Time management tips: twelve simple ones to try

Time management tips that work in real life

Work down the list in order, or jump to the one that fits your problem today. The how to say no guide goes with tip 11.

1. 1Plan the week before the day. Ten minutes on Sunday evening or Monday morning shows you what the week holds, so each day starts with a plan instead of a blank.
2. 2Write down the fixed things first. Appointments, school runs, meetings and deadlines go in before anything flexible. What is left is the time you really have.
3. 3Choose your top three. Each day, pick the three things that matter most. If only those get done, the day still counts.
4. 4Time-block your top three. Give each one a start time and a length, instead of leaving them on a list. A task with a time attached is harder to drift past.
5. 5Leave buffers. Plans tend to run long. In a 1994 paper, Buehler, Griffin and Ross found that people's predicted times were too optimistic across a range of tasks, partly because they pictured the plan going smoothly instead of remembering similar past tasks. In one of their studies, the bias disappeared when people were asked to link their guess to past experience. So look at how long it took last time, and leave empty time between things.
6. 6Batch small tasks. Group emails, calls, forms and errands into one slot instead of dotting them through the day.
7. 7Sort urgent from important. Ask of each task: does it need doing soon, and does it matter? Do the important things before they become urgent, and let go of what is neither.
8. 8Decide when and where. 'I will write the report' is vague. 'If it is 9am and I have made my coffee, then I open the report at my desk' is a plan. A 2006 review by Gollwitzer and Sheeran pooled 94 independent tests and found that these if-then plans made a medium-to-large difference to reaching goals, across many kinds of goal.
9. 9Do one thing at a time. Close the extra tabs, put the phone out of reach, and finish one task before opening the next.
10. 10Protect one focus block. Pick a stretch of the day, even 45 minutes, when you do your top task with notifications off. Tell people when you are back.
11. 11Say no, or not yet. Every yes uses time you then do not have. A short, kind answer such as 'I cannot this week' keeps your plan intact (the guide on how to say no has wording to borrow).
12. 12Review weekly. At the end of the week, note what got done, what moved and what to change. Then plan the next one.

The urgent-versus-important sort in tip 7 is the idea behind the Eisenhower matrix template, which lays your tasks out in four boxes. The rest of this list is practical advice that has not been tested as a set.

The weekly planner puts tips 1 to 5 and 12 on one page: your priorities, the fixed things, a buffer and a look back.

Time management for students, at work and at home

For students:

• Put every deadline in one place on the first day of term, then work backwards to set your own earlier dates.
• Block your study hours like lessons, with a time, a place and a start task.
• Start with the task you are most likely to put off, while your energy is fresh.
• Leave a buffer before deadlines for the thing that always takes longer than planned.

At work:

• Choose your top three before you open your inbox.
• Check messages at set times, not all day.
• Block a focus hour and mark yourself as busy.
• Ask what is most important when two requests clash, and say what you will move.

At home:

• Keep one shared calendar for the household, and look at it together once a week.
• Batch chores into one slot, such as laundry, bins and shopping on the same morning.
• Plan meals for the week in one go.
• Protect real rest on the plan, the same way you protect appointments.

When time management isn't the problem

Sometimes a better system does not help, because the problem is not the system. Three things to look at:

• Too much on your plate. If the fixed things already fill the week, no tip will fit more in. The answer is to take something off, ask for help or say no.
• Unclear priorities. If you cannot say what matters most, planning feels like shuffling. Spend ten minutes writing what you want from the next month before you plan the week.
• Putting things off. If you know what to do and keep not starting, the cause is often a feeling about the task, not the clock. The guide on how to stop procrastinating is the place to start.

If you are tired all the time, dreading work or feeling you have nothing left, that is a different question from planning. The signs of burnout guide can help you look at it.

When to get more support

This is a self-help tool, not therapy or medical advice. If you are overwhelmed, cannot concentrate for weeks, or your sleep, mood or health is suffering, see your GP. They can talk it through with you and point you to proper support.

If you ever feel unsafe or have thoughts of harming yourself, call Samaritans on 116 123 (UK and Ireland), 988 (US), or find a line at findahelpline.com.