perfect spot for your wireless router, access point, or wireless gaming console by
using Wi-Fi SweetSpots.
Available on iPhone with a simple, easy-to-use design.
‘Awakee’ Morning Routine Planner
• Background routine timer - It's able to work even while the app
is closed or another app is open. The timer will send you
notifications.
• Smart routine - Now creating your routine is as simple as
choosing positive habits you'd like to be doing and selecting a
time when you have to end the routine
• Set - Wake up, leave and bedtime reminders!
• Create multiple routines - You can create workout routines,
writing routines, focus routines, mindfulness routines, night
routines.
• Checklists - For every routine, you can also create a separate
checklist e.g. take running shoes, pack my gym bag.
Milk and More App
The Milk & More app makes it even easier
to start your day with some of Britain’s best
food and drink. Shop while on the go and
you’ll get free delivery to your doorstep by
7am.
Just like the website, the Milk & More app
allows you to place and alter orders up to
9pm the night before your next delivery
day. You can also pause your deliveries
whenever you like, making it easy to control
and keep track of your orders no matter
where you are.
Trip IT
• Organise trips in one place
• Add train tickets, hotel accommodation
• Cc from email to App
• Set reminders and actions
• Quickly make sense of all your travel plans and
create a single itinerary for every trip with TripIt.
Unlike other travel apps, TripIt can organise it no
matter where you book. As soon as you book a
flight, hotel, car or other reservation, simply
forward it to plans@tripit.com
• Share plans with others
Travel planner and organiser
BP Me & Go Shell
• Payment by phone
• Choose your pump
• Pay by card
• Choose payment method
• Nearest petrol station
Pay for petrol quickly through Phone Apps
All the parking Apps
- Download them all and prep them
- Pay for parking from your device – don’t have to display a ticket or require change
- Automatically lists nearby sites
- View favourite carparks via Google Maps
- Shows recent activity and receipts
• Price: App is free, parking fees vary by length and carpark. Other parking apps
available for other pay and display services.
Wi-Fi Finder
• A map of open and password protected wi-fi
hotspots and passwords
• Save hotspots for later use
• Community based mapping ensures maps up to
date
• 50000 cities worldwide currently mapped
• Price: Free
Available on iOS and Android
Expensify
- Fully automated processing - import directly from credit cards or
mobile phone scan
- Submit reports by e-mail
- Reimburse online with Quickbooks and direct deposit
- Price: Free; professional versions start at £3.99 per month and allow
more vehicles, users, web interface and fleet management
Available on iOS, Android and web
Capture everything, all your thoughts…
Internet Capture
Browsing the internet – read an article – save
All Chrome Extensions
Evernote
Google Keep
OneNote (via Clipper)
Screencastify
Snip and Sketch
Office Lens
https://evernote.com/
Screencastify – Chrome extension
https://www.screencastify.com/
More than 12 million
people use
Screencastify to
easily record, edit,
and share videos.
Office Lens, available
through app stores
Refill App
• Carry your reusable bottle, use the app
to find your fill for free and tap to
measure your impact.
• There are over 12,000 Refill Stations
across the UK and with our handy bottle
reminder you’ll never leave the house
without one again.
Stay hydrated, save money and help stop
plastic pollution.
• If all of the Refill stations are used just
ONCE a day they are stopping around 4
million plastic bottles at source in a year!
Fill up your reusable bottle anywhere