Time Management
Published: 2021-11-08 21:39:39

Time Management is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. I’ve felt like I’ve had a lot of things to do - build out projects, study, read articles and watch tutorials, network, etc. And interviews to prepare for on top of all that, it’s been a little stressful. Feeling the effects of pressure, at least for me, tends to lead to losing focus, which of course then throws time management right out the window. I’m hoping this self-awareness will help narrow down where I need to specifically focus to level up my time management skills. 

I’m sure we’ve all heard many tips on how to better manage our time and be more productive. But do we actually use these tips? Some are more simple than others to get started on right away, others might require the breaking of bad habits we’ve picked up along the way. 

**Create a schedule.** Making a schedule is one of the simplest, most useful ways to improve our time management. The most important part of creating a schedule for yourself- sticking to it! Of course, things happen and some days you’ll get derailed but the longer you stick to it, the more it becomes habit. I’m a big fan of the tried and true pen and paper schedule. I like to write things down, and get a sense of satisfaction crossing something off my list. But there are also so many digital options as well to help you plan your time. Google calendars, Toggl, Harvest, Todoist, the list goes on and on. Pick one that suites your needs, make yourself a schedule and getting to crossing those things off your list. 

**Quit procrastinating.** Who isn’t guilty of procrastination at one point or another? If there is a task I’m not crazy about doing, I’ll do literally anything else, including cleaning everything in sight. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “eat the frog”, which means do the hardest, least appealing task first to get it out of the way. Completing a hard, unappealing task makes us feel good and gives us a sense of accomplishment which hopefully leads to completing all those other things sitting on our to-do lists.

**Focus on a single task.** This one is not as easy as some of the others as we’re basically programmed to multi-task everything we do. But with coding, or learning anything new really we should really try to focus on the task at hand instead of trying to do many things, probably at the expense of absorbing the information or doing something well. And while we’re at it, take that single task and break it down into smaller parts- this is a great takeaway from solving coding problems. As developers, we need to look at the whole problem, and then break it down into it’s pieces to tackle it. 

One more thing that I think is worth saying is, since most for most of us home is work and work is home, give yourself a place that free from distraction. And remember to schedule breaks and free time, if you’re constantly working or learning, you’ll burn out pretty quickly. 

  I’m definitely looking to create a better scheduling system for myself to visually break down my time (hello color coding!) and see where I’m spending most of it and where I can make some changes. This will also help me to cut down on distractions, procrastination and make the most out of the time I have. And I fully intend on scheduling in some breaks and free time so I don’t continually get overwhelmed and fall into the loop again.