5 time-management hacks to improve productivity 
 
 
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Productivity, as a concept, can be tricky to navigate. Capitalism convinces us that our worth lies in how productive we are, it industrialises humanity and celebrates “hustle culture”. 
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Still, realistically most of us work in jobs where we simply need to get shit done, and ticking things off a to-do list can feel really satisfying. So, here are a few methods you can try out to manage your time and get through tasks quicker. â˜ș
 
1. The Pomodoro Technique 
 
The Pomodoro Technique was invented by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It uses a timer to break work into intervals of 25 minutes, separated by short breaks. Each interval is known as a pomodoro (the Italian word for tomato 🍅) after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer Cirillo used when developing the method. It goes like this:
  1. Decide on the task to be done and set a timer for 25 minutes
  2. Focus solely on the task for 25 minutes. No distractions!
  3. Take a short 5-10 minute break
  4. After 4 pomodoros, take a longer break of 20 minutes
  5. Repeat this until you’re done with the task
  6. Reward yourself before you move on to your next task.
 
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2. Parkinson’s Law
 
This one isn’t so much a technique, but more a rule that can shift how you think about time management.
 
British historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson coined the phrase, “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” In other words, the amount of time you give yourself to complete a task is the amount of time it will take you to complete it (obviously dependent on how big that task is).
 
A few tips to implement this law include:
✅ Commit to concrete plans before the deadline for a task so you’re forced to get it done earlier than needed.
✅ Try working without a computer charger forcing you to finish a project before your computer dies.
✅ Set a stretch goal. Give yourself a set time to do something—and then cut it in half.
✅ Set a time limit for separate tasks. For example give yourself only 20 minutes in the morning to answer emails or 1 hour to do your invoicing.
 
3. Matrix of Task Prioritisation 
 
To-do lists are basically pointless when they’re so long and unwieldy that they'll never be completed. That’s why creating a matrix can be super helpful to categorise and prioritise the tasks on your to-do list. This one is simple, with “cost” plotted against “value”, like this:
 
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4. The Eisenhower Matrix
 
Call me Keanu because I love a matrix (does that make sense? I’ve never seen The Matrix). 
 
In 1954, Dwight D. Eisenhower—the 34th President of the United States—said, “I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.”

Stephen Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, took Eisenhower’s words and used them to develop this matrix. It's especially helpful if you people manage. 
 
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5. Pareto Analysis (the 80/20 rule)
 
This one is for all you analytical thinkers out there. The 80/20 rule is a technique created by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. The goal is to help you prioritise tasks that need the most attention. 
  1. List some of the problems you are facing. For example, maybe your standard of work is slipping in some areas.
  2. Identify the root cause of each problem. Maybe your work in this area isn’t up to scratch because you’re distracted by social media.
  3. Assign a score to each problem: Assign higher numbers to more important problems
  4. Group problems together by cause: E.g. Group together all the problems caused by spending too much time on social media.
  5. Add up the score of each group: The group with the highest score is the issue you should work on first.
  6. Take action.
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