A Simple Time Management Hack

You are facing a deadline. You know you have a lot of work to meet the deadline. Time keeps slipping away. Tackling the tasks seems impossible.

You start the day with a list of priorities to accomplish, but between emails, phone calls, and customers, your priorities fall off the plate and next thing you know, the day is over.

Time is a currency that we have to spend wisely. With many demands on our time, it is difficult to tackle priorities. Flustered by jumping from one task to another, we often finish the day wondering what we accomplished. Many days, the to-do list grows and never shrinks.

The standard way of managing time doesn’t work. Letting time buffet you around throughout the day destroys the ability to control your decisions around time. You must change how you manage your time to address priorities and avoid the distractions that pull you away. 

Where do you start?

There is a simple time management hack that will revolutionize your ability to undertake steps needed to reach your goals. Scheduled Focus Time.

Scheduled focus time is a block of time put on your calendar. You turn off all distractions, including closing your door, putting a sign on your cubicle, throwing on some music or headphones, putting the phone away and making yourself unavailable to everyone else’s needs. Each day, you should have a block of time to focus with no distractions.

This strategy is incredibly simple, but it isn’t easy. We are used to responding to every distraction that comes along. Ignoring distractions is a new skill. It is natural to revert to our old habits because that is the brain’s way of trying to avoid change. Change can be uncomfortable, so the brain avoids it if possible. Asking it to focus is a new skill and, like any new skill, it will require practice.

To practice using this simple time management hack, first schedule the time on your calendar. When you put it on your calendar, you will create the space needed. Then identify what you want to accomplish ahead of time and write it in the calendar event. Be specific. Say you want to complete the analysis of an inventory. Or that you want to write and submit an article for publication. 

When you say you want to work on something, there is not a strong enough motivation to complete the task. But when you identify the completed product you want, you create a mini-deadline for yourself.

The next step, and the hardest, is to honor your commitment to yourself. If you agreed to lunch with a mentor, you would show up on time and commit to the entire lunch until you pay the bill and you say goodbye. Do the same for your commitment to focus time. Show up for yourself, commit to completing the task you assigned yourself, and hold yourself to the finish time as well.

When you do this, you will tackle the important tasks and build momentum towards your goals. You will also reduce stress and save time by buckling down and accomplishing the work rather than worrying about when you will get it done. As tasks get completed, you will feel an overall improvement in your own confidence to meet deadlines, tackle goals, and maintain mental health. 

The next first step is to pick a project that you want to accomplish and break it down into bite-sized pieces. Then put focused time on your calendar for the various pieces. Schedule yourself half hour to hour blocks and stick to your schedule. With practice, you can extend the time up to two hours of focus and teach yourself how to accomplish a great deal in that timeframe. While simple, this time management hack is significant.