In a survey conducted by Statista, a whole 42% of respondents admitted that their poor time management was one of the leading obstacles preventing them from achieving their goals.

Having bad time management habits puts you at risk of procrastinating a lot more, getting burnt out, and giving yourself stress and anxiety, amongst many other consequences. Of course, this would be why you would be actively searching for time management techniques that actually work and are not just a bunch of baloney. In this article, I will be exploring 5 time management techniques that actually work.

You might also want to read about the 10 productivity hacks I know actually work

5 time management techniques that work

1. The Pomodoro technique

This technique involves working for a 25-minute period and then taking a 5-minute break. This is expected to go on for 4 intervals and then after the 4th time, you go ahead to take a longer break, say between a 15-30 minute break.

This technique helps you to maintain your concentration and helps you avoid getting burnt out. In a study published in the International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, researchers found that the Pomodoro technique significantly improved the quality of work and overall productivity of software developers. The study revealed more specifically, that the developers who used the technique completed more tasks, and reported less mental fatigue compared to those that didn’t use the technique.

2. The Eat-the-frog technique

Imagine eating a frog. Exactly.

In a study conducted by the University of Texas, at Austin, it was found that people who used the eat-the-frog technique for their time management were more satisfied with their work-life balance than those who didn’t. This time management technique involves tackling your most difficult task first thing in the morning. The idea of this is that if you do the most unpleasant or difficult thing first thing, you get the worst thing out of the way and focus on the rest of your tasks for the rest of the day. Here’s a breakdown of how it works; Say it’s a Sunday, make a list of all the things you have to do on Monday Identify the most difficult, most unpleasant of them, and that will be your frog Wake up the next morning and eat that frog (get the task done) then go on with your day.

This time management technique helps you get more done in less time, fight procrastination, and even improve your mood.

3. Time batching

David Allen, in his book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity, talked about how with time batching, you get more into a rhythm and get more results in less time. This time management technique involves grouping similar tasks and working on them in the same time period. For example, if as a social media manager and you have to create a series of reports for both social media posts and reply to some important emails, you can decide to group these tasks by their type into different blocks of time during the day. So you’d have a specific time for your report tasks and another time for you to reply to and send out emails. The time batching technique helps you build your focus, make sure no tasks slip through the cracks, and reduce the overwhelming feeling you get when you have a lot to do.

4. Eisenhower matrix

Named after the 34th president of the United States and five-star general of the U.S. Army, Dwight D. Eisenhower, this technique involves breaking down your tasks into a quadrant; 4 categories, like this;

Urgent and Important : These are the tasks that need to be done right away. They are usually the most time-sensitive and have the biggest impact.

Not Urgent but Important : These are the tasks that don't need to be done right away, but they are still important. They may not have a big impact right away, but they can have a big impact in the long run.

Urgent but Not Important : These are the tasks that are not important, but they seem like they are because they are time-sensitive. They can often be delegated or eliminated.

Not Urgent and Not Important : These are the tasks that are neither important nor time-sensitive. They can usually be eliminated or delegated.

The tasks in the top left quadrant (Urgent and Important) should be your top priority. These are the tasks that will have the greatest impact on your goals. Tasks in the bottom right quadrant (Not Urgent and Not Important) can usually be eliminated or delegated. The tasks in the top right quadrant (Urgent but Not Important) should be delegated or eliminated. These aren't important tasks, but they appear to be because they are time-sensitive. The tasks in the bottom left quadrant (Not Urgent but Important) should be scheduled for a time when you will be able to devote your full attention to them.

5. Single-tasking

Steven Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly effective people, testified to the effectiveness of single-tasking as a time management technique, highlighting how he noticed people are more prone to making mistakes when they try to multitask. Also, a study conducted at Stanford University found that individuals who multitasked had more trouble organizing their thoughts, filtering out irrelevant information, paying attention, and, surprisingly, switching between tasks compared to those who focused on a single task at a time. When you focus on one task at a time, you get more work done in way less time, and you are overall, more productive.

Wrapping up

One other way to build your time management skills is by incorporating a good, thorough, and easy-to-use project management tool that lightens your workload. When you’re not so scared of how much you need to do, it can inspire you to actually invest in your time management skills and better your productivity. Drogo is an example of a project management tool with your best interests at heart. Give us a shot and see for yourself.