How to master time management (6 Powerful Techniques)

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On to today’s post!

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler

Why it works

Jim Benson (pictured above) is an American entrepreneur and author. Along with Tonianne DeMaria, he played a crucial role in adapting and popularizing the Kanban Board technique for knowledge work. Their Personal Kanban method originated from the system developed by Toyota engineer Taiichi Ohno in the 1940s. Ohno created Kanban as part of Toyota's lean manufacturing system to improve efficiency through visualizing and managing workflow.

In their 2011 book Personal Kanban: Mapping Work | Navigating Life, Benson and DeMaria position the Kanban Board as a technique for time management in knowledge work. They made it more accessible to individuals and teams by demonstrating how visualizing tasks and setting work-in-progress limits can be applied in software development, project management, and other knowledge work domains.

However, there’s a problem with so-called time management techniques: if you think about it, managing your time is impossible. You can only manage yourself. Here’s how to use the Kanban Board – and 5 other powerful techniques – to do just that.

How to do it

1) Kanban Board
Benson and DeMaria’s powerful technique for workflow management essentially lets you see all tasks clearly, limit work in progress, track completion, and adjust as needed. To put it to work, create a Personal Kanban board with sticky notes for your projects (the most popular digital versions are Trello and Jira). As you finish, say, a report, you move it to the "Done" column, keeping your focus on a manageable workload. Learn more about the technique here.

2) Eisenhower Matrix
Use this classic technique to prioritize effectively – by sorting tasks by urgency and importance. Created by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower and popularized in Stephen Covey’s book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, the Eisenhower Matrix has clearly stood the test of time. It’s arguably the best tool for determining what’s urgent, important, both or neither. Learn more about the Eisenhower Matrix in this article.

3) The 80/20 Rule
Also known as the Pareto Principle, this technique offers a great way to maximize results with minimal effort. It holds that 20% of your work creates 80% of your impact. Similarly, 80% of revenue usually comes from 20% of clients. Thus, focus on what moves the needle, drop or delegate the rest, and check regularly if the balance has shifted. You can also use the 80/20 rule in other professional and personal domains. Here are ten ways to get you started.

4) The Pomodoro Technique
Work in intervals and take regular breaks to tackle procrastination. Choose a task, set a timer for 25 minutes, and pause for 5 minutes. After doing this four times, take a longer break for 15 to 30 minutes. While Francesco Cirillo’s technique is helpful for shorter tasks, it’s far from ideal for challenging deep work that requires extended focus. That’s why, for longer focus intervals, I use an altered version of that method called Pomodoro 2.0. Learn more about it here.

5) The SMART Goals Framework
George T. Doran's technique allows you to set goals that are specific (i.e., crystal clear), measurable (i.e., track progress), achievable (i.e., within reach), relevant (i.e., align with the bigger picture), and time-bound (i.e., have a deadline). If your goal is to improve productivity in a given project, say, setting a SMART goal would read: “Reduce project delivery time by 15% over the next 3 months.” If you want to delve deeper into the framework, check out this article.

6) Warren Buffett 25/5 Rule
Use it to avoid distractions and narrow your focus on what truly matters. First, list your top 25 goals, listing everything you want to achieve. Second, circle the top 5 – the most important ones. Third, ignore the rest – and treat the remaining 20 as distractions until you reach the top 5. It’s a brutally effective way to set goals for the upcoming year: write down 25 professional and personal goals. Then, choose five that will make the biggest impact. Lastly, commit to pursuing those with all that you’ve got – and say “no” to the rest.

Pick one technique. 

Start today. And master it.

Your future self will thank you.

And please share this post with one person who might benefit from doing the same.

Until next week,
Christian

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