The end of summer is in sight. It’s a great time to approach your work differently. No more stress, rushing, and overtime. But how do you make sure that you keep this promise to yourself? In this article, you will find 9 proven time management techniques that help you to focus and manage your time smarter so that you have more peace of mind from now on.

Time management techniques that work.

We are confronted with tasks, obligations, and distractions throughout the day. Dealing with your time wisely is, therefore, very important—not only to feel good but also to work pleasantly and well. Various time management techniques have been developed for this. They help you spend your time as well as possible and increase your productivity. We explain 9 popular time management techniques to you.

Time Management Technique 1: Pomodoro

This is one of the most effective time management techniques out there. The idea is that you divide your work into short, focused sessions of 25 minutes each. Then you take a 5-minute break each time. Even if you are in the middle of a sentence, you stop working. Because by keeping to the timer, you train your discipline. This way, you are less afraid of a task. And you give your brain a rest by getting a cup of coffee or taking a walk. Not by picking up your phone, because that is a distraction. You repeat these steps 3 times. Then you take a long break of 15-30 minutes and continue with your task. Once it is done, you can start a new task.

Time management technique 2: Eisenhower matrix

This helps you to divide and organize everything that comes your way. Handy if you are in a stressful period. This schedule asks you 2 questions:

1. How important is the task?

2. How urgent is the task? This makes you think about how urgent the task is.

Then you can place the task in one of the 4 boxes of the matrix: do, plan, delegate, or eliminate.

• Do (important and urgent)
• This box is for urgent problems, i.e. those that are in a hurry, or projects with a hard deadline. For example, you have to call a customer because you can’t come by tomorrow.  
• Planning (important and not urgent)
• This includes tasks such as preparing an appointment or presentation. Ask yourself: if I don’t do this, will it get me into trouble in the long run? If the answer is yes, then the task belongs in this box. Because the task is important, but you don’t have to tackle it right away. It is smart to plan these tasks well and spend enough time on them. This way you prevent them from becoming urgent tasks.
• Delegate (not important and urgent)
• These are questions that you get, but that others can also answer. You can quickly do small tasks yourself. You can better give large tasks to someone else.
• Eliminate (not important and not urgent)
• Such as catching up with a colleague after your vacation. If you want to achieve your goals, it is a waste to spend time on this when you are busy. Better plan it for another time.

Time management technique 3: Pickle jar method

This helps you to prioritize and ensures that you make more conscious choices. This method uses a jar of pickles as a metaphor. This represents a 24-hour day. The pickles in it represent the big tasks that you have to do in a day. For example, having a job interview. The seeds of pickles are other tasks that also have to be done, but that do not require all of your attention, such as checking your e-mail. The juice in the jar of pickles represents the tasks that you can skip if you get too busy. A coffee moment with your colleague, for example. That is a nice addition to your day, but you can also do it at another time.

Time Management Technique 4: Time Blocking

With this time management technique, you organize your day, week, or even month with separate time blocks. Each block in your agenda corresponds to a specific appointment, tas,k, or group of tasks. You plan everything: checking e-mail, meetings, sports, picking up children. You even put your breaks in a separate time block. The big advantage is that you only have to look at your planning in 1 place. Handy, because you complete tasks on time more often. You quickly learn to estimate how much time something takes. And you know exactly how much time you have left for other appointments and tasks.

Time Management Technique 5: Warren Buffet’s 5/25 Rule

This rule helps you focus and prioritize. Here’s how to do it: write down the top 25 things you want to do or achieve in the future. You can do it on paper or digitally. Look at your list and circle the 5 most important ones. Now you have 2 lists. List A and B. You’re going to focus on list A. The list with the circled goals. Anything you haven’t circled won’t get any attention until you’ve achieved the circled goals.

Time Management Technique 6: Swallow the Frog

Dreading tasks you don’t feel like doing all day long. Sound familiar? With the ‘swallow the frog’ technique, you swallow a nasty frog in the morning, and you can work productively for the rest of your day. The idea behind this technique is that you start with the worst task. This gives you the strength to continue. Because everything that comes after that nasty frog tastes really good. It works like this. Make a list of all the tasks you want to complete that day in a maximum of 10 minutes. Then set your priorities. Give tasks that have to be completed today an A label. Tasks that are important to do, but not necessarily urgent, get a B label. And so on. Give all tasks an A, B, C, or D priority. Then you pick the most annoying A task. You swallow that first in the morning. Just do it.

Time management technique 7: 3-3-3 method

Another method to manage your time effectively is the 3-3-3 method. This time management technique works like this.

• Every day you spend 3 hours on your most important task.
• And complete the 3 tasks that you have been putting off until now.
• Finally, complete 3 tasks before they become urgent and cause you stress.

Time management technique 8: ABCDE method

A nice method if you have a lot to do and are starting to lose track. Start by making a comprehensive to-do list. Write down everything you need to do, including small tasks and tasks that have nothing to do with work. Then label each task with a letter from the ABCDE method.

• A-tasks: are the most important, such as project deadlines and important meetings.
• B-tasks: are important but not immediately urgent, such as preparing a presentation that you have in two weeks or updating your resume.
• C-tasks: are useful, but do not have immediate consequences. Such as reading an interesting blog or cleaning your computer.
• D-tasks: you can delegate to work more efficiently. Like showing a new colleague around.
• E-tasks: are not necessary and can be left out. Such as vacuuming or booking flights for your holiday. This is better done after work.

Once you’ve labeled all your tasks, you can get started. It can be tempting to tackle the easier C tasks first, but this is a trap. Focus on the A tasks first. Then move on to the B tasks, and so on. By working this way, you’re always working on the tasks that have the greatest impact on your goals. And you’re spending your time and energy on what matters. The C, D, and E tasks can wait. And you can often just leave E tasks out of your work time.

Time Management Technique 9: 80/20 Rule

It is a term that is often heard, the 80/20 rule. And it is used in different ways. For example: 80% of readers only visit 20% of blogs. But also: 80% of the result is achieved with 20% of the input. If you apply the 80/20 rule to your work, you will often find that you spend most of your working day on tasks such as answering e-mails or attending meetings. They take a lot of time but yield little results. Do you want to do it differently? Ask yourself these questions:

• Which task yields the greatest results? (80%)
• Which task takes the most time and energy? (20%)

Sounds great, but in practice, it can be a challenge. Because certain tasks, no matter how small or simple they may be, simply have to be done. But how do you prevent yourself from spending all your time and attention on them? We can help you. With these steps, you can achieve 80% of the result with 20% of your time and energy:

• Only concern yourself with important things. For this, you look at the tasks that belong to your core function. For one, this could be maintaining the website, because that is where the customers come in. For another, it could be important to have sales conversations.
• Assign tasks that you don’t necessarily need to do to someone else. Think about making a monthly time sheet. It’s important, but you don’t have to do it yourself.
• Eliminate everything that is not worth your time and attention. While attending a stand-up comedy show every day or posting something on social media is fun, you quickly spend two hours a week on it—a waste. Therefore, consider whether each task is necessary.

If you use the 80/20 rule often, at work and in your personal life, you will be much more productive. You will get more done, and you will be more satisfied at the end of your work week—exactly what you want.