Now here comes a plain method, the author’s own, quite simple technique for time management.

First: make a To Do list

The very first step of prioritizing is that you list all the tasks, even the small ones, that take longer, than 30-60 seconds to do.

Second: estimate the working time of your tasks, but apply little margin!

Third: calculate the dead time for “makes and takes, comes and goes, preparing” etc.

Thirdly (and this is where many of us fail): you need to calculate the dead time for “makes and takes, comes and goes, preparing” etc. – don’t underestimate these – and also for the additional things like phone calls, correspondence, breakfast, brushing your teeth, bathroom, etc.

Fourth: do not squeeze in, say, twice or even three times as much as you can do

Fourthly, to add to point 3: in a day or an hour, do not squeeze in, say, twice or even three times as much as you can do. So calculate a net of 6-7 hours of work per day, but not more than 8 hours.

Fifth: leave an extra hour or day in your daily and weekly plan

Fifth, leave an extra hour or day in your daily and weekly plan for doing unexpected things. For example, your partner, friend, parent needs urgent help. A friend asks for a favor. Your LED bulb burns out and you need to run down to the store for a new one, etc.

Sixth: Prioritize!

Sixth: Prioritize, prioritize and again: prioritize every time!

You have to know: you’ll never get to the end of the list anyway (but it is OK), so keep ranking your priorities!

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Here you can find an another interesting Uniside.hu article about this time management topic.

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Seventh: make 3 lists!

Seventh: Every morning, at the same time, after getting up or after breakfast (sometime at the beginning or start of the day), update your list. Have a daily, a weekly and a long-term list. I even split each of these three lists into three parts as follows:

I. works & homeworks & must have tasks (simply: have to do)

II. tasks-duties, non-pay, non-credit (e.g. take out the trash, go shopping, get a new ID, that sort of things)

III. hobbies, other things that can be “done” as a recreational activity

(ie. watching my favourite youtuber’s daily video).

Remember: something always comes up, so when you write things down on paper, leave space to write these in between new tasks!

Don’t slack off: work first, fun later!

But don’t be too hard on yourself: if you’re getting really slow, take a break. (Not too much, not too little break.)

And one more thing

Remember,

as long as you have a list, you have goals in life, and you can’t get everything done 100% anyway,

because there are always a thousand new things that come up by the time you get to the end.

Picture credit: Unsplash.com