How do you manage your time? ⏱️
Lior Galante Cohen (Vaza)
35 replies
Time management is, in my opinion, one of the biggest challenges, both personally and professionally. What strategies, tools, or tricks have you picked up along the way that proved to be effective?
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Maxwell Davis@maxwellcdavis
I'm going to go against the usual grain here and say that I usually work on the things that I want to work on. That way I'm motivated and my performance improves. Eventually I get around to the things I need to do but it makes for a much happier me rather than working to a set schedule/work package...
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@maxwellcdavis what are you launching "soonish"? That is by far my favorite tagline I have read on Product Hunt 😂
@dawn_veltri1 Well I do try to be original 😁 Launching a Twitch Extension to make streams more interactive - still quite a bit of coding to do though!
@maxwellcdavis I'll be looking for the launch. I have two boys that spend quite a bit of time on Twitch.
Sales Sparrow by True Sparrow
I find the Pomodoro technique very helpful. It is a simple and effective way to work for a short, focused duration. At the end of the timer, I walk around the house before jumping onto the next thing.
Be Focussed Pro is a good MacOS app for this purpose.
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Ah! this is a tough one. I guess it all starts with identifying your goals and key priorities. But once you have done that, few techniques that I used
1. Time Blocking - Dedicated time blocks on calendar to do specific activities. I ensure that I have enough time blocked for deep work
2. Color coding - This helps me understand where am I spending my time and minimize context switches between different kind of activities
3. Batching similar tasks - For instance, set aside one day for just interviews and hiring related acitivities.
4. Running calendar audits once every few months to understand how well aligned is my schedule with my priorities.
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@archisman_das These are some fantastic strategies, I'm already doing similar things to (1) and (2) but haven't thought about (3) & (4). Thanks for sharing!
@archisman_das @lior_galante_cohen I also do 1, 2, and 3. Batching is particularly helpful for work that requires a lot of creativity and flow. Calendar audits would probably be super beneficial but I haven't made it that far yet.
Tolstoy
@archisman_das @lior_galante_cohen @dawn_veltri1 I’ve never tried batching but will definitely think about it, although do you ever feel yourself burning out on the similar tasks?
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@nimrod_popper - I think it is human to get tired of doing the same thing again and again at times. So probably there is a balance between minimising context switches and preventing boredom from redundant work
AtomPay
This has been a struggle for me, but one of the biggest things that has helped me is Notion. I've been a sort of "to do" task management that has an embedded Pomodoro Time Tracker. I have statuses for completion state and use emojis to track how heavy of a time lift the project will be. At the end of the week, it allows me to get a clearer picture of where I've been spending my time!
Hey Lior! Similar to what has been said, but to-do lists have always been my primary life saver. I make it as entertaining as possible for me to cross items off the list, and try to highlight my top need to get done activity. But it's always a work in progress :)
Tolstoy
@keren_brickman could be interesting to see whether physical or digital to-do lists make a difference for you. Do you mostly use your notes app or an actual notebook?
TMetric Time Tracker
I use tmetric.com to track my time at work, thanks to the app I have a flexible schedule and can control how many hours I work a day to avoid overtime. Also, I like the eat the frog for breakfast time management technique, meaning I deal with the unwanted and complicated tasks in the morning to have an easier rest of the day ahead of me.
I tried apps but they didn't work with me. What worked best was having a simple handwritten to-do list and a highlight of the day. Every day, I note down the one thing that I NEED to get done and is my top priority and that's the only thing I'll put on my calendar. And then I write down other things I need to get done. I've realized that putting too much on my calendar makes me unproductive as I'm confused about what to start with. So I add as I go throughout the day and cross out what's done.
Tolstoy
Personally i try to do the things i like everyday like going to the gym and hanging out.
Professionally i try to do everything during the day so it won't be on my personal life too.
The best way i think is to give yourself a limit for finishing your work enough so it won't affect your personal life.
I'm still trying to get better at it haha 😅
I think the most important thing is to prioritize your tasks. I wouldn't have noticed if @Archisman Dan hadn't brought up this topic - grouping similar tasks is very helpful! I also don't part with my calendar, I like to keep everything under control.
Also, a really cool tool for managing business projects or just everyday stuff is Firmbee. You can do basically anything in it to help you improve your efficiency, manage your tasks properly and avoid chaos.
Batching and time blocking are the key components to make the most of the time you have. Pretty much all the time management things fall under or around it
According to the rules of Time Management matrix, I divide my tasks into:
- important
- not important
- urgent
- not urgent
It helps mi prioritize and plan them with Firmbee - a tool for project and time management. I use it for professional and private purposes :)
Well, thats a good one. First of all, after identifying our goals we start to manage our time day by day. We make a full list of the things that are most urgent from all and we are trying to follow the list, all together.
We are mostly working in teams to affect a work block. Thats very helpful and I can see that people are more self confident at work.
We cant forget about rest! Rest is sooo important, our brain can switch off for a while and safe more energy for later.
If talking about work I can say that I split big tasks into smaller ones and solve problems step by step. That helps me to get motivated and not get tired of hard tasks.
Planning and organizing is everything. The approach that works for me is to set monthly, weekly and daily goals. I try to stick to them and check/complete each one. Of course, sometimes unexpected situations come up, and you have to react at the moment. This is also good because you have to solve some problems quickly and improvise.
People may use any software for time management, but the most important factor is the self-discipline.