How To Get Things Done
Practices for efficient time management
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Do you ever feel like time flies by, and you can’t get all your ideas done?
Time is more valuable than money. Because while you can recover lost money, lost time is lost forever. Time is a scarce commodity, and none of us knows how much of it is still available.
“Lost time is never found again.” (Benjamin Franklin)
The goal should be not to lose time. Through good time management, you gain control over your life. In addition, by skillfully using your time, you can significantly optimize your productivity and results.
“The key is not spending time, but investing it.” (Stephen R. Covey)
Reflect on your use of time
If you want to improve your time management, the first step is to clarify how you deal with time. Ask yourself the following questions and write down the answers:
- How good is your time management? What do you like and what don’t you like about your time management?
- Do you feel you are in charge of how you spend your time or do you feel that other people or circumstances control your time?
- What would you like to do if you had more time? What are the things that you have been putting off for some time?
- What would it be if you could change anything about using your time from now on?
Now you know what is going wrong with your time management and what you would like to improve. Below you will find three practices that will help you do that.
Three practices for better time management
1. Plan in sprints
Please write down your activities and schedule them for not more than two weeks. One-week sprints (time-boxes) are a perfect start.
Use a calendar, a whiteboard on the wall, or an online tool like Trello.
Update the status of your activities by using different columns for status (open, in progress, done) or labels (e.g., a yellow dot for in progress, a green tick for done. At the end of a sprint, evaluate the result and consider what you can improve.
