Are you seeking the ideal time management technique to suit your style? We have got you covered with not one but 26 proven strategies to choose from. As you already know and have even experienced, unless you have been living under a rock your entire life, those who manage their time properly control their success.
Since we are not the same, we also use different methods to manage our time. The method someone else is using may or may not work for you. However, taking a 50/50 chance is a waste of your time.
Speaking of which, did you know that not managing your time can lead to numerous issues, such as unnecessary emails that can cost you $ 1,800 per employee per year? Instead, be sure and make your time work for you and not the other way around. Moreover, not only at work, properly managing your hours helps make your non-work life more stress-free, smooth-going, and convenient.
With that being said, let’s get started, helping you become a time management master.
6 Time Management Styles You Need to Know About
As we mentioned before, since we are all different, we have different working styles. So, we will all manage our time uniquely. So, only one method to manage time will suit each of us. Nonetheless, let’s look at these time managers real quick.
1. Time Martyr
The time martyrs will always fill their schedules with requests from others. That’s because their tasks feel like too much responsibility. They will neglect what’s important to them and jump at even the slightest opportunity to take anything else.
Overall, these people gain validation from others while neglecting self-validation.
2. Procrastinator
Procrastinators or overthinkers are even worse. They delay anything and everything, regardless of how important it is. However, from their perspective, they work better under pressure.
Moreover, the outcome is always affected due to the stress and anxiety from this time management style.
3. Distractor
They don’t distract others, but can easily lose focus at any time. A random request from a colleague is as distracting as a phone call from their best friend.
4. Overestimator
These people always estimate that handling a task will take them much less time than it does. These are the ones that rarely live up to their optimistic deadlines.
5. Firefighter
These are people who try to do everything themselves. It’s the same as putting out fires left and right. Overall, firefighters don’t feel fulfilled unless they are busy, working on, let’s say, 10 tasks at once.
Once done, they will ask for more work. However, they have no idea that this practice will lead them to stress and burnout, sooner or later.
6. Perfectionist
The ultimate blend of procrastinator and distractor. These are the ones who have a cause behind their inability to complete tasks. Since they want everything to be perfect, they will work overtime and put in every bit of their efforts to deliver high-quality projects.
The side effects of being a perfectionist include:
- Not knowing how to quit when ahead.
- Missed deadlines
- Burnout
You see. Each of these has a specific issue, such as multitasking. That’s why we need time management techniques more than ever in 2025.
Read Also: Top 8 Best Employee Monitoring Software for Mac in 2025
What are Time Management Techniques?
Make your workday more productive
Time tracking and work management can help you reach your goals
faster.
Simply put, time management techniques are proven methods that make it simple to manage your time and get work done without breaking your limits. These methods have been created by experts who have tried and tested them multiple times and even simplified the techniques. This ensures that anyone can understand how the techniques work and find the one that best suits them.
A great thing about techniques to manage time is that people can easily adapt to these and adopt them in their workflows. Plus, as we mentioned before, these working time tracking methods are suitable for work as well as non-work-related tasks.
Best 26 Time Management Techniques for 2025
So now, we can keep everything else aside and focus solely on the top 26 time management techniques. Some of these have been used by generations, but they still work in the modern tech-driven and fast-paced world. So, take a pause and let’s get started making the way you manage your time more efficient.
1. Pomodoro
Pomodoro is Italian for tomato. A great part about Pomodoro is that it works for both professional tasks and personal errands.
How it Works:
- Set a 25-minute timer
- This time bracket is for concentrating on work only
- Stop as soon as the timer hits 0
- Brake for 5 minutes
- After the 5-minute break, it’s 25 more minutes of sweating for you
- Repeat the 25/5 cycle 4 times.
- Take a 20-minute break
- Repeat all steps till you are finished working
2. Kanban
It’s a visual technique for time management, which uses a whiteboard or board-like interface to follow your work progress. Although it’s project-based, it can be applied to any kind of work.
How it Works:
- Determine the number of stages, create columns accordingly, and move your tasks across the stages.
- Keep doing this till the work is done.
3. Getting Things Done
This one was introduced by David Allen. Getting things done is a 5-step method that lets you easily brainstorm your tasks and convert them into a simple to-do list.
How it Works:
- Note every task that comes to your mind
- For each task, you need to identify whether it’s actionable and has steps you can jot down and follow.
- Categorize tasks under various labels and tags.
- Review your tasks from time to time
- Start working
4. Eat that Frog
Eating frogs is all about task prioritization. You pick out your most important or worst task and start calling it a frog.
Only after you are done with your frog can you move on to other tasks. It can be the one requiring all your attention or a task you have been avoiding for a long time. So, is anyone else feeling hungry, or is it just us?
How it Works:
- Prioritize and label tasks
- Task A is the most important one, which you need to do first
- Task B is the one you need to do after Task A, as it’s the second most important work.
- Task C is work you can do. However, there are no consequences for not doing it.
- You must delegate Task D.
- Task E is optional. You don’t need to do it.
5. Timeboxing
You allocate periods known as boxes to tasks and stop once the timer runs out. Since it often involves fixed deadlines, timeboxing is used in project management.
How it Works:
- Checklist all your tasks and activities for the day
- Define a goal for each task
- Important tasks requiring more focus get longer time brackets
- Divide difficult tasks into subtasks and allocate shorter time boxes to them.
- Complete all your tasks in sequence
- Stop working on a task after its time is up
- Take a break
- Review your accomplishment
- Pay attention to other time boxes in your schedule
6. Time Blocking
You don’t need to have magical powers to block out your time either. What you are doing here is making time blocks for particular work tasks and working on them during that time. Furthermore, Elon Musk made this one well-known, so it has to be awesome.
How it Works:
- Define and prioritize tasks and activities
- Assign each task to a time block. The length is priority-based. It’s a good idea to do priority tasks when you are the most productive, work on less important tasks when you are the least productive, and so on.
- Note everything in a calendar.
- Start working in sequence.
- Schedule and take breaks
- Keep it flexible. If an urgent task arises, allocate a time block for it and work on it as soon as possible.
- If a task takes more or less time than you estimated, revise the schedule for your remaining workday.
7. Inbox-Zero
We all hate unread emails in our inbox, right? However, we still have to face this pile every day. This time management technique deals exactly with this big issue.
How it Works:
- Determine a time for working on email management and strictly follow it
- Silence notifications.
- Prioritize your emails:
- Respond right away to emails you can answer quickly, and the most important emails.
- Paste emails that will take longer to answer into a specific folder. It is also a good idea to assign some of your inbox management time to these responses.
- Determine the messages you can delegate, and forward them
- Unwanted or old emails are either deleted or archived.
8. Who’s Got the Monkey
No, you don’t have to bring monkeys from zoos for this one. Nonetheless, the focus here is on task delegation for your management department. However, anyone can use it.
Here, tasks are referred to as monkeys for some reason. So, now you need to figure out how to deal with these 3 types of monkeys.
- Boss-imposed time
- Colleague-imposed time
- Self-imposed time (discretionary and subordinate-imposed)
So, finally, we have an excuse to call our bosses the monkeys they are.
How it Works:
- Figure out the task and steps required to do it
- Assign the right monkeys to the right persons
- You need to ensure that the employee appropriately handles the monkey.
- For important monkeys that don’t allow mistakes, recommend the necessary task completion steps and step in if needed.
- If you are certain, then let the person work on it, and then provide your free advice, which no one needs.
- To ensure that everything is on track, specify when you will provide follow-up. For the monkey, of course.
9. Action Method
You view and divide all your activities as different projects to manage them accordingly. For example, these can be:
- Financial management
- Administrative work
- Networking
How it Works:
- Organize your events, tasks, and activities as a project.
- Divide the project into 3 categories:
- The work that you require doing
- References are notes, which are a list of links to relevant research and outlines that assist you in handling your action steps.
- Backburner items are ideas and plans you may work on someday.
10. The Eisenhower Matrix
In this time management technique, all you have to do is prioritize your tasks across different labels. The idea is for you to analyze each task according to its urgency and importance, and to handle them according to the matrix.
How it Works:
- List and distribute tasks into 4 categories
- Essential and urgent work needs to be done immediately
- You need to make a plan for when you will do important but not urgent tasks
- For unimportant and urgent tasks, delegation is your best friend
- Unimportant and unurgent tasks need to be removed from your schedule immediately.
11. Biological Prime Time
The theory here is that your biological prime time is the time of day when your energy levels are at peak, so you are likely to be most productive during this time. The hard part, though, is determining this in the first place, then everything just falls into place.
How it Works:
- Experiment with your work throughout several workdays. During this time, you have to monitor your energy, focus, motivation, and attention span.
- Make a chart from your results for every hour and day.
- Analyzing your outcome at the end of the time bracket will make you notice that you can do maximum work at a particular hour.
- Allocate priority tasks to that particular time only.
- Assign less important tasks to the other time brackets.
12. The Productivity Journal
Simply put, you have to make a to-do list here. It’s as simple as that. However, your checklist is quite detailed.
How it Works:
- Create a to-do list daily.
- Jot down the hours it takes you to complete each task.
- Based on the above results, you need to modify your future to-do lists.
- For more details, you can:
- Self-rate your productivity on a range of, for instance, 1 to 10, task-wise.
- List your distractions to boost the probability of your avoiding them.
- Divide each task on your list into smaller subtasks
- Additionally, set goals that you wish to reach through these tasks.
- At the end of each workday, comment on:
- Tasks you have successfully finished
- The issues you faced and whether you were able to overcome them.
13. The Seinfeld Method
For this method, all you need is a calendar and a red marker or two. This calendar-based time management technique is great for forming a good habit, learning a new skill with consistency, and so on.
How it Works:
- Arrange for a calendar (probably a big one) and a red marker.
- Try to work every day, even if it’s for a short time. Circle the days you have worked with the marker.
- The red-circled days increase over time, forming a chain.
- The day you don’t work remains unmarked. However, it breaks the chain.
- Work every day, so you don’t break the chain.
14. The 10-Minute Rule
This method to manage time works on the concept that a stretch of 10 minutes is good for continuous work.
How it Works:
- Choose a task
- Begin working on it like your life depends on it
- After 10 minutes, analyze your focus and patience. Identify whether you wish to continue working on this task for 10 more minutes.
- Work in 10-minute brackets until you are fed up with this task and want to halt working on it for the day.
15. To-Done List
Don’t get this confused with a to-do list. This checklist for managing time includes all the goals that you have accomplished during the week.
How it Works:
- At the end of each work week, take your time to note down all your accomplishments.
- Next to each item, write down what you learned while working on it. Also, don’t forget to note what you can do differently next time to get better outcomes.
16. To-Don’t List
The opposite of a to-done list, the to-don’t list includes all the tasks, habits, and activities that you want to avoid doing.
How it Works:
- Make a list before the start of each workday.
- Jot down all the tasks, ideas, and habits you will aim not to do, or think about.
- Include the word don’t in front of each listed item.
- Check off all items that you managed to avoid at the end of your workday.
17. Flowtime Technique
This time management technique is similar to the 10-minute rule. However, the timer is usually 10-90 minutes.
How it Works:
- Choose a task to work on.
- Decide to work for a particular amount of time and set the timer
- Work tirelessly until the timer stops
- Decide whether you can focus on this task for some more time. If yes, set the timer for those hours.
- After this time is also up, identify whether you can continue working on it for some more time.
- At any point, when the given period runs out, liven up if you can’t concentrate on the task anymore.
18. Top Goal
Here, all you have to do is figure out your most essential objective. What you will do next is allocate a time to work on it every day.
How it Works:
- Select your top goal
- Schedule 2 hours during which you will work on it daily.
- To ensure that there is no interruption, schedule to work on this objective when everyone is asleep. You need to follow this schedule no matter what. Also, it’s best to avoid distractions during this time.
- You must work only on your top goal during these 2 hours. The remainder of your day is for other activities.
19. Pareto Analysis
Also called the Pareto Principle, this time management technique is based on the 80/20 rule.
How it Works:
- Jot down all the issues you are facing
- Find who or what is causing these issues
- Assign a score to each issue. The bigger the problem, the higher the number.
- All you need to do now is group these issues based on cause and assign a score to each batch. You need to work your way around the highest-scoring groups first
- Begin working
20. Rapid Planning Method
Also known as RPM, it also extends to result, purpose, and a massive action plan. The idea here is to train your brain to envision what you want to achieve.
How it Works:
- Note down all the work you require finishing for the week. It is good to be realistic here and note down only 5-9 tasks.
- Now, you need to group similar tasks.
- Now you have to make RPM blocks. Focus on your most important area and make a block for it. Regardless of the task type, there are always 3 columns:
- The first column is about the results you wish to get.
- The second column deals with why you want the outcome
- The third column is for noting down the activities that will assist you in completing your tasks and achieving the expected outcome.
21. Pickle Jar Theory
This technique for managing time is exactly as it sounds. You imagine a pickle jar. However, the pickle is made of uneatable things.
How it Works:
- Imagine a jar containing rocks, sand, and pebbles.
- The sand is the work that usually disturbs you during your workday
- The pebbles are important assignments, which you can either delegate or leave for another day.
- The rocks are crucial tasks that you must finish by the end of your workday.
- Categorize your tasks into sand, rocks, and pebbles.
- Now, all you have to do is make a to-do list, focusing on the rocks first. Also, it is a good practice to note down the time estimates for each task, adding up to 8 hours.
- After all the hard work, if you still have some time, finish the pebbles and sand tasks too.
22. Deep Work
Deep Work is a time management technique that also enhances your skills and creates value. The method aims to ensure that professional work is done distraction-free.
How it Works:
- Deep work includes tasks that demand more of your energy and focus. On the other hand, shallow work involves less demanding activities.
- You need to schedule a time for deep work. It is crucial to maintain focus and avoid distractions during this time. An expert tip says to schedule deep work during the time when you are the most energetic.
- Leave all the shallow work for the time brackets when your energy levels are low.
23. ABCDE Method
This method is also exactly as it sounds. All you have to do is categorize your work into 5 blocks.
How it Works:
- Organize your tasks into 5 categories.
- A: Most important tasks
- B: Important tasks
- C: Nice to do tasks
- D: D for delegation
- E: Get rid of these tasks
- Start with A and B, then you can go for C, D, and E in any order.
Read Also: Top 10 Resource Planning Tools for Project Managers in 2025
24. 1-3-5 Rule
Here is another time and task management technique. The 1-3-5 rule is based on the fact that you need to manage a big task, 3 medium tasks, and 5 small tasks every day.
How it Works:
- The first step is to assign a rank to each task. Note down all your work for the day, then label each as big, medium, or small. If there is more than one big task, the more important ones will be done today.
- Start working and complete your big tasks. Then, you can work on other tasks. We strongly suggest keeping the list with you at all times.
- Be flexible in your approach. When you are super busy, you will have less time to handle tasks. In such a case, making small and medium work optional is your only choice.
25. POSEC Method
POSEC extends to prioritize by organizing, streamlining, economizing, and contributing. It is based on the fact that there are 5 fundamental needs, including psychological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization.
How it Works:
- Figure out your objectives and the time you need to do them.
- Think of all the activities in your personal and professional life.
- Identify the most efficient way to complete your chores and tasks.
- You also need to economize. It includes all the activities that you enjoy doing the most.
- The last thing to do is help others in your community.
26. BuJo
Remember how we used to make homework copies in school? This one is similar to that. However, we are using it to monitor every second.
How it Works:
- Arrange for a notebook and a pen.
- Your BuJo includes an index page, future log, monthly log, and daily log.
- Index pages are two blank pages that contain the page numbers for the future, monthly, and daily log. It helps you easily find your logs.
- The next two blank pages are the future log. It helps you make plans for the future.
- Create a box for each month and add a month tag. Here, you can note important information and dates. Don’t forget to add the page numbers and note them down in your index.
- The next two blank pages are titled with the name of the month is your monthly log. Your monthly task list goes on the right page. Now, you already know what to do with the page numbers.
- You will tag the next two blank pages as a daily log. All you have to do now is note down the current date and start adding your entries as tasks with a bullet dot, events with a circle bullet, and notes with a dash bullet. For crucial tasks, don’t forget to add an S signifier next to them.
Track More Than Employee Time with DeskTrack
So, now we hope that you have finalized a time management technique for handling your personal chores and professional tasks. How convenient. Isn’t it?
However, what if you could make it automatic? That would be even more awesome. With DeskTrack, you get more than just time tracking automation.
The employee monitoring software solution provides you with real-time reports on the work-time utilization efficiency of your in-office, remote, and field employees. However, that’s only the core. From screenshot monitoring to the complete project and task management suite, DeskTrack provides you with everything employee work management on a single, most user-friendly platform.
Maximize the efficiency, productivity, and work performance of your employees. Get DeskTrack today.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What are the 5Ps of Time Management?
Ans. The 5Ps involved in effectively managing hours are:
- Prioritize
- Plan
- Productivity
- Procrastination
- Patience
Q. What are the 7 Key Elements of Effective Time Management?
Ans. The basic steps involved in effective time management include:
- Figure out and get rid of time wasters
- Avoid perfectionism
- Get rid of procrastination
- Say no to extra work
- Identify priorities
Q. What are the Different Time Management Styles?
Ans. Here are the different styles when it comes to managing time.
- Time Martyr
- Procrastinator
- Distractor
- Overestimator
- Firefighter
- Perfectionist
Q. What are Time Management Techniques?
Ans. Simply put, time management techniques are proven methods that make it simple to manage your time and get work done without breaking your limits. These methods have been created by experts who have tried and tested them multiple times and even simplified the techniques. This ensures that anyone can understand how the techniques work and find the one that best suits them. A great thing about techniques to manage time is that people can easily adapt to these and adopt them in their workflows. Plus, as we mentioned before, these working time tracking methods are suitable for work as well as non-work-related tasks.
Q. Which are the Best Time Management Techniques?
Ans. Here’s a shortlist for you.
- Pomodoro
- Kanban
- Getting Things Done
- Eat that Frog
- Timeboxing
- Time Blocking
- Inbox-Zero
- Who’s Got the Monkey
- Action Method
- The Eisenhower Matrix
- Biological Prime Time
- The Productivity Journal
- The Seinfeld Method
- The 10-Minute Rule
- To-Done List
- To-Don’t List
- Flowtime Technique
- Top Goal
- Pareto Analysis
- Rapid Planning Method
- Pickle Jar Theory
- Deep Work
- ABCDE Method
- 1-3-5 Rule
- POSEC Method
- BuJo
