100 cards
Time management is the process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities to increase effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity. While these three words are often conflated, they describe distinct outcomes: efficiency means doing things right, optimising speed an...
Because every working day offers more tasks than hours, prioritisation is the first skill of good time management. The Eisenhower Matrix, popularised by President Dwight D. Eisenhower and later by Stephen Covey, sorts tasks along two dimensions, urgency and importance, producing four quadrants: do urgent and important...
Prioritisation tells you what to do; scheduling tells you when. Time blocking divides your day into discrete blocks of time, each dedicated to a specific task or category of task. Unlike a to-do list, which only lists what needs to happen, time blocking assigns each task a specific time slot, ensuring important work re...
Cal Newport's concept of Deep Work describes professional activity performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that pushes cognitive abilities to their limit. He contrasts it with Shallow Work, the non-cognitively demanding, logistical tasks such as answering emails or scheduling meetings that are easy to re...
Beyond scheduling, several well-known methodologies offer complete systems for managing work. The Pomodoro Technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo, uses a timer to break work into 25-minute focused intervals called pomodoros separated by 5-minute short breaks; after four pomodoros you take a longer break of 15 to 30...
Procrastination is rarely about laziness; it is usually a reaction to specific triggers. Psychologist Tim Pychyl has identified six: tasks that are boring, frustrating, difficult, ambiguous, unstructured, or lacking personal meaning. Recognising which trigger is in play is the first step toward choosing the right count...
Time management that ignores energy level ignores half the equation. Energy management matches tasks to biological energy levels rather than to clock hours. Ultradian rhythms, natural 90 to 120 minute cycles of peak alertness followed by roughly 20 minute troughs, were first mapped by sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitma...