Expert Roundup Post: Effective Time Management Tools and Techniques

Alpana Deo: Mothers Gurukul

Time Management is not rocket science that only those who have mastered it can practice. But it needs regularity and sincere effort. We all have several things to take care of, but those who understand the value of time and prioritize their work are the ones we want to look up to.

In my opinion, the key to time management is “habit formation.” When we stop the habit of postponing our to-do list, then half of the battle is won. Second is having a “schedule to follow”. The third is “prioritizing”. Seeing the worth of that particular task will help decide whether it needs your immediate attention.

And the last is “dividing your work” into small parts—we all like accomplishments. When we strike out one task after another, the feeling of satisfaction motivates us to finish the entire list. And without realizing we learn the art of managing our time effectively.

So, in a nutshell – Habit formation, Schedule, Prioritizing, and Breaking down the big task in parts are the three things I can suggest for effective time management.

Dr. Amrita Basu: Health Wealth Bridge

Tools I use are Grammarly premium, Recurpost, Jetpack premium, ,Pinterest Scheduler, Twitter draft options, Canva premium (for resizing on the go and many more), Lumen 5 and Ubersuggest chrome extension.
Techniques for effective time management.

Discipline, planning and respecting time is important to manage time.Productivity is a mindset.
1) I try to batch similar work for stress free work.
2) I write down my 3 most important to-dos every night.That helps me get more done.
3) I use schedulers, for sharing on social media.
4) I focus on my most important goal, when I plan my content.
5) I don’t say yes to anything, I can’t do justice to.This helps me do my best with the things I choose to say yes to.
6) I walk and garden everyday .This I believe helps me write more and be more productive.
Three free audio book chapters from my book How to walk , write and garden for the Healthy life you want can be found here.
If you want to know more you can check out my book (Starting a Successful Blog ) ,where I have shared all my secrets . It’s free on Kindle Unlimited.

Anil Agarwal: Blogging Passion

I think everyone should use Pomodoro and any To-do list app for productivity.

Pomodoro: Set a pomodoro timer for 25 minutes. Work without any distractions. Then, take a 5 minute break. Repeat the process. For every 4 to 5 Pomodoro cycles, you can take a long break of 30 minutes. That is how you can work productively without burning out.

To-do list: You can either use any to-do list software or simply use a paper to note down all the things to get done for the day. The key here is to make a short list of items. When you are getting started, try to create a 3 tasks list and check those boxes once you are done with the work. It helps you a lot!

Apart from the above tools, I also highly recommend you to take a break every now and then to recharge yourself. Spend time with your family and friends. After all, it is all about living a happy life 🙂

Atish Ranjan : Tech Tricks World

To be honest, I don’t use any tool for effective time management.

I was pretty bad at time management but I learned that if you don’t manage time, you end up wasting a lot of your productive time. So, What I do is, I write down the most important tasks of the day at the top followed by low priority works in a notepad.

Now, when I turn on my laptop for the work. first I check my email and respond to each email first and if there is any work to be done as per any email, I do that first.

Then, I open the Notepad and start finishing the work one by one from top to bottom as I mentioned that I write down the works to be done in a notepad as per their priorities.

So, I try to do that way! It helps me finish up the most important work first, so that even anything urgent comes in between, my most important tasks are done already.

These are what I do for finishing up the work on time. Now, to save time, I do these:

1. I stopped checking Facebook frequently. I open it once to check notification and close. Even if some of the clients/friends want to talk over there, then I open it and close it as long as the work is done. So basically, I am using FB for mainly for work purposes and that too only when needed. I use Fb for personal use only when I am not working! 🙂

2. I stopped calling my friends and family in between the work because at times, the call gets stretched for long duration, and that hampers the work. I call them when I am not working! -:)

3. I generally don’t chat with anyone using my phone while working. If the chat very important, I try to open WhatsApp in the browser or use hangout and type using my laptop. I do this because with this I can work a bit while typing (Also, I can type faster on the laptop than phone) but when i talk using the phone, work is stopped completely. So, in urgent cases, when I have to chat, I use this trick to save time.

Atul Maharaj: Social Maharaj

Being planned is one of the toughest thing. I personally use the calendar a lot, in fact I even have a family calendar for everyone in the family add events, reminders that we don’t miss.

Apart from this, I use ToDo list for all my blogging and social media needs. Topics to write on, talk about are maintained here. Lastly, I have a dedicated time slot during the week when I focus on content creation.

Bindu Cherungath: Lenz Scope

I feel, the phrase ‘Time Management’ is a misnomer. Time is a finite resource. We all have 24 hours in a day in hand, not even a second more or a second less. So itself, we can not manage time, we can not increase and decrease the number of hours in a day.

Parallelly, let us think about this pertinent question i.e. how somebody is able to do more things in a day in comparison to others. The analogy which I have is, it is like packing your suitcase. If you know what to pack and how to pack, you can very effectively and efficiently pack more in a suitcase.

So, according to me, time management is to actually manage yourself according to the time you have, which in turn means, what are the choices with which you are utilizing the time which you have in your life.

For example: when sudden lockdown happened due to Covid, some people chose to evolve their capabilities, pick up new learnings, finding joy and deeper connect in relationships etc. whereas some people chose to sulk thinking about covid.

By this time, our lives would have shaped up, adapted to the new environment on the basis of how we chose to spend this time. The quality of life that we have created for ourselves during this phase depends on the choices we made. In short, what I want to highlight is, Time Management is basically Choice Management.

Deepa Gandhi: Kreative Mommy

For effective time management, I keep a diary with a to do list which helps me to keep track of things.

So, the tools which help me are –
A journal/diary
A to do list ( date wise to prioritize)

The techniques which I use –
Never delay today’s work on tomorrow. I make sure to schedule the work in such a way that I don’t miss it. Then I try my best to finish a particular task whenever I get time.

As I believe in this – A work delayed is work not done. Also avoid any distractions and switch off the phone notifications to give your best to your work.

Lastly, do one thing at a time and do not try to finish everything at once.

Erika Mohssen-Beyk: Erika Mohssen-Beyk

Thank you, Gurunath, for inviting me to this roundup.
Time management, I have to say that I’m not too fond of this slogan at all.
It is something we should let go, something from the past. This slogan is misleading and, in my opinion, a manipulative deception that fooled us to think we can control something like time.

It is a slogan from a stressful world where never was enough time. It would make us feel guilty if we can not accomplish something in a specific time, which makes even more stress. If I only think about it, I wonder: Why would I want to get out of bed in the morning? Does it feel like a good life? Or like “Have to’s”

“If you want to fly on the sky, you need to leave the earth. If you want to move forward, you need to let go the past that drags you down.” – Amit Ray

Nobody can manage time. We can merely manage our activities.
We can plan our activities for the day. If we develop a sense of urgency are passionate about what we want to do, we want to jump out of bed in the morning. We have the vision to accomplish our goals and dreams. Our world is full of possibilities.

It does not mean that we do not have set times. Best is to make at least one-hour meditation and exercise a habit. Have at least one meal together with your family.

Better is to be in time, flow with time. We are most productive if we forget the time at all because we focus, do what we love, and accomplish a goal.

The only tool we need is passion.

The world is changing; better let go of old slogans like “time management”. To me, it sounds like slavery.
“Anything you can’t control is teaching you how to let go.” – Jackson Kiddard
“When you let go, you create space for something better.”

Hena Rose: Science and Samosa

We all have the same 24 hours each day. It completely depends on us how we manage it. So its, not time management, it’s self-management. Some basic tools which according to me that can help in time management include:

1. Simple Post-it on your computer (to track work) or on a cupboard (to manage home task): Add to this post-it all your to-do task list and allot time to it. This will help you stay in focus.

2. Use google calendar to the optimum: You may forget the things you need to do a week later. So put to good use google calendar.

3. Use free tools like Clockify: If you are managing a team of your own start with free tools like clockify. This will help in accurately determining the time you spend on each task. You would be in for surprise to learn that most time would be spent on least expected things like chatting with colleagues or checking emails every now and then.

4. Be organized: Whatever you do, do it very systematically. Do not put or leave the work half done. Place things in allotted folders (if its related to work) or in the right cupboards (if it’s at home). People spent more than 20% of their time looking for a thing which they placed in wrong place.

Hussain Omar: Laptop Age 

Time is the most valuable resource you have, so you must master the art of making the most of it, doing your time management.
I do use few tools to help me get the most of my time. Here they are:
Any.do Mobile App:
A powerful tool to have your to-do-list logged, you will log them one day before, and get notifications on their due accurate time, so you wont miss any of these tasks you are supposed to do. Even calls to your phone contacts can be scheduled. Awesome! isn’it?

Clockify:
This tool is working as a timesheet, in which you will log all your tasks, and you will know the exact time you spent on every project, and every specific task, so they are available for analyzing when needed.

Buffer App:
Yeah, it is a scheduling app more than being time management. But it saves me a lot of time. I schedule all my social posts and they will go online on the right time.

There are a lot of apps online you can use, but these are the apps that I use the most.

Jaishree Nenwani: Get Set Happy

For me time management is too important. I start my day with a plan on paper. This helps me prioritize my tasks and chunk them down.

This also helps me to have a clear mind on where I want to go and how best to manage your time and resources to complete my tasks in a timely manner.

Here is how I go:

Step 1 – Start will listing goals for day.
Step 2 – Prioritize what is most important
Step 3 – Keep your to-do list handy
Step 4 – “One thing at a time” is my mantra. Avoiding multitasking helps to get best outcomes

Other than that, avoid distractions like social media while working/studying, this helps to focus better and use your productive energy rightly.
Take short breaks, this helps in resorting your energy and focus.

Janice Wald: Mostly Blogging

I recommend Buffer. Buffer is free for up to 10 tweets a day which is fine for me. I also use Buffer to publish my Instagram post. I use the Missinglettr service to pull content from my blog’s RSS feed. I take 10 of the content snippets and put them on Twitter each day using Buffer.

I use them on other sites since the Buffer app tells me analytics like most retweets, most likes, and Top Posts. I then take that content and put it in an Instagram caption and in Facebook groups.

Jhilmil D Saha: Beauty & Beyond

Pre Schedule: It is better to set a calendar for your blog posts from before
Focus: It is important to identify distractions and work on those to focus on point
Track time: It is important to track the time you spend on your work

Jyoti Chauhan: Update Land

Time management tools:

I personally don’t use many “tools” as such for time management.
However, “Remember The Milk” and “Toggl” sure are a daily habit of mine.

Techniques for time management:

I use Remember The Milk everyday (or, most days) before sleeping to make a list of what needs to be done the next day. And then, I use Toggl to get those things done as the day starts.

It basically lets me create a task, and track the time I spend on it. I like breaking down my tasks in fragments. Smaller goals seem less tedious and easier to accomplish.

The timer in the background helps me focus and be conscious of every second I spend, keeps me from getting distracted.

A major technique I’ve recently adopted and am still experimenting with is Time-Boxing.
This is where I keep myself ultra-focused for 10 minutes, and then either take a very small (2-minute) break, or switch to some other task for the next 10 minutes.

The goal always is to assign myself a task for those 10 minutes, and complete it within that deadline. However, if I’m being honest, no tool and technique has worked better for me than using a pen and a piece of paper to write the tasks down.

Kulwant Nagi : Blogging Cage

First of all, I would confess that I am not very good in managing my time. But here are some of the things which I personally do when I want to manage my time effectively.

1. I never ever keep my phone with me and it’s on silent mode since 2007. I never keep my phone on ring mode. For me it’s a utility device which I bought for my own ease, not for that person’s ease (that’s my own philosophy, so don’t judge it) who is trying to call me. So when I work, I have zero distraction as my phone is always in another room.

2. Always use paper and pen to plan your day. No software can beat the practice of writing the tasks on paper. When you write your tasks on paper, you send the signal to your subconscious mind to complete it on time.

3. I am big fan of software too. So I am using Flock to manage my team where they can chat with me anytime when they have any problem or they are not able to understand anything. Second tool I love the most of Monday.com. I use this software to assign tasks to various team members and I can easily manage everything with this software.

Lasya K: AllTop9

In our Digital Marketing, tools play a vital role. There are many tools to get the info like stats of web, keywords, CPC bids, and many more.

But, when you add some smart techniques to these tools, they will become your real employee and completes the tasks as we needed.

Example of smart tools are Google Data studio for a complete analytics at one place, Google Tag Manager and few others. Tools are itself the best to serve, smart tools are beyond. Make use of them to have the best outputs in a very less time.

Manidipa Bhaumik: WP Blogging 360

I believe, a happy and sorted mind is the key to effective time management. Other than noting down some important points related to work, I don’t use any tool for managing time.

Generally, I start my day early with a run or strength training. This gives me enough boost to continue my work simultaneously with household chores. But, in this pandemic situation with no house help and my son having fewer activities, time management has become a bit challenging.

However, I have learned to keep my expectations low and have prioritized my online and offline work accordingly. Also, Santanu and I do most of the things together. So, this gives us the time to discuss our work and stay motivated!

Minakshi Bajpai: Mommys Timeline

Lockdown has been the biggest eye opener. We have again awakened to the fact that grass is never greener on any side.

People like me who used to juggle with kids and a full time job always used to wonder that work from home scenario would actually ease our problems.

Now, that overnight we all got the much desired WFH option we realized that reality is actually far from this.

Technique 1: Write a list.
The first task at hand that you need to tackle is to write a list. Yes, you heard me right, go the old fashion way and make a list by hand. Once you make a list it helps you

Technique 2: Prioritize
I cannot emphasize how important it is to prioritize on the task at hand. Making a list actually helps in this as now, the tasks are written in front of you on paper you can list out which are the ones that you need to address first before the rest.

Technique 3: Plan your day in advance
One of the best ways to lead a stress free and organized life is to plan your day in advance. Ensure that you take 5 to 10 minutes off every morning to do this task. This will actually help your complete work on a faster and more focused manner.

Technique 4: Tackle the complex task first.
There are a few tasks that are complex in nature. The fact that these tasks are time consuming and require effort often bogs one down. So, it makes sense to complete the task at hand at first.

Minuca Elena: Minuca Elena

I handle multiple projects at the same time. A while ago I used to work at all of them simultaneously but I noticed that at the end of the day I would have progressed a little bit with all of them but no significant results to any of them.

So I started dedicating one day to each project. I organize them by priority. I check to see which is the most urgent project that I have to finish first and focus solely on it during a workday.

I also set an objective to finish a certain number of tasks or to reach a certain level, before finishing my work per day. This way some days I can work more hours in some days or fewer hours in others.

It works well because instead of looking at the clock and saying “I’ve been working for 8 hours, I must stop now”, I check if I was as efficient as I expected, if I reached the work goal for that day, and if I haven’t done it yet, I prefer to work an hour or two more until I finish what I have set.

I feel good when at the end of a workday I see that I accomplished what I needed to do. It feels rewarding to see significant results.

Nava Krishnan: Nava-K

My model/tool/technique for effective time management. One which I coined and the one, and only one. The easy and simplified one? PER for daily, weekly, monthly and yearly time management. Call it the short term and long term time management.

P – Planning eg: a day ahead on what I have to do and within the time frame for fitting within the hours I have allocated.

E – Execute. Basically getting it done within the allocated time or time frame.

R – Reflect back. Was I able to stick to getting things done as planned and if I didn’t, why. This reflecting back definitely for improvising my time management.

Besides this PER model, which I practice, also applicable for my weekly, monthly and yearly time management, I personally feel that time management got to do with each individual ABC. This ABC Model I also coined.
A – attitude
B – behaviour
C – character

These are the areas we need to ponder. Whether it is our ABC that hinders our time management. Because, all the best models, tools and techniques will not work if we don’t take time management seriously. Time management which includes respecting other people is time. In the case of punctuality. Also, how much leverage.

Neha Lamba: Untold Travel Tales

Time has changed so we are. COVID-19 has changed our lifestyles, those who were into full-time jobs are doing work from and those who are self-employed also forced to stay at their home and work.

Life is not the same, but still we have to get going and do the work. In work from home, you have to work for home as well as work from home. So to manage both, you have to manage your time properly. For me, the best and effective ways to manage time is to pen down tasks for the day.

Write down the priority of your tasks either in your diary or paste notes in front of you so you do not miss it. Sometimes I skip a few tasks If I do not make a note of it, the same can happen with both working professional and self-employed business owners.

The second best thing you should do to manage your time is to follow the schedule you are planning. When you are home you have to distribute your time for your work, family, household chores etc. so making personal and work-life balance is very important.

Third and the most important thing one should follow is to stay away from distractions. Whether you are working or you are enjoying your family conversations try to not mix two things. Distractions are normal, as these days we have a lot of options to kill our time, but when exactly we want to do that is in our hands. So one thing at a time, if you sense un-productivity in your work find out the reason and try not to repeat it.

These are the 3 simple techniques that I follow in routine for time management so I can enjoy my personal and professional life.

Nisha Pandey: SEOTechyWorld

Whether it is for professional or personal time management, the first step is to choose a time planner. Rescue Time and Focus Keeper are excellent apps for the purpose. It is recommended to select an app that allows creation of a master list that covers all your tasks and goals.

Create a daily list and work on completing them. A time planner app should make it easy for you to create these lists. Studies show that creating lists helps in improving efficiency by at least 25% from your first day of using this technique. It may take an hour to plan and create your list, but it is worth all your efforts.

Once you have the list, it is crucial to prioritize the tasks. This is a basic rule to success. Make sure to give tasks with the most value and importance the greatest priority. This will help in optimizing your efficiency and productivity.

The key is to build this habit and master it over time. Gradually, you will realize that all this will become a routine for you. So there is not a single specific tool that can be recommended. You should choose a tool that allows you to address the above-mentioned points.

Philip Verghese Ariel: PV Ariel

Time management!

Very interesting subject to think about and act.

Alas! we have only 24 hours in a day! Yes, only 24 hours a day!

There is no doubt that it is a universal fact which one cannot deny. One cannot add a minute to it or one can’t reduce one second from it! Only we can do is to manage with it and utilize it wisely with our discretion.

As of now, the technology is fast growing there are so many tips and tricks to use our time wisely or we can go with effective time management. Hundreds of tools/Apps available on the ocean, the “world wide web”.

We can use these tools and manage our time effectively. But to tell you the truth I don’t use many tools often but I use Trello as it has been in the best preference by the professional bloggers since its inception.

Simple task management on the cardboard can develop unlimited task lists, image, and file-sharing can organize lists by dates on priority. And above all commenting and collaboration, follow up works go well with this as I involve more in blog comments.

Pranay Anumula: Pranay Anumula

I use apps like swipes, Microsoft To-Do where I list down all the tasks to do in a day or for the week according to priority & then sort it out based on that then accordingly accomplish the task.

Based on priority & the work, I assign time for each work & try to complete with in the specific time frame.

Avoiding social media till the specific work is done worked pretty good for me. Avoid all the distractions till the work is done by their specific deadline & try to make it a hobby & follow strictly.

Prisha Lalwani: Mummasaurus

My two favorite tools are A routine and a handbook or Planner. I like to be in a routine and my family adheres to it too. This helps all of us to know the timings for each task.

There are set timings for sleeping, and waking up; for meals and snack times; for studies, official work and break times. This also allows me to predict and schedule a window for any sudden tasks or urgent tasks.

A planner or handbook helps me to make a proper note of content I want to create, any sudden ideas I may get, upcoming events I need to attend as a guest or a host, and deadlines of my projects. This allows me to set priorities and complete tasks as per estimated time required and the amount of time I have available for completing a task in a deadline.

There are many other ways of managing time, but these two take up the major scheduling and organizing of my time. They help me to be punctual with my deliverables every single time, because personally, I think that punctuality makes a big part of professionalism.

Pubali Mukherjee: Top5life

Time management has been a buzz word ever since. It is true time has an importance of its own. The better we acknowledge and work towards managing it efficiently, the better gets our strides of success to life. So, hunting for the best time management tools and techniques is always on the cards.

However, based on my personal experiences, every individual has his own time management skills and techniques. Some may try to manage meticulously while others manage it unconsciously. Time being such an important yet non replenish-able resource of life, I believe, we must be a little careful to utilize the hours and minutes wisely.

Let us begin with creating a to-do list. Making a to-do list is very important to ensure you cover all the activities within time. It is important that the to-do list has realistic expectations. It must include time dedicated to your health, leisure, hobbies, regular chores, family values beside work, deadlines and meetings.

Further the to-do list must have some room for the cheat days. The more practical you can make your to-do list, the more probability of it being followed and not violated. Moreover, a well framed to-do list makes sure that you include all the activities. It creates a platform to prioritize the activities as well.

Besides to-do list, it is recommended to make use of some of the essential digital tools available handy to you. Of these, Google Calendar tops the list of time management tools followed by Google Drive to store all the important documents and files, which is further followed by Evernote to organize my notes or meeting minutes efficiently.

Thanks to these digital techniques to make life organized, sorted and productive. Try not to rush at the last minute and schedule your time wisely are the key mantras to efficient time management.

Rafi Chowdhury: Rafi Chowdhury

I personally use Rescue Time. It tracks my activity online and categorizes things based on what type of activity it is. For example, if I end up spending too much time on say Facebook, it will tell me that I am wasting time on social media and will give me specific graphs and insights into my time usage.

Where this software becomes tricky to use is when you are on sites it considers to be work-related but you are wasting time. Namely, LinkedIn comes to mind. Nowadays, LinkedIn allows the in-stream videos so many people are posting viral content on there to get people’s attention.

So, you can often find yourself wasting countless hours watching those videos on LinkedIn and Rescue Time might think you are working, but in reality, are you really? But, overall, it is still a great software if you want to track your productive online in this digital age.

Ricky Ahuja: Ricky Ahuja

Good time management is essential to your success. Using an effective time planner and master list you can achieve any goal you set your mind to.

These are standard time management tools and techniques that you should practice for maximum productivity and good personal organization.

1. Use A Time Planner And Create A Master List
2. Work From the List
3. Organize By Priority
4. Use Time Management Tools And Systems
5. Organize Your Time

Get a time planner of some kind, whichever format you are most comfortable using (e.g digital or paper), and invest the time necessary to learn how to use it. The payoff in saved time and increased productivity will be enormous.

Rohan Chaubey: Rohan Chaubey

Three tools / techniques I use for effective time management: 

#1: Turn Off Notifications 

I have turned off the notifications of all the mobile and desktop apps. The only notification I have allowed is when someone is calling. 

The rest of the apps like WhatsApp, I check when I want to and not when a new notification arrives. 

#2: Avoid Social Media Feeds 

They design social media feeds to keep us hooked. The infinite scroll keeps us mindlessly scrolling the social media feeds.

I try to check on my friends and acquaintances’ social media updates once a week.

#3: Use Google Calendar 

A to-do list doesn’t work for me, however blocking time for specific tasks and meetings on my Google Calendar gets the tasks done.

If you are scheduling your day on Google Calendar, make sure you keep enough space between tasks so even if a meeting or a task takes longer than scheduled, the rest of your schedule remains unaffected.

Ryan Biddulph : Blogging From Paradise

Get super serious about knowing WHY you blog and tie the reason to fun and freedom. I always make time for blogging because I blog for freedom. No delays. No hesitating.

The only reason why bloggers manage time ineffectively is because they choose poor drivers – like money or fame – or they have a weak reason why they blog for freedom.

Sandy & Vyjay: Voyager – Sandy & Vyjay

Time is money may sound like a cliche, but it is true if you have your hands full and need to juggle different tasks. Managing your time optimally is of essence and this can be done effectively by simple tools and techniques that rise above the various jargon associated with this relatively simple task.

Here are some simple techniques to manage your time more effectively:

1. Have and refer to a to-do list, when you start work and ensure to track them to completion.

2. Classify the tasks as important, priority, and ordinary. Attend the priority ones first followed by the important ones and then the ordinary ones. Also make sure the categories are updated too as these may change over time.

3. Build in some buffer time to account for unexpected intrusions on your time which may be critical in themselves.

4. It is very important that the ordinary or routine tasks which may not seem so important, are completed without procrastination to ensure they do not end up becoming critical.

5. Finally it is important to adhere to this system religiously and consistently to see results and establish a well-oiled process.

Santanu Debnath: Blogging Joy

Thank you Guru for inviting me to your amazing blog. I would love to share my part about the tools and techniques for effective time management.

Honestly, I don’t use any tools to manage time or plan my things. In fact, I still follow some old techniques like writing all the important tasks on a notepad or copy, so that I don’t miss them.

Regarding time management, I always give preferences to my work. So whenever there is something to do, I can’t just stay relaxed and that’s how I have increased my productivity.

Besides that, Manidipa & I share all kinds of work and prefer to do things together. This not only helps us to save time but also gives us the opportunity to discuss various things while working together!

Santosh Gairola: Blogging Cosmos

Once my father told me in my early days, that if you want to do something significant in your life, you must learn how to utilize your time fitly.

In my entire life, I have given so much effort to grow my time management skills. Out of those skills, I will be happy to share some of my secrets of time management. These are the stuff I practice in my daily life. Therefore, adding some of my routines in this roundup post. I hope your audience will find it helpful.

Create a daily ritual!

Before sleeping every night, you must plan for your next day. I have created a time-slicing method for myself, which helps me to stay productive for the whole day.

In this method, I divide my time into different segments.

In the first segment, 5 Am – 9 Am in which I love to give time for Myself.

In this segment, I focus on my body and mind by following a specific routine. Here is my morning ritual every day.

Every day, I wake up at 5 Am early in the morning. I start with reading the self-help book for at least one hour up to 6 Am. Sometimes my time overlaps to 6.30 Am. During book reading, I try to acquire the new vocabulary & knowledge of the Book. It helps me to learn new skills and information.

The Second segment – 9 Am to 1 Pm – It is my Productive segment.

During that time, I rarely check my Emails and messengers. It helps me to give complete focus on my work. During that high productive time, I avoid shallow working.
Shallow works are those works which distract you from achieving your goal and leads to procrastination.

It can be talking over a phone call, checking emails, text, surfing Twitter, and Facebook feeds.

It is my Deep state of working, in which I give absolute focus to my work. To maintain my productivity, I keep taking 10 mins break in every 1 hour. For that, I have installed an extension, Break timer, it keeps giving me alert every one hour that I need more Coffee or Tea.

The Third segment – 2 pm to 4 Pm,

My Facebook and Email Checking Time. It is the time when I’m available for the receiving Phone calls. I mostly check the stats of my website traffic and sales report.

The Fourth Segment – 4 Pm to 6 Pm

It is mostly my Family time. I watch movies and Tv Shows with my mother and father. Sometimes, I also try to finish my pending book chapters. It is also time for me to do some sketching. It helps me to improve my creative mindset.

Shiwangi Peswani: Kitty Groups

I am not perfect, but here are a few things I always try to follow.

Do the important and major things first.
Set your priorities.
Limit your time spent on social media.
Think ahead and plan your day in advance, pen it down if required or just plan it in your mind.
Take breaks when required.
Eat healthily and sleep well.
Drink a lot of water.
Push yourself a bit but don’t be too harsh on yourself.
Don’t take more than 3 major decisions in a day.
Always follow your gut.

And most importantly follow the rules 8/10. It’s absolutely okay if you fail sometimes. It’s absolutely okay if you are unable to finish some tasks of the day. Don’t be too harsh on yourself and start every day with a new level of energy and hope.

At this point in time, I am doing so many things simultaneously like blogging, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and content writing and I too fail to complete my target or achieve my goals someday and trust me that’s absolutely okay. Just remember that every sunset is the beginning of a new sunrise.

Shrinidhi Hande: eNidhi India Travel blog

Tip 1: Make productive use of your idle time. For my blog posts, I ideate in my mind on next topic when I am idle- such as waiting in traffic signal, waiting for food etc. When key points are clear, it is lot easier to elaborate when I sit down to write the post.

Tip 2: Time management is always about prioritization. If you want to travel for a week, you have to prioritize it over other tasks. We often tend to take up easy things first and keep the rest for later. Time will not come to us, we have to carve it out.

Tip 3: Stay away from distractions. Social media, television, WhatsApp are all big time distractions eating away our time. If you are feeling short of time, stay away from these and you will be surprised by amount of time you will have at your disposal. You can use the saved time in productive manner.

Svetlana Baghawan: Maverick Bird

Time management has taken complete precedence over my life at the moment. I am struggling with work, life, children, and “my time” balance. However, some tools and skills have helped me. I use Any.do scheduler and this has sorted out my weekly programme.

I work during my most productive hours, keep my children’s waking hours free, and take turns sleeping and taking care of the family with my partner. I have also slowed down, started taking it easy, and do not push my endurance limit.

I know that I have a lot of time on my hands now and just need to schedule my day around my comfort. This knowledge has kept me sane, organized, and productive.

Swadhin Agrawal: Digital GYD

Time management is as important as your other operations in business and this is even more important when you are a blogger where you have all the world’s freedom to distract yourself.

My time management revolves around schedules I make and I try to stick to them. I’ve tried many software but the one that works for me currently (and I plan to stick around) is Todoist.

My current Todoist setup is based on the OKR technique (Objective Key Results) that, in short, lets you create objectives and then use outcomes instead of tasks to trigger your work schedule.

This method is followed by top companies in the world like Google. 

While this works for me, you don’t necessarily have to follow it. There are other setups like GTD or you can simply ditch all these and follow the good old pen and paper route, whatever sails your boat. 

Another key aspect of time management is focus. I have had a tough time taming my mind so I use tools like Noisli to get myself into work mode using natural music (like rain sounds or sounds of a cafe).

You can try these to focus on your tasks rather than noises outside, distracting music or even family (if you’re reading this during lockdown).

Noisli also has a timing system so I use that to follow the pomodoro technique of work-relax cycles. If you’re someone who’s constantly on their chair, try using pomodoro technique to work for a fixed amount of time, say 50 minutes, and then take a break of 10 minutes.

This helps your mind to relax, and thus focus better in the next session.

Other than that, here are some nifty tips that you should follow to manage your time better:

1. Outsource whenever you can
2. Try to improve your typing speed
3. Increase the scroll speed of your mouse
4. Switch off your mobile and cut off from all distractions
5. If you’re working from home, let your family members know when is office time so that they don’t disturb you
6. Meditate – this one has been a game changer for me
7. Create a to do list every night before you sign off from work so you know what to do the next day and not waste time at the start of the day.
8. Have better sleep, good food and think good so that you have a good mental system to work focused.

Tanya Khubchandani Vatsa: Mommy Diaries

The answer to this question would be very different in our previous lives than it is now, specially for mothers like me who are juggling work from home and home schooling in addition to spending time with their families and getting chores done.

However, in both cases it makes your day easier if you start with a list of things you would like to get done, and things you have to get done. Then start with the latter. During these home days, keep your schedule flexible.

Timings will be approximate, things may take much longer than anticipated due to interruptions, and that is okay. You can be more of a stickler when you are not trying to cope with pandemic circumstances, which are not normal in any way.

It helps to allow for flexibility in your schedule but also to have some fixed times when it come to kids, as they thrive on routine. Bedtime, meal times and downtimes can be at fixed timings so it makes it easier for you to schedule work, laundry and your calls too!

Utpal Khot: Fashionable Foodz

Plan in advance. Keep looking for topics you would write for and get down to writing. Don’t wait. Just write down when it comes. Put it in drafts so you have a content bank ready.

On a free day in a week, give time to shape the drafts in post form. Add pictures. Set up a blog post and schedule for a future date. You WordPress scheduling..basic but effective. Believe in yourself and don’t depend too much on plug-ins. – #UtpalKhotSays

Vashishtha Kapoor: Vashishtha Kapoor

Time management is a tricky thing because time never goes as we planned yesterday. Everyday, we have something new or something urgent to accomplish that is out of our daily schedule.

However, we can manage and optimize our time accordingly.

Below are few things/tools that I use to manage my time.

1. Google Calendar
2. Google Tasks (inside the Gmail)
3. Whiteboard
4. Reminders/Alarm

White one tool can not do everything we need to manage the time well. A combination of all makes it easier for us to be able to manage it well. I always use automation to automate certain tasks that have to be done on a regular basis and require human intervention.

Such tasks are like sharing a new blog on the social media, sending out an email roundup of all posts published last week to all the subscribers every week.

Getting more into the management thing, I use webwork tracker tool to track the amount of time I give to each task/project. This applies not only to the people who I hire but also on myself.

However, there are exceptions.

As a blogger, I spend more time in the kind of activities I am interested and passionate about. For example, I am learning something on Udemy or via youtube, I practice the same along with the sessions.

If I get into a trouble, I start looking for a resolution and spend a lot of time troubleshooting that error. I am glad that I do this all the time which is why I am able to troubleshoot any error I get in the production stage. But, this is a certain thing that you or I can not control in terms of time-management.