How to manage your time effectively

Start with understanding your priorities

In our daily lives, the discussion surrounding how we use our time is both common and crucial. Time, being a limited resource, stands as one of the most valuable assets we possess. Each of us aspires to optimize our time not only within the professional context, but also across various spheres of our lives such as family, friendships, and personal well-being. Over the past year, I´ve read deeply about this topic as it holds personal significance for me. I have firmly believed that by mastering the art of time management, I can attain greater satisfaction across all facets of my life and build the life I truly want to live.

However, my opinion changed over time, and I want to share with you why and how it happened. Let´s consider the following scenario:

At the end of each month, you might self-assess your performance at work: you perceive it as positive, indeed you were highly productive and accomplished several tasks. Your conclusion? You´ve managed your time well. However, when you include the other spheres of your lives, you recall instances where commitments to loved ones were postponed or personal goals were sidelined with statements like, "I can't find the time to call you today," or "I don't have time for my workout." Well, this happened to me, and it left me dissatisfied with how I was managing my time.

While exploring resources on the topic, I found a talk titled “How to gain control of your free time” by Laura Vanderkam, a renowned time management expert. This video completely changed my perspective on time management.

Vanderkam argues that many of us overestimate our commitments while underestimating the time available to us. In her study, she analyzed how successful people spend their time. Specifically, she tracked the professional and personal time schedule of busy women. She illustrates her main point through the example of a busy woman whose unexpectedly busy day still accommodated seven hours to address a broken water heater—a revelation of time hidden within her bustling schedule. If at the beginning of the week we were to ask this woman to find seven hours to train for a 5K, what do you think she would have answered? Maybe as everybody would: “I don´t have the time for it”. But when a problem comes up, we do find the time for it. This anecdote underscores a crucial insight: time is elastic, adaptable to our priorities, and as Vanderkam says, “the key to time management is treating our priorities as the equivalent of that broken water heater”.

So, how to manage your time effectively? Start with understanding your priorities!

“Time management” vs “priority management”

 I don´t have time often means it´s not a priority. Changing the language we use reminds us that time is a choice.

Rather than saying, "I don't have time," we should ask ourselves, "how important is this task to me?" and acknowledge, "I don't do this because it's not a priority."  

Effective “time management” starts with priorization and goal-setting – a form of “priority management. To do so, we first need to be able to distinguish between what is important and what is urgent. Urgent tasks often trigger reactive responses, fostering negativity and defensiveness, while important tasks elicit responsive, rational approaches that lead us to long-term growth and fulfillment.

This principle extends beyond the professional realm and can be applied to prioritize various aspects of life, including personal well-being, family, and friendships. For example, each week, plan into the four different areas 2 to 3 things that you´ll want to do, that are your priorities. Use a simple template as this one:

Professional context	Personal well-being	Family	Friendship
My priority My priority My priority

By allocating time intentionally across these domains and focusing on our priorities, we take a crucial step toward achieving balance and fulfillment. In essence, mastering time and priorities is an ongoing journey, and understanding our priorities might just be a small step towards managing our time more effectively. But it´s a start.

As Vanderkam states, 

“There is time. Even if we are busy, we have time for what matters. And when we focus on what matters, we can build the lives we want in the time we´ve got”.

Silvia Cottone

Behavioral Science Consultant

& Worldwide Keynote Speaker