Time Management

Save time, be more productive, and focus on things that matter.

Time management leads to increased productivity, meeting deadlines, less stress and anxiety, more free time, improved quality of life, increased energy, and achieved goals.

Getting Started

Clear the clutter, your workspace

• Do you have what you need? Gather all the tools you’ll need while
  completing assignments; notebooks, text, pen, water, post its, syllabus.
• Is it messy? Plan 1 day a week to tidy it up.
• Is it in a space free of distractions? Maybe your best workspace is outside of your home.

How are you spending your day?

• Managing your time starts by knowing how you spend your time right now.
• Start by tracking your daily activities to see how you are spending your days and where you are wasting time. Try jotting this down for a week.
• What time of day are you most productive? That’s when you should do your most important tasks.

Be Mindful

• Take time each day for yourself.
• Set an intentional plan for each day.
• Build in breaks.
• Turn off distractions – turn off email, text and social media notification alerts during your planned work time.

Planning

• Use the Tools: Plan/Prepare/Prioritize.
• To Do List/Planner/Calendar.
• Protect your time/Stick to the plan/Say “No”.

Inside the mind of a master procrastinator – Tim Urban [13:56]

The To Do List

A to-do list is a fundamental tool for getting things done: it helps you plan your day, see what you’ve accomplished, and what you should work on next, but a badly written to-do list can actually sabotage your productivity instead of boost it (Fast Company).

View these Videos to get started:

• Work Smart: How to Write a To-Do List [02:27]
• To-Do Lists [02:07]

Projects, Goals and Tasks

• To Do Lists are a list of tasks, small doable tasks.
• Projects are big undertakings that you complete through many tasks. For example, a 50 page paper is the project and the tasks could include brainstorm five ideas for the paper, find 3 articles.
• Goals are something you want to achieve, for example, learning a new language. You reach a goal through tasks and repetitive actions.

The List

• The To Do List is tasks only – break your project or goal into tasks.
• Prioritize the tasks from most important to least important, most urgent to not urgent.
• Plan your time, estimate how much time you will spend on each task.
• The list is fluid; review it each day and each week and re-prioritize as needed.
• Calendar – use a calendar to schedule classes, appointments, meetings, and time for TASKS
• Remember to schedule breaks.
• Turn off Notifications – plan your time to check email, texts or social for example at 9, 12 and 4.
• Check off those tasks.

Helpful Articles for To Do Lists:

• Why To-Do Lists Don’t Work (And How to Change That)
• To-Do Lists: The Key to Efficiency
• The Four Basic Time Management Tools You Need

One Thing at a Time

Increase your productivity and quiet your brain.

• Monotasking = Single-tasking.
• Multitasking turns your brain to mush. Monotasking gets results sooner.
• Focus on one task at a time. Our brains quiet down when we focus on one thing at
  a time.
• Minimize interruptions until the task is done. Set a timer for 15 minutes. When it goes off, if you find yourself not focusing on the task at hand, the timer will help you stop and return to it.

Helpful Articles:

• Want To Be More Productive? Stop Multi-Tasking
• The Art of Monotasking vs. Multitasking

Getting Focused

Need a break? Distracted?

Mindfulness is awareness of one’s experience without judgment. Like any skill, becoming more mindful takes practice.

“Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up.” – Brene Brown

Five Senses

Use this exercise to quickly ground yourself in the present when you only have a moment.

The goal is to notice something that you are currently experiencing through each of your senses.

• What are 5 things you can see? Look around you and notice 5 things you hadn’t noticed before. Maybe a pattern on a wall, light reflecting from a surface, or a knick-knack in the corner of a room.
• What are 4 things you can feel? Maybe you can feel the pressure of your feet on the floor, your shirt resting on your shoulders, or the temperature on your skin. Pick up an object and notice its texture.
• What are 3 things you can hear? Notice all the background sounds you had been filtering out, such as the air-conditioning, birds chirping, or cars on a distant street.
• What are 2 things you can smell? Maybe you can smell flowers, coffee, or freshly cut grass. It doesn’t have to be a nice smell either: maybe there’s an overflowing trash can or sewer.
• What is 1 thing you can taste? Pop a piece of gum in your mouth, sip a drink, eat a snack if you have one, or simply notice how your mouth tastes. “Taste” the air to see how it feels on your tongue.

Get the App

Top time management apps:

• Evernote
• Focus Booster
• 30/30
• Remember The Milk
• Any.do
• Listastic
• Finish
• 2Do
• EpicWin
• Coach.me
• Prezi
• Super Notes
• Mind 42
• Google Keep

Best planner apps:

• Wunderlist
• Trello
• Todoist
• Google Calendar
• Microsoft Outlook