{"id":81842,"date":"2021-09-29T18:35:59","date_gmt":"2021-09-29T18:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monday.com\/blog\/?p=81842"},"modified":"2024-10-06T08:21:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-06T08:21:38","slug":"these-5-time-management-systems-will-help-you-get-more-work-done-more-efficiently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monday.com\/blog\/project-management\/these-5-time-management-systems-will-help-you-get-more-work-done-more-efficiently\/","title":{"rendered":"These 5+ time management systems will help you get more work done more efficiently"},"content":{"rendered":"

60 minutes in an hour.
\n24 hours in a day.
\n7 days in a week.
\n52 weeks in a year.<\/p>\n

All of the above are facts about time.<\/p>\n

Another fact: We all have the same amount of time, regardless of what industry you work in, what job you have, how much money you make, and so on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Time is finite.<\/p>\n

And yet some of us get more (stuff) done, while others seem always to have overflowing plates.<\/p>\n

Sure, you may be taking on too much work, but more than likely, you don\u2019t get as much work completed because you struggle with managing the time in your day.<\/p>\n

Get this: According to this UK study<\/a>, the average office worker is productive for less than 3 hours per day.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yikes.<\/p>\n

Checking social media, reading news websites, discussing out-of-work activities with colleagues, making hot drinks … and even searching for new jobs make up the other 5+ hours of the average workday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s time to refocus and learn how to manage our days better.<\/p>\n

The best way to accomplish this? Time management systems.<\/p>\n

Time management systems help individuals prioritize tasks and reclaim some of those working hours.<\/p>\n

In this article, we\u2019ll review some of the most popular time management systems, including the Eisenhower Framework, GTD, Time Tracking, Time Blocking, and the Pomodoro Technique … and share how monday.com can help keep track of it all!<\/p>\n

Time Management System #1: The Eisenhower Framework<\/h2>\n

President Dwight D. Eisenhower is quoted as saying, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later, author Stephen Covey helped popularize the quote into a time management framework in his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Eisenhower Framework \u2014 sometimes called the \u200b\u200bEisenhower Decision Principle or The Eisenhower Method \u2014 is a model that helps prioritize tasks by filtering out what\u2019s urgent and essential from those that are, well … not.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The framework divides tasks into 4 quadrants, each with a different work strategy:<\/p>\n

\"Creating<\/p>\n

Image source<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Quadrant 1 (\u201cDO\u201d): Urgent, important<\/strong>: These are tasks that must get done … or else. They are typically done immediately and personally (as in, NOT delegated to another team member). Tasks in this quadrant are often called \u201cfire fighting\u201d jobs or \u201cdrop everything you\u2019re doing\u201d urgent and important moments.<\/p>\n

Q1 is sometimes called the Quadrant of Necessity.<\/p>\n

Quadrant 2 (\u201cDECIDE\u201d): Important, not urgent<\/strong>: This quadrant is where you should spend the majority of your time … but most people do not!<\/p>\n

Items in this quadrant generally require large blocks of uninterrupted time to get into a flow state and truly focus. If possible, put these tasks on a calendar and schedule them for future dates\/times.<\/p>\n

Q2 is sometimes called the Quadrant of Quality.<\/p>\n

Quadrant 3 (\u201cDELEGATE\u201d): Urgent, not important:<\/strong> Tasks in this quadrant are often distractions. They should be (a) delegated or (b) automated or (c) both. We often spend time in this quadrant helping others meet their goals.<\/p>\n

If possible, try to spend as little time as possible here. Most tasks that live in this quadrant are counterproductive … not contributing to the larger goal.<\/p>\n

Q3 is sometimes called the Quadrant of Deception.<\/p>\n

Quadrant 4 (\u201cDELETE\u201d): Not urgent, not important:<\/strong> In an ideal world, you would spend zero of your time here. Not urgent. Not important. Don\u2019t do!<\/p>\n

That being said, we are all human. Trivial, \u201cbusy work\u201d falls into this category, as does checking social media (for non-work-related reasons) and other unimportant items.<\/p>\n

Q4 is sometimes called the Quadrant of Waste.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, monday.com has an Eisenhower Matrix template<\/a> to get you started!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Eisenhower matrix template provides a way to record your tasks and prioritize them based on their urgency and importance. Then, you can decide whether or not to do the job yourself and to do it immediately, delegate the task to someone else, schedule the item for a specific time in the future or eliminate the task.<\/p>\n

Read more about the Eisenhower Matrix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Test now<\/a><\/p>\n

Time Management System #2: GTD<\/h2>\n

GTD (or \u201cGet Things Done\u201d) is a time management method that helps focus attention on taking action rather than recalling tasks.<\/p>\n

In 2001, author David Allen published a book titled, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity<\/em>. His accompanying website<\/a> outlines the 5 steps of GTD:<\/p>\n

Step #1: Capture:<\/em> Collect what has your attention
\nStep #2: Clarify:<\/em> Process what it means
\nStep #3: Organize:<\/em> Put it where it belongs
\nStep #4: Reflect<\/em>: Review frequently
\nStep #5: Engage:<\/em> Simply do<\/p>\n

We go into a lot more detail in \u201cHow to GTD with monday.com<\/a>,\u201d but to get started, we recommend creating a \u201cBucket List\u201d board, like the one here:<\/p>\n

\"Bucket<\/p>\n

Remember: Step #1 is \u201ccapture\u201d \u2014 the time to collect what has your attention. On this board, drop in all of your ideas and thoughts as items. We recommend creating 3 status columns.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Clarify: Is this task actionable or not?<\/li>\n
  2. Perspective: Is the goal short or long-term?<\/li>\n
  3. 2-minute rule: Will the task take 2 minutes or less to complete? If the answer is yes, then do it!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And then you are off!<\/p>\n

    Try monday.com<\/a><\/p>\n

    Time Management System #3: Time Tracking<\/h2>\n

    Time tracking quantifies the value of the amount of work that went into a task. Therefore, tracking time can be valuable when forecasting how much time should be allocated for a project.<\/p>\n

    Time tracking software<\/a> (like monday.com) can help track and visualize how much time is spent on each task.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    There are 3 main categories of time tracking software:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Individual task tracking:<\/strong> A simple method with manually defined start and endpoints for tasks. This time is then stored in the tracking program for monitoring and reporting.<\/li>\n
    2. Team tracking:<\/strong> A sum of time it takes for a team to complete all tasks within a project<\/li>\n
    3. Whole-project tracking<\/a>:<\/strong> The total time it takes to complete an entire project. The time starts when the project kicks off and ends when all individual project tasks and sub-tasks are completed.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Here is an example of what time tracking could look like on a monday.com board:<\/p>\n

      \"Time<\/a><\/p>\n

      And here is a short video showcasing time how time tracking works on monday.com:<\/p>\n