Time Management: 7 best tools for effective time management

In today's fast-paced working world, effective time management has become crucial to productivity and personal success. Time management involves the use of various tools and techniques to optimise workflow and increase efficiency. With a myriad of tasks and responsibilities vying for our attention, having the right tools can mean the difference between feeling overwhelmed and maintaining a healthy balance.

Unproductive use of time

On average, each employee spends 51% of their workday on unproductive activities. The most common reasons for this waste of time are:

Unnecessary travel, meetings and emails: Managers spend 72% of their working week in meetings, averaging about 37 meetings per week. Each employee loses about 3 hours per day due to distractions in the workplace;
Tasks unrelated to their primary role: Every day, employees spend 1.5 hours on tasks and meetings that are unrelated to their primary role in the business. This time could be used more productively.

Time management tools at work

1. Google Calendar

Google Calendar is an indispensable time management tool that allows you to schedule events, set reminders and share calendars with colleagues. It helps you achieve your goals by defining specific tasks, such as allocating time for a project or delivery, and then calculates blocks of time to complete them. Google Calendar is also integrated with Gmail, which automatically adds events related to meetings, business trips, and other tasks.

You can also integrate Google Calendar with other apps, such as Google Meet, to simplify scheduling online meetings. This tool is free for everyone, but businesses that need more storage space or advanced video calling capabilities can take advantage of paid plans.

2. Asana

Asana is a project management platform that allows teams to organise tasks, set deadlines and collaborate effectively. With an intuitive interface and features such as a calendar and Gantt chart, Asana makes planning and prioritising easy. The free version is available for teams of up to 15 people, while paid plans with advanced features are available for larger organisations.

3. Evernote

Evernote is a powerful note-taking, task organisation and archiving application that allows you to create text, image and multimedia notes. The basic version is free and includes all the features most users need, but the paid version, Evernote Premium, offers more storage space, note collaboration, and PDF search. With its flexibility and adaptability, Evernote is one of the most popular apps for taking notes and storing digital archives.

4. Trello

Trello is a powerful visual tool designed to manage tasks according to your schedule. It allows you to create boards, called Trello boards, for different projects or programmes and organise tasks as ‘cards’ that can be moved between customisable lists. This unique visual approach provides an attractive way to visualise workflow and task progress, greatly improving collaboration and time management.

Trello also includes built-in calendar and notification features to help keep track of deadlines and important events. The app integrates with many other tools such as Slack, Google Drive and Jira, making it a versatile project management solution. Trello is available in both a web version and a mobile app, allowing users to stay organised and productive anytime, anywhere.

5. RescueTime

RescueTime is an application to automatically monitor your online activity. It generates reports on the apps and websites that consume the most time, helping to identify distractions and areas to improve productivity. This information allows you to adjust your habits to work more efficiently.

RescueTime counts and estimates the time you spend on your computer and tracks your activity. The app also offers features to block distracting websites and create focused work periods to help you stay focused on tasks.

6. Pomodoro Timer

The Pomodoro Timer is a time management technique developed by Francesco Cirillo in the 1980s. This technique was created to increase concentration and productivity by dividing time into targeted work intervals called ‘Pomodoro’ followed by short breaks. The name ‘Pomodoro’ comes from a tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used when he was a university student to control his study time.

The idea was to divide work into concentrated blocks of time, usually lasting 25 minutes, followed by a short 5-minute break. Based on this technique, various apps such as Pomodoro Timer, Focus To Do and Focus Booster have been developed to help users incorporate the technique into their daily work. These apps often include additional features such as customising the duration of intervals and tracking progress.

7. Post-it

If you don't like tech but need to write down all your tasks, you can always use good old-fashioned diaries or personalised notes. Using different coloured post-it notes will help you easily distinguish tasks by their priority and type. For example, meetings can be written on green stickers, urgent deliveries on pink stickers, and everything else on yellow stickers.

This method helps you to better navigate the office and quickly find the information you need. You can also use special organisers with dividers for different categories of tasks. This approach provides visual organisation and simplifies the planning of the working day.

Conclusion

Effective time management is the key to increasing productivity and keeping your workday in order. Using the right tools, from digital apps to classic post-it notes, helps to better organise tasks and minimise distractions. Find the methods that work for you and apply them daily to maximise results.