Successful time management: The best methods and tips

Time is money. But time is also relaxation. Only those who have their time management fully under control can effectively complete important tasks and have enough free time at the end of the day to recharge their batteries. Here you'll find the best methods and tips for better organizing your work and everyday life.

Effective time management at work

Organization is half the battle, and this also applies to organizing daily tasks in the office. Because if you structure your tasks well, you can complete them faster, with greater focus, and thus more effectively. Too much chaos in the workplace has a negative impact on brain performance. The more order and structure there is, the better you can focus. Even the brain couldn't perform all motor processes without a certain amount of time management, as Ricarda Schubotz discovered in her research [1]. Furthermore, it has a sense of time, which makes movements in three-dimensional space and structured, organized thinking possible in the first place. So help your brain and bring more structure into your everyday work routine.

Time management for managers: A meeting here, an appointment there, and in between, regular tasks need to be completed. Managers should set a good example for their employees and never let stress show. After all, if the boss is stressed and overwhelmed, this has a direct negative impact on employee productivity. The reality, however, is that managers often pay very little attention to their work-life balance, as the Kienbaum study of 500 German top managers revealed [2]. There is an urgent need for action here to organize working hours more efficiently and create space for relaxation . After all, a healthy, happy worker can perform better than a stressed one who develops health problems due to too much pressure.

Time management during a presentation: Often enough, you have to give a presentation, whether to land a new contract, present current results, or introduce a project. Time is usually limited for such an appointment, and brevity is the key. Therefore, it's advisable to run through the presentation in full in advance and, if possible, present it to someone else. This way, you can time yourself and see exactly if you're getting too carried away and where you need to be more concise. A well-planned presentation can ultimately be worth its weight in gold!

Time management in everyday life

Good time management is also beneficial in everyday life: The more structured your day, the more free time you can squeeze out of it. Real free time, in which your brain can switch off and you don't have to worry about anything because everything is already done. A study by Iowa State University [3] examined the importance of good time management in balancing work and family. It found that the test subjects prioritized their family life far above their work, but only with a good plan did they have enough time for it alongside their job.

Take-home message #1: Good time management makes work and everyday life easier and creates more space for relaxation, recreation, and family.

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Techniques and methods for time management

The goal of time management methods is to use time more effectively, thus creating a better work-life balance. If you're a workaholic, you should scale back your ambitions to constantly achieve more. The time you gain should truly serve as a time for relaxation and regeneration , not as a free slot for even more work. Time management is all about efficiency and effectiveness—that is, combining tasks correctly and completing the right tasks. Classic time management methods include:

Pareto Principle : This method was named after the Italian sociologist Vilfredo Federico Pareto. He discovered that 80 percent of results can be achieved in 20 percent of the time. This is why the Pareto Principle is also called the 80:20 rule. If the lion's share of 80 percent of the work can be completed in this 20 percent of the time, this means that only 20 percent of the tasks can be accomplished in the remaining 80 percent of the time. To maximize performance in this 20 percent of your time, you should set priorities:

Separate the important from the unimportant
Set clear goals
Learn to assess your own performance
Use your own strengths, ignore your weaknesses or turn them into strengths

ABC analysis : In ABC analysis, tasks are sorted according to importance in

A = very important: You must complete these tasks yourself.
B = important: You can also delegate these tasks to employees.
C = less important: These tasks are usually routine and filing tasks that consume a lot of time. Their low importance is disproportionate to the large amount of time they require.

For optimized time management, the working day should be divided as follows:

Plan only one or two A-tasks per day, which can be completed within three hours with concentration.
Two to three B tasks every day, which must take up an hour in total.
The C tasks should not take longer than 45 minutes to complete.

ALPEN Method In the ALPEN method, each letter represents a point of the time management technique:

Tasks that you want to complete and write down in your daily, weekly or monthly plan.
Length or duration that you plan to complete these tasks and note down after each one.
You should plan buffer times of about 40 percent of your daily working time for unforeseen activities.
You have to make decisions about the priority of your tasks.
Follow -up is important for efficient results.

SMART Method The SMART method primarily helps you define your goals precisely. It focuses on the following points:

Specific : The goals should be precisely defined.
M easurable: Measurable facts serve as orientation.
Attractive : Design the implementation in such a way that you enjoy it and have fun with it.
R ealistic: There's no point in setting unattainable goals. They have to be achievable.
Be on time: Set a time limit to achieve your goals.

Eisenhower Principle This system for better time management divides tasks into four areas, which are evaluated according to their importance and urgency:

Field 1 contains important and urgent matters, e.g. crises, problems, meetings, projects.
Field 2 contains important things that are not urgent, e.g. planning, project preparation, further training, but also relaxation and partnership.
Field 3 contains urgent but unimportant items, such as calls, mail, reports.
Field 4 contains everything that is neither important nor urgent, e.g., time-wasting activities, distractions, trivial matters. The most important field is the second, because only those who recognize the important things can effectively achieve success—this includes relaxation in their free time.

Finding Time Thieves Time thieves steal valuable working time and often sneak into your daily schedule. Find out why you sometimes waste time and get distracted. Nothing wrong with a pleasant chat with colleagues, but perhaps you meet too often or for too long for what seems like a quick chat. Try to switch off these moments that disrupt your concentration, or at least reduce them.

Make the most of your performance curve . Your personal biorhythm also determines your performance curve. Therefore, you should find out when you can work productively and when a mental slump is more likely to creep in. Most people are most productive in the morning; after a dip in performance in the afternoon, the curve rises again towards the evening before dropping rapidly. Observe your own performance curve over a few weeks: When are you most focused? When are you easily distracted? When do you get tired? Then you should organize your tasks to use your time more effectively.

Schedule a quiet hour. If you're constantly interrupted by the phone ringing, an email that needs to be answered, or a colleague with a question, you also need time to find your way back to concentration. Therefore, it's only sensible to schedule at least one quiet hour a day for completing important tasks, during which nothing and no one can disturb you. This allows you to fully focus on the important task and achieve success more quickly. You can always talk to your colleagues about the soccer scores afterward.

Take-home message #2: With these time management techniques, you can bring more structure to your daily schedule and use your time more effectively.

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12 tips to help you get a better grip on your time management

1. Make a to-do list or checklist, because good planning is half the battle.

2. Jot down creative ideas immediately : If you've just thought of something brilliant and don't immediately jot it down, you waste too much time constantly recalling the idea. You could use that brain power more effectively.

3. Set goals : A clear definition of goals (personal and professional) including a specified time by which the goals should be achieved brings structure to everyday life.

4. Set priorities : The most important tasks are completed first and with full concentration.

5. Divide large projects into smaller ones: If you can't see the forest for the trees, you'll quickly get lost. Therefore, large tasks should be divided into smaller units that can be completed gradually.

6. Make decisions : Sometimes decisions are unnecessarily delayed, resulting in even more work piling up. A well-considered but quick decision saves a lot of time, including for employees whose daily schedules also depend on it.

7. Say no : Perhaps you're one of those people who likes to please everyone and therefore prefers to burden themselves with too much stress rather than simply turning down a few tasks. However, you can learn to say no, especially to tasks that take up a lot of time and are disproportionate to their importance.

8. Lower your expectations : Perfectionists tend to spend more time on tasks than necessary because they want to do everything perfectly. This, of course, wastes valuable time. Sometimes, though, good is good enough; it doesn't always have to be a top-notch job.

9. Don't procrastinate, get it done right away : Some problems are easy to put off. This costs time and energy, because they won't disappear on their own. Therefore, it's better to tick off even unpleasant tasks right away. Then they're off the table and, above all, out of your mind, freeing up space for new ones.

10. Delegate tasks : If the workload is piling up, deadline pressure is putting you under additional stress, or you're so overwhelmed with projects that you don't know which one to start with, it can be helpful to delegate tasks. Sure, some things have to be done personally, but there are certainly plenty of tasks that someone else can handle. Sensible delegation can be a huge time saver.

11. Schedule rest periods : Your brain needs a break every now and then; this is completely normal and shouldn't be ignored. Only when your brain cells are allowed to switch off can you return to full cognitive performance.

12. Support brain performance : Your time management will be even more effective when your brain is perfectly prepared for periods of concentration and can then perform at its best. Adequate sleep and a healthy diet are essential. To specifically boost your cognitive skills, you can also take supplements with caffeine , gingko , ginseng , citicoline , or brahmi . They promote memory performance and increase concentration, allowing you to complete important tasks faster and more effectively. You can find selected products in our shop .

Take-home message #3: Time management can be implemented with simple means and reduce stress at the same time.

Episode 9 | The new principles of time management

Take your time management to a new level! How do you work more effectively and productively? What are the key ingredients for successful self-management? Why shouldn't we trust our memory? How do you ideally plan your day? Find answers to all these questions in an interview with Ivan Blatter, coach for productivity and new time management.