12 WAYS TO OWN YOUR TIME

Master proven techniques to boost your productivity and take control of your schedule

By Justin Mechan

Pomodoro Technique

Inventor: Francesco Cirillo

Break work into 25-minute focused intervals with 5-minute breaks. After 4 cycles, take a longer 15-30 minute break.

25:00
Current cycle: 1/4

3-3-3 Method

Inventor: Oliver Burkeman

Structure your day with 3 hours of deep work, 3 shorter tasks, and 3 maintenance tasks.

3 hours:
Deep focused work
3 tasks:
Important but shorter tasks
3 tasks:
Maintenance/routine tasks

Eisenhower Matrix

Prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance.

Urgent & Important

Project deadline
Critical issue

Important (Not Urgent)

Planning
Relationship building

Urgent (Not Important)

Some emails
Interruptions

Not Urgent & Not Important

Trivial tasks
Time wasters

2 Minute Rule

If a task takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately. If longer, delegate or defer.

  • Reply to confirmation email
  • Schedule meeting

80/20 Method

Focus on the vital 20% that produces 80% of results. Eliminate or reduce the trivial 80%.

20%

Focus Area: High-impact tasks

ABCDE Method

Categorize tasks and execute by importance.

  • Finish project proposal A
  • Team meeting preparation B
  • Read industry news C

Kanban Board

Inventor: Taichi Ohno

Visualize workflow with To Do, In Progress, and Done columns.

To Do

Create project plan
Research competitors

In Progress

Design wireframes

Done

Define project scope

Eat the Frog

Do your most important and challenging task first each day.

Today's Frog

Complete financial report

Time Blocking

Schedule specific blocks of time for different types of work.

8am - 11am
Deep Work (important tasks)
11am - 11:30am
Quick Tasks (emails, calls)
11:30am - 12:30pm
Break (eat, exercise)
12:30pm - 2pm
Important Tasks (projects)

Getting Things Done

Capture, clarify, organize, reflect, and engage with your tasks.

1
Capture
2
Clarify
3
Organize
4
Reflect
5
Engage

MSCW Method

Prioritize by: Must-Have, Should-Have, Could-Have, Won't-Have.

  • Core functionality (Must-Have)
  • Important feature (Should-Have)
  • Nice-to-have (Could-Have)
  • Future enhancement (Won't-Have)

5/25 Rule

Focus only on your top 5 priorities and ignore the rest.

  1. Complete product launch
  2. Hire new team member
  3. Develop marketing strategy
  4. Improve customer service
  5. Financial planning