Working from home is the dream for a lot of us, but it requires the use of time management techniques and definitely comes with its own challenges. 

I’ve found that working from home takes quite a bit of self-discipline to keep me on track and away from doomscrolling or finding other side quests to fill my day. 

I struggle with knowing what activities and tasks to prioritize, while still trying to make sure I take time to take care of myself through taking walks and reading every now and then. 

So how do you balance your time in a way that allows for maximum productivity while working and zero guilt when you’re not? 

It’s all about time management—prioritizing tasks, maximizing efficiency, and reducing stress. 

Benefits of Implementing Effective Time Management Techniques 

You may be a master of memory or the champion of multitasking, but we’re all human and tasks fall through the cracks. 

Incorporating effective time management techniques into your daily work routine will help you optimize your working time so you can enjoy your time off even more. 

Here’s a list of some of the top benefits of incorporating some time management techniques into your work routine:

Improves Focus

Prioritizing and scheduling tasks allow you to let go of outside activities and zero in on the task at hand, which boosts focus and minimizes distractions.

Improves Efficiency

By writing out what you’d like to accomplish in the day, you won’t have to remember every little thing.

This allows you to clear out some space within your mind so that you can be fully present and ready to tackle the task at hand.

Reduces Stress

Effective time management techniques enable you to hold the power over your day.

You know exactly when you are going to handle which tasks, making your day far less stressful as you plan ahead.

Goal Achievement

When you take the time to sit down and plan out your goals for the day, month, or year, break them down into smaller tasks, and schedule those tasks out, it suddenly makes large goals much more attainable.

As you devote time each day to the overall goal, you’ll find that those small steps add up to big achievements.

You’ll also find the joy of the process as you see yourself accomplishing the smaller goals along your path.

Improves Decision Making

If you’re anything like me, you like to do all the things right now, which we know is just not possible.

If you tend to overcommit, efficient time management techniques can help you make better decisions about what you can and cannot commit to.

You’ll be better able to schedule a task or appointment, delegate it, or decide against it completely by making an informed decision.

Reduces Procrastination

When you have dedicated time for a task—with a clear starting and ending time—that task becomes less daunting.

You do what you can within the allotted time, and then give yourself a break.

Improves Enjoyment of Your Time Off

Just as dedicated time for work is vital to boosting your focus and productivity, dedicated time off is just as important.

When you’re able to effectively take control of the time you’ve allotted yourself for work in a day, it is so much easier and more enjoyable when you finally clock out for the day.

Time Management Techniques for You to Try

Time Management Technique #1: The Pomodoro Technique

If you’ve ever searched online for anything related to productivity, you’ve heard of the Pomodoro Technique. 

This technique breaks your work routine into 30-minute cycles—25 minutes of focused work followed by a 5-minute break. 

Try it: Ahead of time, decide what tasks you’ll tackle during each 25-minute round of work. After four rounds, take a 15-30 minute break to clear your head.

Time Management Technique #2: The Brain Dump, featuring the Eisenhower Matrix

You’re juggling so many things right now and can’t afford to drop the ball on anything. 

The best thing you can do is to dump all of those balls out on the table (or a piece of paper or your notes section on your phone) and start sorting through them. 

Ideally, you’ll get everything written out—every task, goal, appointment, phone call, to-do, etc.—and you’ll take this mess of junk and start categorizing it into four categories: 

Urgent and Important – These are the tasks you need to schedule first and foremost in your day. Prioritize these and make sure they get done. 

Important but not Urgent – These are the tasks you need to do, but they don’t need to be accomplished today. Get out your calendar and get them scheduled for later in the day or week. 

Urgent but Not Important – These are the tasks you can consider delegating out to others. 

Not Urgent and Not Important – These are the tasks you can consider letting go of. 

Try it: At the start of each day, take a moment to dump out your thoughts and sift through them. Organize them as needed, schedule out tasks, activities, appointments, and phone calls, and prioritize Urgent and Important tasks. 

Click here for a more in-depth look at utilizing your brain dump fully.

Time Management Technique #3: Time Blocking

Some people thrive with time blocking while others struggle to adhere to a strict schedule. 

I encourage you to figure out how strict you need to be when it comes to blocking your own time. 

If 15-minute increments gives you a sense of control and fuels your productivity, then baby, schedule out your day in 15-minute increments. 

If you like a little more flexibility and feel stressed about following a time schedule to the T, try blocking off larger chunks of time for a broader category of tasks. 

For example: 

8:00-8:15 – Smith Project

8:15-8:30 – Smith Project

8:30-8:45 – Admin tasks

8:45-9:00 – Respond to emails 

9:00-9:15 – Matthews Project

Vs. 

8:00-9:15 – Projects (Smith; Matthews)

9:15-10:00 – Admin (emails, calls, etc.)

Time Management Technique #4: The 2-Minute Rule

This one is simple. 

Not always easy, but simple. 

If you’re looking at your list of tasks and see something that would take you less than two minutes to complete, go ahead and knock it out. 

Another way to think of this is to only touch something once. 

If it’s a simple email that only requires a simple response, do it. 

If the paperwork on your desk just needs to be filed away real quick, get it done. 

The point is not to get bogged down in detail work, but rather to take care of smaller tasks quickly so that they don’t build up over time to create a mess of tasks that tank your productivity. 

Try it: Schedule out 20 minutes to tackle your 2-minute tasks. These are great for when you need a brain break from more mentally demanding work. 

Time Management Technique #5: Deal With the Worst Thing First

Otherwise known as “eating the frog,” this technique has you deal with the task you’d rather not do first thing in your work day. 

Try it: As you’re figuring out your plan for the day, identify what task would have the biggest impact on the rest of your day or the task that you’d rather not deal with. Get that task scheduled first on your list, tackle it, and be done! This will give you a sense of accomplishment and relief, as a looming, dreaded task is a fantastic way to boost anxiety instead of productivity.

Time Management Technique #6: Batching

Group like tasks together and knock them all out in the same time block. 

For example, you need to create a list of blog post ideas, write outlines for them, flesh them out with content, and edit and format them. 

Instead of following one post through from beginning to end, try knocking out several outlines within an hour or two time block, or spend a block of time editing and formatting written posts so that they are ready to go on the day you want them published. 

When you group similar tasks together, it allows your mind to focus on a particular type of task, rather than trying to keep up with the entire scope of what needs to be done.

Which Time Management Technique Will You Choose?

Figuring out how you work best and tapping into your productivity power can skyrocket your ability to focus on your daily tasks. 

Try out a few of these and see which one clicks best with your brain—then come back and let me know what works best for you. 

If you have any more to add to the list, leave me a comment.