🛠️ Evidence-Based Frameworks for Basic Time Management
Strategies to help you better understand and manage your time.
Hey there friends, it’s time for our first weekly dispatch from The Station! I want to take just a brief moment up front to thank you for checking out this newsletter - your support makes it all worth it. I hope to use this weekly e-mail newsletter as a way of sharing tips, tools, and resources surrounding balanced productivity and leading a happier life. Today’s edition is about the first concept I think of when brainstorming about productivity - time management. In this newsletter, I’ll review what research and experience has shown to be the best ways of improving your time management and productivity.
💫 Homeworld
When you start a newsletter about psychology and productivity, you might wonder where to start. For me, the most obvious place would be time management. There is tons of advice online about what the best time management methods are, but I can say that there are some basic concepts behind the idea of time management that are necessary to improve, regardless of whatever specific method you are using. Decades of psychological research has highlighted three main qualities that help a person effectively manage their time, and I’ve got a summary of it for you here:
#1: Increase your awareness of how you spend your time.
Paying attention to how you spend your time can help you improve your responsibility and refine your estimates of what you can accomplish. By being more aware of how your time is spent, you can identify patterns and make more intentional plans moving forward. You can accomplish this by using a time tracking app or recording your time tracking in an analog method like a bullet journal. Reviewing your time tracking and gaining this awareness to more effectively manage your time helps to support your well-being and your goal achievement over time. Also, just knowing what you can realistically accomplish within a period of time based on the real data from your life can dramatically improve your planning, which we’ll discuss more in #2.
#2: Set aside time to plan on a regular basis.
Planning can increase your perceived control over your time and has been linked to improved time management skills. By improving your planning skills and routines, you can make more attainable and actionable plans for yourself and set yourself up for higher rates of achievement. Planning can come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but one method of planning I really love is the Ideal Week Method. I made an entire YouTube video about this method and why I love it that you can check out next time you sit down to plan your week:
Being a good planner and feeling comfortable planning your time are both essential parts of this quality; both of which are linked to improved time management and time control outcomes.
#3: Generate feedback and adjust planning accordingly.
Consistently checking in and reflecting on how your time is spent and how you aim to spend your time allows you to better refine your goals and planning by pointing you in the right direction. Try out different techniques in your planning if the Ideal Week Method isn’t for you - while there are quite a few out there, here are some popular methods you may want to try out:
⏰ Focus Sessions
🧱 Time Blocking
！Eisenhower Matrix
💡 Theme Days
⚡️ Planning by Energy Levels
Once you’ve spent some time implementing a strategy, decide on a set check-in time for yourself to reflect and reassess whether your current strategies and use of time in general are working towards the life you want. Remember that it is also okay to adjust goals if you just find that you can’t dedicate time towards something right now, you find you don’t enjoy or want the goal, or if it’s just not the right time to approach a goal. Reevaluating and recalibrating your path on a regular basis is a way to supercharge your time management skills.
Sources
Claessens, B. J. C., van Eerde, W., Rutte, C. G., & Roe, R. A. (2007). A review of the time management literature. Personnel Review, 36(2), 255–276. https://doi.org/10.1108/00483480710726136
PEHLİVAN, A. (2013). The Effect of the Time Management Skills of Students Taking a Financial Accounting Course on their Course Grades and Grade Point Averages. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(5).
YEC. (2022, November 8). Council post: How to level up your time management skills in 2022. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2022/01/28/how-to-level-up-your-time-management-skills-in-2022/?sh=225ec9d6b4bd
🛰️ In Orbit
Alongside the monthly updates from me, here are a few interesting articles and resources that I thought you might want to check out:
Flexible and Automated Time Management
Why to-do lists kill your productivity, and what to do instead (Timeboxing)
This astronaut was rejected by NASA three times. Here are his secrets to perseverance
🪐 Expansion of the Universe
Before you go, here are some links of content I’ve created that might be beneficial for upgrading your life:
A4 Task Prioritization Template - Digital Download - 3 Colorways - Goodnotes & Notability Compatible
🚀 Launch Bay
Thank you for reading this dispatch of 🚀 The Station - if you value the content I’m producing and want to show your support, share this newsletter on social media or with friends who you think would like to take the next step in ⚡️ optimizing their life and 😊 increasing their happiness. I’ll see you all again next week for another download from The Station!
See past updates from The Station here.