⌛ Time Management

"It is not too little time that we have, but too much time that we do not use."
(Lucius Annaeus Seneca)

History

I have tried out many time management techniques during my studies. These included the classic Pomodoro technique, work units of 14 hours without a real break, but also the "short before short" method (I can't recommend it). In general, none of the methods satisfied me, which is why I made my own attempt to use my time more effectively.

How does my time management technique work?

My time management consists of three stages:

1. consider task
2. estimate minimum time
3. correction phase

This example will help you understand and apply my time management method.

Step 1: 📋 Think about an exercise (todo)

Now think about a task you want to do, e.g. "clean out your e-mail box". It can also be "vacuuming", "cooking", "formulating a text", "researching", etc.

Step 2: ⏱️ Estimate minimum time (evaluate)

In my time management method, there are five different time units:
⏱️ 1 min. ⏱️ 3 min. ⏱️ 5 min. ⏱️ 15 min. and ⏱️ 25 minutes.

For your task from step 1, estimate the time ⏱️ you will probably need.

Tip

The more often you estimate the minimum time for a task, the better you become at it. At the beginning you can be very wrong here. 😉

Let's assume that: You estimate ⏱️ "15 min."" to 📋 "Clean out your emails". Now set your timer to 15 minutes and clean out your email inbox.

Tip

Have you picked a task that you estimate doesn't fit into one of your five time units? No problem, you just need to define your task smaller.

"Divide et impera" - "Divide and conquer"

Divide a big problem into many small problems until they are easily solvable. Example: Thesis = outline + source list + introduction + ...

Step 3: 📐 correction (snooze)

If your timer rings, you have either completed your task ✔️, or not ❌. If you have not completed your task within the defined time, do the following:

• estimate the remaining time needed and continue working.
• immediately take a break ☕ of max. 10 minutes if your timer rings for the 4th time for the same task
• During this time, think about how you can divide your task.
• After the break, start again with steps 1 - 3.

longer break?

A long break should only be taken after completing a complete task (steps 1 to 3).

Summary

My method is adapted to me, it is important that you make changes to the time units under step 2 as it suits you. I use this method to manage pretty much everything in my everyday life. If you never define a time frame for anything, you lose track and waste time.