Personal Management Techniques

In reality, you have 24 hours, 1,440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds to use in each day. Basically, you cannot manage what is set in stone, which are those hours, minutes, and seconds. You can, however, manage how you use those measurements. These tools, hopefully, can help you learn how to get a grip on how to protect, use, and budget your activities so you become more productive, energetic, less stressed, and more confident.

Here are some resources to learn more about strategies for balancing daily responsibilities with leisure activities:

PRACTICAL TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

• The 7-8-9 Rule: This guideline suggests that you should sleep for 7-8 hours, work for 8-9 hours, and have at least 7 hours of free time each day. You can apply this rule to any one of the techniques listed below. This method works even for retirees or for those who work from home. That eight-hour work segment can be used to complete a lot of tasks in your at-home business or in chores around the house.
• Pareto Analysis (a.k.a., the 80/20 rule): The 80/20 rule is a technique created by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. It’s the idea that 20% of actions are responsible for 80% of outcomes. The goal of Pareto analysis is to help you prioritize tasks that are most effective at solving problems both at work and possibly with your family. The Oregon Women Lawyers Organization provides a simple explanation. This method might not work if you live alone.
• Pomodoro Technique: The Pomodoro Technique was created by entrepreneur and author Francesco Cirillo. This is an excellent technique to use when you feel overwhelmed by tasks such as cleaning your house or falling behind in school or work projects. It's been proven that if you spend a little time each day on a large project, you will, eventually, finish it. You can use your own timer to break down your task into intervals, or use the tomato-shaped timer offered for free at the Pomodoro website. If you really get into a task, though, the time limit can be...well...limiting. I usually use a timer only for tasks that must be completed that I don't like (see "eat that frog" below).
• Eisenhower Matrix: Before Dwight Eisenhower became president in 1953, he served in the U.S. Army as a World War II Allied Forces Commander. He was faced with difficult decisions every day that led him to invent what is now called the Eisenhower matrix, or the urgent-important matrix. You can learn more about the "Do First | Schedule | Delegate | Don't Do" matrix at the Eisenhower Matrix website. This method might work well for the person who feels as though he or she has to do everything, because no. It's freeing to realize that one person isn't liable for everything.
• Parkinson’s Law: British historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson became famous for the phrase "work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion." As an example, say you give yourself a weekend to finish something that would only take an afternoon to complete. At that point, your afternoon-long task grows in complexity because it now requires more time and resources than what you needed originally. This law is especially important for self-identified procrastinators to show how putting a task off or extending the time to complete said task often is more harmful than beneficial. Of course, you can always use Parkinson's Law to your advantage, according to this article from Brian Tracy. Worth a read, even though it seems like it would be easier to just get down to business and get 'er done.
• Time Blocking: Time blocking is the intentional practice of dividing up your day, week, or month into chunks of time to focus your attention and, hopefully, to increase your productivity. Learn more about this tool from an article by Katie Scheuer at Mural. PS -- This is my preferred method of time management, and I use Google Calendar online. This tool works brilliantly for me. Again, though, as with the Pomodoro Technique, I might get into something and feel I can finish it. That's when I just ignore the time frames on other projects and just mark them as completed as I get to them. Fllexibility is key.
• Getting Things Done (GTD) Method: Created by author David Allen, this process helps you get things done by recording tasks on paper and then breaking them down into actionable work items, rather than constantly mulling those actions over and over in your head. Learn more about this method and tap into a visual setup that you can copy for free at ToDoist.
• Rapid Planning Method (RPM): "RPM" stands for "rapid planning method" or "result, purpose, and massive action plan." Motivational speaker Tony Robbins developed this tool as a way to train your brain to focus on a vision of what you want so you cam make that want a reality. Carla Groenewegen at Motion breaks it down for you. If you're intrigued, you can gain access to the system at Tony Robbins' website for the RPM system.
• Pickle Jar Theory: Also known as the bucket of rocks theory or the jar of life theory, Jeremy Wright developed this tool in 2002 by Jeremy Wright with the notion that time is a finite space that has limits. The jar represents your day, while sand, pebbles, and rocks represent everyday activities. Another element, water, represents your private life. I can't visualize like this, but it seems this is a popular approach to getting things done. Check out the article at Calendar.com to learn more about this technique
• Eat That Frog Technique: This technique is named after a Mark Twain quote: "Eat a live frog the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day." In other words, work on your most disliked task first thing in the morning, and the rest of the day will be sublime. You can use this technique in combination with any other tool listed here. For instance, if you use the Pomodero Technique, you can put your "frog" at the top of your schedule. Learn more from Karolina Matyska's article at Timeular.