Want to be more productive? Here are the time management techniques you have been looking for.
Task and tight schedules… At the beginning of this week, I talked about the productivity mindset, and today we’re gonna deep dive into time management and productivity methods. Ready to shape your routines?
From David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” to Elon Musk’s “time-blocking”, this guide breaks down each strategy into actionable insight. Plus, you’ll get practical tips from fellow freelancers who’ve successfully incorporated these methods into their workflow.
Table of Contents
Try these productivity and time management techniques
Here’s a summary of my favorite time management techniques:
✔️ Getting Things Done (GTD) — David Allen
This is a system where you capture tasks and ideas in an external system to clear your mind. It allows you to focus on getting things done rather than trying to remember everything.
- Write down everything on your mind, big or small.
- Turn what you’ve written into clear, concrete actions. Note which task requires action and add details next to each project. Outline the steps for each to-do specifying exactly what needs to be done. For example, instead of just writing “Invoices,” note: “Create this month’s invoice and send it to X company before 5 pm” and attach the company’s email.
- Prioritize your to-do list by importance.
- Schedule tasks on your calendar.
This method is one of the most popular time management techniques for improving clarity and productivity.
⏲️ Time-blocking
Time-blocking doesn’t have a single inventor; it’s been around for ages. People like Elon Musk made it popular by breaking their day into small chunks—Musk, for example, schedules his day in 5-minute blocks. Even Benjamin Franklin used a similar approach to manage his time. So, it’s an old-school productivity trick that’s still going strong.
This time management method divides your day into segments, each designated for specific tasks or activities. This helps minimize distractions, keeps you focused, and creates a structured workday. You can plan your schedule by allocating different time slots for high-priority tasks in the morning and meetings or administrative duties in the afternoon.
To get started, open your notebook and divide your day into dedicated time blocks. If something spontaneous arises or a task takes longer than expected, change these blocks.
Creating a time budget
How much time do you want to spend on your priorities? How many hours per day or week should you dedicate? For example, four hours a week for exercise, 1 hour a day for reading, 3 hours a week for an online course, etc. Be realistic when setting these time frames.
Start by identifying how many hours per day you currently spend on your work and life priorities. Instead of guessing, use a more concrete method, like the time-tracking sheet of Todoist. Use your phone’s timer to log what you’re doing during each block of time. This way, you can group your daily activities and see how your work hours are spent and which hours might be wasted.
🐸 Eat The Frog — Brian Tracy
“If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.”
Tackle the task that requires the most energy and focus first —your “frog.” This clears the toughest item off your list, allowing you to move on to less important but more urgent tasks that often distract you from your goals. To keep your frog manageable, aim to work on it for 1–4 hours or up to half a day at most. When tasks drag on too long or the goal isn’t clear enough, you may feel overwhelmed and fall into procrastination. If your frog will take longer than half a day, break it down into smaller steps that take 4 hours or less. Your new frog will be the first concrete step on this list.
Once you start breaking down your larger tasks, you might be tempted to plan all your frogs for the entire week or the next few weeks.
Don’t do it!
Accurately predicting tasks for into the future is nearly impossible and sets you up to quickly fall behind and suffer from planning fallacy. One of the benefits of the “Eat the Frog” method is that it allows you to start fresh each morning with a single focus. Identify and tackle your frog one day at a time.
When you sit down to work in the morning, eat your frog first. Avoid scheduling meetings, checking emails, browsing the web, or giving in to the urge to check Instagram or TikTok — even if you think it will only take a minute.
🍅 The Pomodoro Technique — Francesco Cirillo
It’s one of the simplest yet most effective time management techniques.
Boosting productivity to the max and keeping burnout at bay is really effective when you manage your work and break times. The Pomodoro technique is perfect for this. You start with 25-minute focused work sessions followed by a 5-minute break. After four cycles, take a longer break of 15–30 minutes to recharge.
If you have a heavy workload, this method can help you use your time efficiently. I use this technique to manage my tasks; I set my timers in 40-minute blocks. It’s easier to commit to 25-minute intervals than working non-stop for half a day. But remember, you can adjust these intervals to meet your individual needs.
- Get your to-do list and a timer.
- Set your timer for 25 minutes and focus on a single task.
- When the timer rings, mark one Pomodoro and record what you complete.
- Then take a 5-minute break.
- After four 🍅, take a longer, more restorative 15/30-minute break.
- Aim to complete at least one impactful task a day.
If your task requires more than four Pomodoros, divide it into smaller tasks. Besides, you can group small tasks together, which takes less than one Pomodoro. For example, “call the accountant,” “order groceries online,” and “buy the book”. All can be done in one focused session.
💎 The Ivy Lee Method — Ivy Lee
This approach can help you maximize efficiency and reduce decision fatigue. At the end of each workday, write down the six most important tasks you need to accomplish the next day. No more than six. And prioritize them based on their actual importance. When you start the next day, focus only on the first tasks and work on it until it’s completed before moving on to the next one. Plus, move any unfinished tasks to a new list of six for the following day. Repeat this process every working day.
🧠 The Eisenhower Matrix — Dwight D. Eisenhower
The Time Management Matrix, The Eisenhower Box, The Eisenhower Method, and The Urgent-Important Matrix.)
The Eisenhower Matrix visualizes all your tasks in a clear matrix of urgent and important. This way, you can focus on the most effective tasks. From daily chores to big projects, all tasks fit into one of these four boxes.
- Urgent & Important tasks/projects to be completed immediately
- Not Urgent & Important tasks/projects to be scheduled on your calendar
- Urgent & Unimportant tasks/projects to be delegated to someone else
- Not Urgent & Unimportant tasks/projects to be deleted
I don’t find this method effective for myself because everything on my list feels important in its own way. Some tasks are more urgent, while others just take longer to complete. When planning, I prioritize my list by only “urgent” or “not urgent” next to each task.
🔠 The ABCDE Method — Brian Tracy
While I use the Eisenhower Matrix to categorize tasks as urgent or not urgent, I sought a way to prioritize their importance more precisely. The ABCDE Method has been particularly helpful in this regard.
- For each task on your list, assign a letter from A (highest priority) to E (lowest priority).
- If you have multiple tasks with the same letter, number them to indicate the sequence you’ll complete them (e.g., A1, A2, A3)
- Continue this process until every task has a letter and a number.
Example:
A1: Write service page texts (top priority)
A2: Find a designer for your service page (high priority, but after A1 — because without text, there’s no meaning to find a designer)
B1: Check meta descriptions of your posts (medium priority)
C1: Send metrics (lower priority — because it’s end of month job)
I use this method for my monthly planning.
Try some time management techniques and see the results for yourself. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for everyone.
Build A Supportive Community Around You
We’re not robots. Even the best time management and productivity methods sometimes don’t work on us, because our moods also might affect our productivity.
In an isolated working environment, sometimes, we might need someone. In such a situation, your tribe has got your back. Because connections with colleagues, friends, and like-minded individuals can provide the encouragement and shared experiences necessary to keep you grounded.
Let’s search for online communities, like H-Spot, Writing Club, Multilingual Writers’ Community, or else. People in those communities exchange advice, share success, stories, and offer support during challenging times. I have received so much valuable support from these communities, and now I find myself wondering why I was so late to join them. No matter how strong and invincible we are, sometimes we just need someone who will listen to us and understand what we say.

Basically, engaging with these people may counteract the isolation often associated with remote work. Even some of these groups host virtual coworking times or coffee breaks. These interactions can strengthen your professional relationships and help you feel more integrated into your team’s culture.
But if we want to have a real life interaction. From place to place… What will we do? Look for local meetups or expat groups in your current location. Make new friends and maybe professional contacts no matter where you are.
Lastly, also professional coaching or mentoring can be invaluable. A coach can provide personalized advice, helping you navigate the complexities of balancing work and personal life. They can also introduce you to other professionals in their network, further expanding your circle of support. If you have questions, happy to help anytime.
What are the hot tips from freelancers?
In my supportive communities, I asked fellow freelancers for their “one big” lifesaver tip on productivity. Here are their answers.
We have all got the same 24 hours in a day, no matter how we try to split them up. The real trick is managing where we put our focus. Life throws endless opportunities at us, but we can’t possibly grab them all. It’s way smarter to pick just a few things and really nail them.
Read also first article:
How productivity mindset can help you enjoy life without losing focus.
Master your time, master your life. Want more proven time management techniques? Subscribe to my newsletter. I’ll share my tested and approved productivity hacks.