How to Implement Time Management Hacks for Professionals

Stop managing time. Start mastering energy. After coaching over 200+ executives, I've learned that the high-performers prioritize their energy not their time. Here's what they've shared with me (save this): 1/ Decision Energy Optimization ↳ Map your peak alertness hours (track for 5 days) ↳ Schedule critical decisions before 2pm ↳ Create a "power hour" buffer before board meetings 2/ Strategic Recovery Design ↳ Implement the Navy SEAL 4x4 breath work (4 seconds in, 4 out) ↳ Book 20-min gaps between high-stakes meetings ↳ Use "walking meetings" for 1:1s (movement = energy) 3/ Cognitive Load Management ↳ Batch similar tasks in 90-min blocks ↳ Use "two-minute previews" before switching contexts ↳ Clear mental tabs with a daily brain dump (5 mins, end of day) 4/ Energy-First Calendar Defense ↳ Rate meetings from 1-3 (energy give vs. take) ↳ Front-load relationship building before 11am ↳ Create "untouchable Thursdays" for deep work 5/ High-Impact Recovery Protocols ↳ Master the 3-2-1 reset (3 deep breaths, 2 stretches, 1 intention) ↳ Schedule "micro-breaks" (7-12 mins) after lunch ↳ Use "energy gates" (10-min buffers) between major transitions 6/ Presence Activation Tactics ↳ Activate the 2-minute centering ritual before important meetings ↳ Use "power phrases" in private before presentations ↳ Practice selective unavailability (block "focus hours" daily) 7/ Environmental Energy Design ↳ Make their desk an "energy zone" ↳ Create a "recharge corner" in your office ↳ Mute the chaos (noise canceling earbuds) 8/ Relationship Energy Management ↳ Identify your top 5 energy amplifiers (schedule them weekly) ↳ List your energy vampires (limit exposure to 30 min) ↳ Build your "energy board of directors" (5 people who elevate you) 9/ Peak State Activation ↳ Create your "power playlist" (60-90 motivation seconds) ↳ Design your "pre-game ritual" (specific sequence before big events) ↳ Use "anchor phrases" for instant state transformation 10/ Sustainable Excellence Framework ↳ Track energy levels hourly for one week (use 1-10 scale) ↳ Implement "recovery days" after high-intensity weeks ↳ Create your "minimum viable recovery" protocol (3 non-negotiables) Reality check: Your energy capacity is your competitive advantage. Not your ability to outlast everyone else. Which tactic will you implement in the next 24 hours? ♻️ Share to help a leader thrive 🔖 Save this guide for your next energy audit 🎯 Follow me (Loren) for more high-performance tactics

I'm excited to share my system for staying productive all day, every day. This system allowed me to sell over $100M in my B2B sales career, then build a 7 figure coaching business working an average of 40 hours/week. Most importantly, my nights and weekends are free to spend with my family. Here's are the 3 simple steps I take every single week: Step 1: Complete a Weekly Plan & Scorecard at the beginning of each week On Monday mornings (or Sunday evening), I print and fill out a Weekly Plan & Scorecard. On this document, I write down all the important tasks and action items I aspire to get done that week in no particular order. I then rank each task in order of priority, typically prioritizing RGA's (Revenue Generating Activities) for my business. I originally took this scorecard from a book called the 12 Week Year, then adapted it to include a "Rank" column, which allows me to prioritize each action item. Prioritizing the Action Items allows me to know where to start every day, and prevents me from getting overwhelmed. Step 2: Daily Task Blocking in Calendar Whitespace At the beginning of each weekday, I fill up all the whitespace on my calendar for that day with high priority tasks taken directly from the Weekly Plan & Scorecard. This ensures that the most important tasks for the week get done first and eliminates daily decision fatigue. The key is to put the specific tasks on your calendar so there's no empty space. If for some reason any tasks on the calendar don't get completed for that day, I move them to the next day in any open whitespace. Step 3: Weekly Scoring At the end of each week, I score my performance using the simple formula: Tasks Completed / Tasks Written Down = Score % My goal is to score 85% or higher each week, although admittedly there are many weeks where I fall short. If there are any tasks that didn't get completed that week, they get moved to the following week. I rinse and repeat this process every single week. This ensures that I SHOW UP every single day, and stay productive throughout the entire work week. Additional keys to success include: 1. Taking short breaks when you feel mentally drained. Stretching, a short walk, and standing desk do wonders to change your state. 2. Minimize the number of daily meetings on your calendar (4 or less is optimal) to stay focused and ensure you have enough whitespace to get deep work done. 3. Give yourself an hour lunch to break up the work day. Every day I have lunch with my wife, and that's also on the calendar. 4. Do one thing at a time 5. If you have an unproductive day, forgive yourself. Of course, this is all easier said than done... That's why next week, in our 2nd *Transformation Tuesday* LIVE training session, I'm going to walk you through exactly how to leverage The 12 Week Year (and Weekly Scorecard) to transform your productivity and your life. Sign up here: https://lnkd.in/gsPsq2XR Only 500 spots available due to Zoom webinar limit!

Time Management Insights for Improving Productivity ⏰💡 I have been mentoring several people around the topic of time management. These are some pointers to help you master your time, boost productivity, and achieve more with less stress. 📈 1. Self-Assessment: Track and Analyze Your Time 📊 Track Your Time: For the next two weeks , keep a detailed log of how you spend each hour. There are tools like Toggl or RescueTime to help simplify this process.  I will put link to their sites in the comments. John Jensen also has a spreadsheet he utilizes that is a great framework for sales people. Categorize Activities: Once your log is complete, sort activities into categories such as planning, deal management, prospecting, admin tasks, internal and external meetings, and personal time.  Do you also understand what your high-impact activities are? Evaluate: Reflect on your log. Are you dedicating enough time to high-impact activities? Are personal activities getting the time they deserve? 2. Identify Areas for Improvement 🔍 High-Value vs. Low-Value Tasks: Pinpoint tasks that drive your goals forward. Delegate or eliminate low-value tasks. High-value tasks are often those that only you can do. Time Wasters: Identify activities that consume time without adding value, such as redundant meetings or excessive email checks. 3. Set Clear Priorities 🎯 Define Your Key Responsibilities: Clarify your role and responsibilities. Focus on activities that align with these and have the most significant impact. Goal Setting: Set clear, measurable goals. This will sharpen your focus and help you prioritize and delegate tasks effectively. 4. Improve Delegation 🤝 Identify Delegation Opportunities: Based on your time log and priorities, find tasks that can be handed off, freeing you to focus on high-level strategy. 5. Continuous Improvement 📈 Regular Check-Ins: Schedule regular check-ins to review your progress, discuss challenges, and adjust strategies as needed. This keeps you accountable and allows for timely adjustments. Personal Insights from My Experience 🌟 When I first started tracking my time, I was amazed at how much of it was spent on low-value tasks. By categorizing and analyzing my activities, I identified key areas for improvement and began delegating tasks that were consuming my time without significant returns. Setting clear priorities and goals was a game-changer, allowing me to focus on high-impact activities and achieve better results. Implementing these steps transformed my productivity, and I'm confident it can do the same for you! 🚀 #TimeManagement #Productivity

Dear Professionals, Is productivity overrated? Oh, not at all. But you can’t wish it away. You need proven strategies to improve your productivity in the coming year! Before diving into that, let me share a little story. During my undergraduate days, I always multitasked. I combined a part-time home schooling initiative with my academics. In the evenings, I would go to various homes to teach secondary school students compulsory subjects (English, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology). In no time, more parents showed interest, and to maintain the quality of service, I had to involve other intelligent colleagues. We prepared many of these students for their final exams, and they achieved great success. I was also involved in student politics and had to lead delegations to the vice-chancellor and government for various causes that required advocacy and high-level interventions. Amidst all these activities, I raised funds and organized several health outreaches to underserved communities. I built leadership, organizational, research, and time management skills that helped me succeed as a student. These skills have not only helped me as a professional but have also opened doors and unlocked many opportunities too numerous to mention. But here’s the thing: you need to put systems in place because systems are drivers of productivity. Some systems have worked for me. Have a go at them: 1. Time Blocking: Allocate specific blocks of time for different tasks throughout your day. This helps maintain focus and prevents multitasking, which can reduce productivity. Use tools like Google Calendar to schedule these blocks and stick to them. For instance, dedicate mornings to deep work and afternoons to meetings and emails. 2. The 2-Minute Rule: If a task will take less than two minutes to complete, do it immediately. This prevents small tasks from piling up and cluttering your to-do list. This hack is particularly useful for quick emails, small administrative tasks, or filing documents. 3. Prioritize with the Eisenhower Matrix: Organize your tasks based on urgency and importance using the Eisenhower Matrix. - Quadrant 1: Urgent and Important (Do immediately) - Quadrant 2: Not Urgent but Important (Schedule for later) - Quadrant 3: Urgent but Not Important (Delegate if possible) - Quadrant 4: Neither Urgent nor Important (Eliminate if possible) By focusing on what truly matters and eliminating unnecessary tasks, you can significantly boost your productivity and efficiency. I see you winning in the coming year, 2025. What strategies do you employ to be productive? Feel free to share; iron sharpens iron. A lighted candle doesn’t lose anything by lighting another. Till we all win!

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. Years ago, I thought time management was: ↳ Making to-do lists, ↳ Planning everything on a schedule, ↳ And still not getting everything done. But I learned the hard way: It’s not about doing more, it’s about doing it right. Here are 12 game-changing strategies: (that truly transformed my productivity) 1/ Anti-To-Do List: Track what not to do (low-value tasks or habits that waste time). 2/ The Rule of Three: Instead of endless task lists, set just 3 key priorities per day. 3/ Time-Stamped Planning: Estimate time for each task, so your schedule isn’t just a wish list. 4/ Switching Tax Awareness: Switching between tasks can cost up to 40% of your productivity—minimize it. 5/ Waiting Time Hack: Use waiting in line or commuting for micro-tasks (replying to emails or listening to audiobooks). 6/ 90-Min Deep Work Cycle: Your brain works best in 90-minute focus sprints followed by breaks. 7/ Day Theming: Assign specific tasks to certain days (e.g., Mondays for planning, Fridays for networking). 8/ Set Hard Stops: Decide when work must end to prevent overworking and force efficiency. 9/ Productive Boredom: Allow quiet time for creative thinking (no phone, no music). 10/ Just Start Rule: When procrastinating, commit to just 2 minutes of a task—momentum usually follows. 11/ Multiplier Tasks: Some tasks (automating a workflow or hiring the right person) save you time forever. 12/ Manage Energy, Not Just Time: Track when you’re naturally most focused and schedule deep work. Time is the only resource you can’t get back. Manage it wisely. ♻️ Share this with your network. ☝️ For more valuable insights, follow me, Victoria Repa.

⏲️ Time management techniques that actually work I'm a fan of Lenny's Podcast, and I´m always searching for effective techniques to optimize my time.  So today, I'm sharing Lenny's Newsletter's article, "𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸", which offers a pragmatic and proven approach. Here's a summary of the 10 productivity techniques and how I'm using them☝️: 𝟭. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼-𝗱𝗼𝘀: Instead of a to-do app, schedule tasks directly in your calendar. Plan your week on Sunday evenings. ☝️ The new Notion Calendar is excellent at pulling my open tasks into the calendar so I can drag and drop them through the day and commit time to them. 𝟮. 𝗧𝘄𝗼-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗿𝘂𝗹𝗲: If a task takes less than two minutes, do it immediately instead of adding it to your list. ☝️The procrastinator in me hates this one, but I've been more intentional with it. 𝟯. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗮 "𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿" 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁: Track items you're waiting on from others to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. ☝️ My tasks list in Notion has a waiting-for field to track who I need a response from. 𝟰. 𝗗𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝟯 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀: Write down 1-3 most important tasks each morning before starting work. Do the hardest one first. ☝️ This one has been a game changer: visualizing 3 things that I'd be excited to accomplish throughout the day, writing them down in front of me, and ripping the page off at the end of the day is an excellent fix of dopamine and productivity. To make sure I get to those tasks, the following technique is equally important. 𝟱. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: Schedule and fiercely guard blocks of uninterrupted focused work time. It takes 30-60 minutes to get into deep work mode. ☝️ I'm blocking my first 2,5hs at the office for deep work and getting most of the 3 daily priorities done. No meetings, no email checking, no notifications. A quick refresh with french press ☕ at the end. 𝟲. 𝗡𝗼 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀: Push meetings as late in the day as possible to protect your peak creative hours in the morning. ☝️ You won't get 5) without 6). 𝟳. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗗𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗯: Keep notifications off and remove distractions by physically separating yourself from devices when needed. ☝️ Multitasking is a hoax. 𝟴. 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗮𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘀𝘆𝗻𝗰: Convert meeting requests to email conversations when possible to save time and maintain focus. 𝟵. 𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮 𝘃𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁: Use services like Double or Athena to delegate low-impact tasks. ☝️ AI tools? 𝟭𝟬. 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻: Filter requests through your priorities, communicate tradeoffs clearly, and evaluate future commitments as if they were happening tomorrow. ☝️ Be intentional to avoid getting dragged into things you don't need, https://lnkd.in/gXfPDM93

Sometimes I look back at my time in the Air Force and wonder how I got everything done . . . how did I get kids to soccer, stay credible in the airplane, do laundry and grocery shopping, and focus on my role as a commander and leader. The reality is that there were often times where I felt overwhelmed by multiple competing priorities . . . there just didn’t seem to be enough time in the day to get it all done. The only way I could keep my head above water was to get serious and deliberate about prioritizing. I didn’t always get this right, but here are a few ideas that can help with prioritizing tasks and making the most of your time: 1️⃣ Identify Your Goals/Priorities: Clearly define your objectives to focus on tasks that align with your priorities. 2️⃣ Prioritize Tasks: Conduct a thorough analysis of your daily tasks. Determine which tasks are urgent and important, and focus on completing those first. {I didn’t know about the Eisenhower Matrix then, but I find it highly effective now for prioritizing tasks.)   3️⃣ Delegate Responsibilities: Trust others to handle tasks not directly related to your core responsibilities, freeing up time for priorities. 4️⃣ Set Realistic Deadlines: Break down larger tasks into smaller steps with achievable deadlines to maintain steady progress. Micro/quick wins are also good for motivation. (I personally enjoy crossing items off of my to-do list.) 5️⃣ Learn to Say No: Be selective about new commitments to avoid overloading your schedule (sometimes easier said than done, and it’s helpful to have an accountability partner on this). 6️⃣ Block your Schedule: Consider setting aside specific blocks in your schedule for strategic thinking. Creating this space ensures that you are actively working toward your goals and objectives and not just getting bogged down in the weeds. 7️⃣ Review and Adjust: Regularly reassess your schedule and priorities to ensure they align with your goals, adjusting as needed. (I use a high tech sticky note and review/re-write at the end of each day). Whether you're a business professional, military member, entrepreneur, or student, effective time management is key to maintaining productivity and reducing stress. #Prioritization #ProfessionalDevelopment #PersonalDevelopment