How are some people so good at time management?
"I don't have time" is an excuse that you hear often either from people around you or...yourself. But we all know a guy or a gal who works 80hrs a week, goes to the gym, reads a book every day, plays golf, and still runs a side business on top of it all. I am not talking about work-life balance here or "family time" as these things require more factors to be aligned than just your individual decisions. I'm a first-year college student, and sometimes I say I no longer have time for golf practice or to finish that book I'm reading. So I can't help but wonder, how do these people do it?
I don't believe it's some sort of God-given talent, most geniuses aren't much smarter than the average person, they just know how to think better, or as Michelangelo once said: "If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful at all."
I believe that this is true in most cases. So what is the answer?
As someone who sometimes struggles with time management I wonder this as well.
Write down things you want to accomplish and check them off as you go on with your day
Just take some vyvanse
There’s this exercise, post box or so, which basically requires you to prioritise, e.g., is it urgent and important? Do it now. Urgent but not important, delegate it, not urgent but important? Make a note and do it later. Not urgent and not important? Delegate or do whenever you’ve free time.
Just priorities and organisation. Enforce yourself to use calendars, sticky notes, whatever works and make clear time cuts with a buffer in between and communicate as if your life depends on it.
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This has genuinely helped me save time the most by far and has helped my learning and focus. +SB
What was the original suggestion/method/tool?
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What works for me is setting up systems based around my personal time management frameworks. I started thinking this through going into college, and have refined my specific processes over the years, but the gist is I basically compress my activities around "deep work" (needs dedicated, critical thinking), and "overflow" (more autonomous things you can do in the background). I've come to realize over time that "lost time" is because:
1) You don't spend enough dedicated time on a Deep Work task. These are natural complex things where you need some time to sink into before you make progress
2) Your tasks are all different in topic and it takes some time for your brain to switch contexts
With proper frameworks & systems, you can establish habit loops so you automatically jump to and more quickly sink into deep work tasks, as well as remain organized enough optimally work your way through different tasks to minimize context switching costs.
In my case, I have a personal finance app, a project management app, online notes app, my online calendar, and a good old fashioned notebook. I work at a very busy tech startup, have my own growing RE portfolio, and still have an active workout schedule and social life. Some of the more simple examples and systems I have set up are as follows:
Lastly, I close the loop on everything I can. For example, whenever people tell me about I should try XYZ, I save the TLDR of what they said in my project management app. Later, when my gf wants to go out, I have a compiled list of things to do and suggest 2-3 options with the notes from the other person who suggested it, as well as the time, and put the event on my calendar. Once she decides on an option, I forward her the invite. I'd rather spend that time actually seeing her and going on a date, not planning dates (other people have done that for me)
Great insight - which apps do you use for personal finance, project management, online notes and scheduled mobile app blocking?
Notion for project management + holding long term info and to-dos, Google keep and calendar for the more immediate day to day because they can be widgets on my home screen, Monarch money for finances
As for blocking app, take your pick. The key is the ability to 1) schedule blocking of specific apps and 2) blocking things period. You could also just use your own phone's version of a focus/work mode
I am curious where you people originally sourced these tool and resources from. Were these sent to you as recommendations, or did you find online / randomly?
Minor point but these people likely don’t have trouble sleeping - if you do you automatically waste a lot of hours just trying to fall asleep and hence have to delay the time you wake up (assuming you still want to get a normal person’s amount of sleep).
Even if you decide you’re not going to catch up on sleep and just function on 5 hours etc of sleep, your efficiency and sharpness throughout the day can be significantly affected ultimately leading to fewer things done.
Because they don’t spend much time on WSO genius
Get apps for dry cleaning, laundry, cleaning, food delivery, grocery shopping, and additional organizational tasks or reminders. Those can help free up at least ten hours each week
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