How I Manage My Time - 10 Time Management Tips

Summary

In this video, productivity guru Ali Abdaal shares his top 10 time management tips, drawing from his wide experience and readings on the subject. He emphasizes the importance of owning your time, setting priorities, and the power of saying 'no' to tasks that don't excite you. Other key strategies include setting daily highlights, creating physical to-do lists, and using time blocking for essential tasks. Ali also delves into leveraging Parkinson's Law, delegating tasks, using tools like Calendly for efficient scheduling, and finding satisfaction in daily achievements. This comprehensive guide combines practical tips with psychological insights to help viewers maximize their productivity and gain control over their schedules.

Highlights

• Realizing that you own your time can be life-changing! ⚡
• The 'Hell Yeah or No' philosophy eliminates half-hearted commitments. 🙌
• Identifying a daily highlight turns ambiguous goals into completed tasks. 🎯
• The tactile satisfaction of crossing items off a physical list is irreplaceable. ✒️
• Allocating specific calendar time for tasks ensures they'll get done. 📅
• Artificially imposed deadlines can increase productivity through urgency. 🚀
• Protected time can be your haven for uninterrupted work or relaxation. 🛀
• Delegation is about freeing time for high-value tasks, not just outsourcing. 🤝
• Calendly can reduce back-and-forth scheduling emails, saving precious minutes. 📆
• Find contentment in small daily wins rather than chasing endless productivity. 🎐

Key Takeaways

• Your time is yours to own; if something isn't a priority, it's okay to say no! 🕒
• Embrace the 'Hell Yeah or No' approach to discern what truly matters to you. 🔍
• Daily highlights can turn overwhelming to-do lists into focused achievement. ✅
• Physical to-do lists can be more satisfying and effective than digital ones. 📋
• Time blocking lets you prioritize key tasks in your schedule, ensuring they get done. 🗓️
• Set artificial deadlines to avoid work expanding beyond necessary limits. ⏱️
• Protected time in the morning can free up uninterrupted creative work hours. 🌅
• Delegation isn't just for big businesses; it's about valuing your time wisely. 🔄
• Automate scheduling to save time with tools like Calendly. 💻
• Choose to be satisfied with daily accomplishments rather than dwelling on what you didn't do. 😌

Overview

Ali starts by dismantling the myth that we don't have enough hours in the day. He asserts that we are in control, emphasizing the notion that not having time is often an excuse, and instead, it's all about priorities. This paves the way for his first major tip: 'Hell Yeah or No,' teaching us to engage only in activities that excite us, therefore managing time more efficiently and happily.

He introduces the concept of a daily highlight, a simple yet powerful tool to ensure you achieve what’s most important each day. Ali pairs this with the use of physical to-do lists, which provide a tangible way to manage tasks and derive satisfaction from literally crossing them off. Adding to this, he recommends time blocking, effectively safeguarding periods within a calendar for essential activities, thus preventing them from being overlooked.

Finally, Ali touches on advanced strategies like leveraging Parkinson's Law by setting artificial deadlines, ensuring that tasks don't take longer than necessary. He also promotes protected time for deep work, highlights the importance of delegating tasks that aren't worth your time financially, automates scheduling with tools like Calendly to cut down on email exchanges, and encourages finding satisfaction in daily successes to maintain a positive outlook on productivity.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:00: Introduction and Tip 1: Owning Your Time The introduction and first tip focus on the concept of owning your time. It reflects on the speaker's decade-long journey of exploring productivity and time management literature. The speaker emphasizes that the realization of owning all of our time was transformative, changing their perspective and approach to time management. This shift helped them recognize the control they have over their time, countering the often held belief of not having enough time. The chapter sets a foundation for efficient time management strategies that will be discussed in the video.
• 01:00 - 02:00: Tip 2: Hell Yeah or No This chapter introduces the concept of 'Hell Yeah or No,' which emphasizes making deliberate choices about how we spend our time. The author shares a personal realization from a fortune cookie message, stating that at any moment, we are doing what we most want to be doing. This understanding empowers the author, highlighting the idea that our time is within our control. Whether it's filming a video or playing World of Warcraft for hours, the author recognizes these as conscious decisions rather than constraints imposed by a lack of time. This mindset shifts focus from saying 'I don't have time' to 'I'm choosing how to allocate my time,' underscoring the importance of intentional time management.
• 02:00 - 03:00: Tip 3: Daily Highlight The chapter emphasizes the importance of recognizing our control over our time. Even if we have obligations like a job or family, fundamentally we choose how to allocate our time. Not having time means something isn't a priority, which is perfectly acceptable, but understanding this is crucial. It introduces the concept from Derek Severs' book titled "Hell Yeah or No," advocating that choices should evoke excitement and clarity, akin to 'Hell Yeah,' otherwise they should be discarded.
• 03:00 - 04:00: Tip 4: Using a To-Do List This chapter discusses the concept of managing tasks and opportunities using a 'hell yeah or no' approach. Initially, when starting out, it's beneficial to say 'yes' to most opportunities to gain traction. However, as you progress and start receiving more inbound leads, utilizing a 'hell yes or no' filter becomes vital. If an opportunity doesn't immediately excite you or seem beneficial, the default should be to say 'no'. This allows you to focus energy on projects and opportunities that truly resonate and are worth the effort.
• 04:00 - 05:00: Tip 5: Time Blocking The chapter 'Tip 5: Time Blocking' discusses the importance of time management and effective calendaring. The narrator reflects on their calendar being filled with activities that are not passionate 'hell yeah' commitments, and emphasizes the value of learning to say 'no' to such obligations. The concept called 'The Daily Highlight' from the book 'Make Time' by Jake Knapp and John Zoratsky is introduced, advocating for selecting a single task each day to focus on as the main highlight, facilitating effective prioritization and time management.
• 05:00 - 06:00: Tip 6: Parkinson's Law The chapter discusses the concept of Parkinson's Law in relation to productivity and time management. It emphasizes the importance of setting a 'daily highlight' – a single, most important task to focus on each day. When the speaker sets this daily highlight, they consistently complete it and feel satisfied. In contrast, without a clear daily focus, they become overwhelmed by their to-do list and struggle to manage time effectively. The chapter suggests that having a daily highlight is crucial for prioritizing tasks and improving overall time management.
• 06:00 - 07:00: Tip 7: Protected Time The chapter emphasizes the importance of using a to-do list for effective time management. It suggests using a physical to-do list, such as the 'Analog' by Ugmonk, which uses note cards and a wooden holder to organize daily tasks. The narrator explains their personal system of identifying a daily highlight and listing other necessary tasks to be completed each day. The key takeaway is that while the specific system of the to-do list doesn't matter, the principle of organizing tasks remains essential.
• 07:00 - 08:00: Tip 8: Delegation The chapter focuses on the concept of delegation as a means of improving productivity. It emphasizes the idea that our brains are designed to generate ideas rather than retain them. Many productivity issues arise from not recording thoughts and tasks, leading to forgetfulness. To address this, the author recommends writing down tasks in an app, like Rome, and suggests using an analog to-do list system, such as the one by Ug Monk, for daily task management. The physical act of crossing off tasks provides a satisfying experience and is part of the author's routine, even in a professional setting as a doctor.
• 08:00 - 09:00: Tip 9: Automate Scheduling The chapter discusses the importance of automating scheduling as a time management strategy. The speaker highlights the satisfaction derived from traditional task management methods like to-do lists but acknowledges the efficiency of digital scheduling. They introduce the concept of time blocking, which is frequently used by figures like Elon Musk. This method involves allocating specific time slots in a calendar for tasks, to enhance focus and productivity. Although the speaker is somewhat resistant to over-structuring their time, they still schedule key activities at the beginning of each day to streamline their workflow.
• 09:00 - 10:00: Tip 10: Choose to be Satisfied The chapter discusses the concept of choosing to be satisfied by setting a daily highlight, an important task or event that is prioritized above all else for the day. The author emphasizes scheduling this highlight into their calendar to ensure it gets accomplished, providing a sense of reassurance and satisfaction. Whether it's filming a video, calling a grandma, or making changes to a website, the act of scheduling these tasks guarantees their completion. Flexibility is also highlighted, as the schedule can be adjusted if something unexpected arises, ensuring the prioritized task is always addressed.
• 10:00 - 11:00: Conclusion and Additional Resources The chapter 'Conclusion and Additional Resources' discusses how integrating daily highlights with time blocking in calendars can be incredibly beneficial. The common perception is questioned, where people believe that focusing on one main task per day is insufficient. However, consistently achieving one critical task daily can lead to significant progress and be transformative over a year. Further, the chapter touches upon Parkinson's Law, which states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion, implying efficient time management can lead to greater productivity.

How I Manage My Time - 10 Time Management Tips Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 all right so over the past 10 years i have read basically all of the books around productivity and time management and in that time there are 10 things that i still use in my life genuinely used to help make my time management more efficient let's talk about them in this video tip number one is that we absolutely own all of our time now [Music] this is like a big one um when i first had this realization my life genuinely changed because i used to think i don't have time to do stuff and i don't know where i read it but i came
• 00:30 - 01:00 across this like probably like a fortune cookie somewhere which said something like at any given moment you are doing what you most want to be doing and that was a very empowering thing for me because i was obviously in need of empowerment and it helped me realize that my time is entirely within my control like right now i'm filming this video because i want to be earlier today i spent six hours playing world of warcraft because that's what i wanted to do i could not have said i don't have the time to work out today instead it was a case of i'm actively choosing not to make the time to work out today and so when it comes to time management like
• 01:00 - 01:30 step one is always to recognize that we are always in control of our own time yes you might have a boss yes you might have parents telling you what to do but fundamentally you are in control of your own time and you can choose to do whatever you want with that time if you don't have the time to do something that something is just not a priority which is fine but don't pretend like the reason you're not doing it is because you genuinely don't have the time point number two is the title of this book by derek severs hell yeah or no what's worth doing now the vibe here hell yeah or no it kind of says it all in the title that when when we're young and we don't have very many opportunities in our lives we
• 01:30 - 02:00 should probably say yes to the majority of things that are coming our way but as soon as we get to a point where we're starting getting starting to get more inbound leads then we have time available we start operating with a hell yeah or no maxim and the idea there is something is either a hell yes or it's a no and so if i get an email from someone saying hey do you want to do this thing and i'm thinking maybe it sounds kind of alright then my default position is going to be no if i get an email from someone saying hey do you want to do this thing and i'm like hell yeah then i'm going to do the thing and i'm
• 02:00 - 02:30 trying to get better at using this principle in my life because even now my calendar is full of a lot of things where i'm like oh yeah kind of rather than hell yeah too and i always regret doing it when it comes down so hell yeah or no just like learning to be okay with saying no to stuff is another really important principle of time management thirdly there's a tip i picked up from this book called make time by jake knapp and john zoratsky and this tip is called the daily highlight this is like deviously simple basically the idea is that every day we decide this thing this one thing is going to be my highlight of the day
• 02:30 - 03:00 this is the only thing i need to get done today and on the days where i set a daily highlight and i try and do this every day i always get the thing done and i'm always really happy at the end of the day but if i have a day where i don't set my daily highlight then i kind of drown in my to-do list and i have this just image in my head of like oh yeah i need to do this and this and this and that and it's a lot harder to get stuff done whereas on days where i have the daily highlight i have that just one thing that i'm focusing on you know this is the most urgent or the most satisfying or the most fun thing i have to do today and then it just really really helps with my time management
• 03:00 - 03:30 tip number four for time management is to use a to-do list and these days i use a physical to-do list with this uh analog by ugg monk it's very nice it's like you get these like note cards and then you get this like wooden thing and you like put the note card in the thing and it looks like this and that means like every morning once i figured out what my daily highlight is i make a list of the other stuff that i have to do that day and i shove it on a list and then i tick them off and cross them off with physical pen as i go throughout my day it doesn't really matter what system you use for a to-do list but again there's a general principle of
• 03:30 - 04:00 productivity which is that our brain is for having ideas not for holding them and a big part of why we let stuff slip through the cracks when it comes to managing our time and managing our productivity is because we haven't written them down and so anytime i need to do something i write it down into an app these days i use rome but then when i figure out my daily to-do list it's all based on this analog system by ugg monk which is very nice and it's kind of cool having a physical to-do list in front of me that i can cross things off of and it just feels nice and yeah even at work when i'm working as a doctor i use physical to-do lists
• 04:00 - 04:30 to manage my patient list to manage my list of tasks there's something incredibly satisfying about crossing something off which you just don't get when you use an app principle number five for time management is the concept of time blocking apparently this is something that elon musk does all the time and basically the idea there is any time we need to do something we put a block for it in our calendar so i don't like doing this for absolutely everything because i'm a bit of a waste man and i think the more time i spend managing my productivity system the less time i spend actually getting stuff done and then it's just all completely pointless but the one thing that i always schedule into my calendar at the start of the day
• 04:30 - 05:00 is my daily highlight so if i've decided my daily highlight is filming this video usually well i'll try my best to schedule it into my calendar at the time where i know i'm going to film the video if my daily highlight is call my grandma i will literally scroll schedule it into my calendar if my daily highlight is make changes to my website i will schedule it out like for a block in my calendar and that's like really nice and reassuring because it means that that one thing that i've decided is really really important it's always going to get done because it's always on the schedule and then if i need to move it around i'll move it around if something comes up
• 05:00 - 05:30 but at least it's there on the schedule by default and this thing where you combine the daily highlight with time blocking in the calendar is just incredibly useful everyone always kind of thinks that like oh but only one thing a day don't you have to do more than that and yeah you do kind of have to do more than that in most of our lives but imagine if every single day for the next year you could actually do the one thing the one most important thing to do that day you'd make a hell of a lot of progress over the course of the year and it would just be absolutely game changing principle number six is related to something called parkinson's law which is that work expands to fill the time that we allocate to it so if i
• 05:30 - 06:00 have to film a youtube video in a day and i give myself the whole day to film that youtube video inevitably it's gonna take all day to film the youtube video whereas if i only give myself half an hour or an hour to film the youtube video and i fill my day up with other things then inevitably i get the video done in that small amount of time and so the actionable advice here is to leverage artificial deadlines even when it's something like filming a new course like you know i'm working on a course for youtube for beginners where i kind of film and talk you to everything about my youtube video production process and this doesn't really have a deadline like
• 06:00 - 06:30 i could literally do it whenever i want i don't have to do it it's purely optional project but i've set myself the goal that okay you know what i'm going to film all of this course next weekend and i've blocked out time in my calendar next weekend to film the course and that's an artificial deadline which means the course is going to get done whereas if i just had it in my mind or in my to-do list without a deadline without a schedule it would just inevitably never ever get done point number seven is one i've started applying recently and that is having protected time when you're an entrepreneur and you're like working for yourself and all that kind of stuff you end up basically
• 06:30 - 07:00 being able to set whatever schedule you want but like if if you're like me and you're like making connections and making friends with people all around the internet you get to a point where your day is filled with lots and lots of zoom calls and i realized that for me i need to keep my mornings completely free of any obligations or any zoom calls and this has been an absolute game changer because in the morning that means i can wake up whenever i want usually it's half past eight these days and it means that for a solid like four hours at least i've got uninterrupted time where i can do whatever i want so these days i'm working on writing my book and
• 07:00 - 07:30 so the morning is my protected time for writing but even on days where i'm not working on the book it's just genuinely so nice to have that like time slot where i can think about the business or plan some more videos or do the things that help move me forward in my work career and sometimes if i'm not really feeling it i'll just decide you know what i'm going to use this protected time to play world of warcraft or to just kind of relax and read a book on the sofa so if you're interested in better ways to managing your time i would recommend figuring out what your protected time is going to be time that is just for you and you alone or world of warcraft and not for anyone
• 07:30 - 08:00 else where no one is allowed to book something in your schedule all right principle number eight is delegation now this one is a little bit weird because normally when you say the word delegate people imagine that oh well i do i can't afford to delegate something i don't have enough money to delegate to hire someone and sure that that's probably true but the way that i think of it even when this youtube channel wasn't successful was that like what is actually the dollar value of my time how much how much is my time actually worth and when it came to running my business i decided that okay
• 08:00 - 08:30 my time is worth 20 pounds an hour or 25 dollars an hour and that means that anything i'm doing that i don't enjoy that i can outsource to someone that i can delegate for less than 25 an hour i absolutely should do that and that principle of delegation has encouraged me to get a cleaner which has been great because now we have someone who comes in to clean the house every other week which means i don't have to do it myself and back in the day when i was building my businesses from the ground up and there was lots of things that needed to be done like data entry or things like that i was able to delegate those to freelancers in like the philippines or in bangladesh or in india through upwork.com or
• 08:30 - 09:00 fiverr.com and like paying them like seven dollars an hour is an amazing like wage for someone for work in the philippines but it was fantastic for me because it freed up my time to do things that were adding more value to the business and to my life than doing data entry for example and so whatever your circumstances are i'd encourage you to think about what is the dollar value of your time and potentially if you want can you delegate stuff that's cheaper than that to other people potentially tip number nine for time management is to try and automate scheduling as much as possible now that
• 09:00 - 09:30 we're in the world of like zoom calls and like chatting to people over the internet basically every day i found i was wasting a lot of time in scheduling back and forth where i'd be like hey i want to talk to you but are you free this time pacific time this time eastern time this time british standard time all this kind of stuff and we'd go back and forth with emails for like a solid 10 days before anything would get done but then i discovered an app called calendly and calendly is great it's free for like the free version i pay for the pro for the pro version these days not sponsoring this video or anything like that unfortunately kind of if you're watching this let me know but the idea behind calendar is you can
• 09:30 - 10:00 literally send someone a link and it has like all of your availability and they can just book a slot in your calendar now this feels a little bit weird to do initially it feels like a bit of a power move that hey book a slot on my calendar but anytime i get a calendar link from someone i'm like oh my god i'm so grateful because this has literally saved me 20 minutes of my life time that i'm never going to get back in not having to worry about scheduling back and forth emails even sometimes these days when it comes to like catching up with friends i just send them a calendar link and i'm like look say hey man i'm really sorry but like you know hear the kindly link i know we're never gonna talk because the schedules are never gonna align but if
• 10:00 - 10:30 there's a time that works for you click on this link andy books a time and we have a call and it's nice because i've caught up with so many more friends in the last few months through using calendar links than i did in the last like three years of having to schedule back and forth with whatsapp messages and finally principle number 10 for time management and this is something i've only recently started to appreciate which is that like when you're like a productivity nerd and you're interested in like efficiency and getting more done it's very easy for us to get to the end of the day and to just feel chronically dissatisfied with what we've accomplished like at the end of the day it's like oh well i i filmed one video
• 10:30 - 11:00 today but i could have filmed five videos what's wrong with me i'm such a waste man and kind of internally beating ourselves up about this but one thing i've started to kind of tell myself recently is that i can choose to be satisfied at the end of the day at the end of this day i'll have filmed this video i was planning to film three more videos but i didn't get around to doing those that's fine i filmed one i can choose to be satisfied with what i've done and that's all good and like it it doesn't change how much work i've done by me beating myself up about it it just makes me feel bad and therefore i can choose to feel good with how i've managed my time if you're
• 11:00 - 11:30 interested in more strategies on how to manage your time i actually have three whole online courses themed around productivity and time management that are hosted on skillshare no they're not sponsoring this video but if you hit the link in the video description there will be a link that gives you a free trial to skillshare where you can check out my three classes in productivity one of them is about the fundamentals of productivity one of them is about the productivity equation which is my personal mental model for productivity and the third one is one that i released very recently like last week around productivity for creators and how we manage our time doing this like creative high side hustle entrepreneur
• 11:30 - 12:00 type stuff so check that out with the links in the video description and if you want more tips for time management and general productivity you should check out my book review and summary of the book make time which is one of my favorite productivity books of all time and that will be linked right over there so thank you so much for watching have a great day and i'll see you in the next video bye