No matter which role I’ve held—be it Sales, Consulting, or Management—one topic has consistently dominated our discussions: Time Management.

I began experimenting with various tools at the age of 16 to optimize my time usage. From calendars to schedulers to apps, I employed every resource to keep tasks in focus and extract the most value from my days. My schedule was a whirlwind of activities—school, gym sessions, runs, swimming, band practice, music school, contests, partying, and Judo training. Despite my early mastery of squeezing productivity out of every 24 hours, I often felt stretched thin. Truth be told, that feeling persists in many situations today.

But I’m not alone in this struggle. Most of my managers, colleagues, and friends face the same battle. Hence, I’m eager to share some core insights gleaned over the years that have greatly aided me. Surprisingly, it doesn’t begin with adopting a new app, technique, or tool. Rather, it’s about establishing clear priorities, implementing structured planning, and maintaining awareness of my actions.

You can’t manage time without managing your priorities

When it comes to discussing priorities, many people find themselves uncertain about what truly matters. Frequently, I hear statements like “everything is important.” However, it’s crucial to take a step back when confronted with this mindset. After all, if everything is deemed important, then ultimately, nothing holds true significance. Consider it from this perspective:

You simply can’t focus on everything simultaneously. It’s essential to filter and break down your priorities. Allow me to guide you step by step through the process of defining your strategy, setting priorities, and allocating your time in alignment with your overarching goals.

Priorities in private life

During my mid-twenties, I admit I didn’t prioritize certain areas enough. I took my health, family, and friends for granted, often placing work above everything else. Regrettably, this pattern persists to some extent even now, as I still find myself struggling to strike the right balance. However, I’ve made continuous strides by gaining clarity on what truly matters to me.

Over time, I’ve identified a few non-negotiable factors:

1. Health Matters: Both physical and psychological well-being are paramount.
2. Family & Closest Friends: Supporting them and spending quality time together are essential.

While these priorities may differ for others, they are deeply personal to me. I recognize that while work can foster strong friendships, a company isn’t synonymous with family. Tough business decisions may need to be made, as necessary for organizational functioning. Similarly, no amount of wealth can buy back health in the face of serious issues. Therefore, I make it a point to prioritize health matters promptly when they arise.

You might question why I prioritize health over family. Jim Rohn articulated it well: “Put on your oxygen mask first.” Without the ability to breathe and have energy, I’m not a resource for anyone else. By prioritizing my health, I ensure I’m equipped to support and care for my loved ones effectively.

Priorities in business are time-bound & belong to a bigger strategy

In the realm of business, clarity is key: You require a long-term goal (strategy) and short-term actions (tactics) to systematically break it down and achieve the desired outcome step by step. This breakdown allows you to set current priorities and gauge whether they contribute to success.

It’s crucial to note that certain topics may span multiple time periods or involve various time-dependent steps. Additionally, they shouldn’t be conflated with everyday business needs, which should remain in continuous focus.

I tried to visualize the thinking backwards and measuring forward process below:

What’s easily understood in theory often proves challenging in practice, demanding significant discipline in execution—especially when numerous urgent short-term requests vie for attention. Allow me to illustrate with two examples from sales and management.

Example: Management – Build a team

When scaling a specific business function, multiple priorities unfold over time, sometimes concurrently, contingent on the progress of each individual workstream:

1. Define Business Process and Resource Needs:
   1. Identify necessary processes.
   2. Assess revenue impact and cost structure.
   3. Determine expected demand for the team’s function.
   4. Evaluate if the role aligns with set KPIs.
2. Hire New People:
   1. Define role and required profile.
   2. Source candidates through various channels.
      1. Market the vacancy.
      2. Leverage personal network and talent agencies.
   3. Conduct interviews and extend offers.
3. Facilitate onboarding with a defined plan.
   1. …

It’s evident that many of these tasks are sequential and interdependent. Consider a scenario where one person is hired but further recruitment is needed to meet demand. This necessitates a situation where hiring remains a top priority, yet onboarding the new colleague must also proceed. In such instances, re-planning may be required, and the operating rhythm adjusted to ensure sufficient time is allocated to both tasks. (For more on the concept of operating rhythm, see below.)

Example: Sales – Achieve quota and maximize commissions

Many say sales is a numbers game—simply connect with enough people within your customer base, understand their needs, and gradually build lasting relationships. While this holds true to some extent, it’s not always the most profitable approach.

Organizations operate with long-term strategies that may not always prioritize short-term revenue maximization. They may invest in landing new customers or initiating projects within larger enterprise divisions that were previously inactive. Thus, understanding the compensation plan in detail becomes crucial.

Here’s a process for defining priorities over a year:

1. Read Compensation Plan (Annually):
   • Understand the company’s motivation behind incentive structures.
   • Identify topics relevant for additional bonuses throughout the year.
2. Review Book of Business (Quarterly):
   • Identify customers with the highest potential to meet targets.
   • Determine focus projects within these customers.
   • Assess whether existing contacts can facilitate these projects or if new connections are needed.
3. Set Clear Goals per Quarter & Week (Weekly):
   • Prioritize tasks for the current and upcoming quarters.
   • Establish clear outcomes for the upcoming quarter.
   • Outline activities to drive progress and success.
   • Develop metrics for measuring progress and success on a weekly basis.
4. Incorporate Activities into Weekly Schedule (Continuous Business):
   • Integrate planned activities into weekly schedules.
   • Ensure alignment with quarterly goals and objectives.

By following this structured approach, sales professionals can effectively navigate the complexities of long-term strategy alignment and maximize their potential for success.

How to manage time once priorities are clear?

Once you’ve clarified your goals and devised a strategy to achieve them, it’s crucial to establish a structured process akin to a factory assembly line. Results invariably stem from deliberate actions; without input, there can be no output.

This process constitutes your operating rhythm, primarily executed on a daily or weekly basis, with recurring elements occurring monthly or annually. The week serves as a natural unit of time, demarcated by its daily cycles in most cultures, providing a clear start and endpoint conducive to reflect and recharge.

Operating Rhythm / Time Boxing – The metronome for your work

Below, I tried to turn my own way of thinking about timeboxing into a comprehensive, repeatable process.

1. Write Down Priorities:
   • Define quarterly or annual priorities based on company objectives and personal goals.
2. Identify Associated Activities:
   • Outline specific actions required to achieve each priority.
   • Clarify why each activity is crucial to reaching your goals.
3. Allocate Time Share:
   • Determine the proportion of time you can allocate to each activity.
4. Assess Feasibility:
   • Evaluate if you can feasibly accomplish all related activities within the allocated time.
   • If not, prioritize further by identifying the most impactful activities that align closely with your goals.
5. Plan Slack Time:
   • Incorporate slack time into your operating rhythm to accommodate unforeseen circumstances and operational tasks.
   • Avoid overburdening yourself, which can lead to dissatisfaction and unnecessary stress.
6. Reflect and Iterate:
   • Reflect, if you were able to stick to your plan and if not, what prevented you from doing so?
   • Identify areas for improvement and iterate on the process for future cycles – preferably on a quarterly basis to give your plan time to show impact.

By following this structured approach, you ensure clarity and focus in your execution plan, maximizing your efficiency and effectiveness in achieving your objectives.

You can access the Google Sheet template above using the following link – this will take you to my Google Drive with Read-Only Access. To edit, just make a copy or download as Excel.

Time Boxing – Mastering efficiency

Thanks to this operating rhythm, you’ve now allocated each activity to a specific block of time, offering several advantages:

• It provides structure to your day.
• It enables you to measure task execution within designated timeframes.
  • If tasks aren’t completed on time, you can analyze why and make improvements.
  • You can explore available technologies or learn new skills (e.g., typing with all fingers, Excel, programming) to streamline tasks.
• If feasible, consider delegating well-defined tasks.
• Flexibility is afforded by the ability to rearrange activities as necessary throughout the week.

By estimating time requirements for tasks and scheduling them into your calendar alongside unexpected or operational tasks, you safeguard your priorities. It’s crucial to gather, review, and integrate tasks into your weekly structure to ensure progress across all fronts.

Daily Reflection & Weekly Reflection

What proved to be a game changer for me in the last quarter of 2023, after taking on end-to-end team and people responsibilities for the first time, was reintroducing reflection time.

Previously, I had this luxury when I was solely responsible for my own tasks and activities. However, with a team of five reporting directly to me, coupled with the demands of supporting functions within the sales organization, personal time became a scarce commodity. I realized that “me time” is just as crucial as time spent with managers and team members. It’s a chance to assess progress, plan for the future, and address skill gaps to enhance effectiveness in my role.

Consequently, I reinstated a structured process for daily, weekly, quarterly, and yearly reflections on both my professional and private life. Notably, my wife and I conduct monthly and annual reviews together, aiming to not only grow individually but also strengthen our relationship and marriage. While some may initially view this approach as overly business-like, many come to appreciate its value once they understand the depth of our concept. We cherish these weekends as opportunities not only for reflection, but also as excuses to plan enjoyable getaways to beautiful locations.

Time Insights

A useful tool for reviewing and analyzing your time usage is Google Time Insights, available if you use G Suite or Google Calendar. Alternatively, numerous plugins exist for Outlook, Apple Calendar, and other platforms, offering similar functionality.

By introducing tags to all your meetings, you can generate an automatic overview of where and how you’ve spent your time. This allows you to track your time usage over time and compare it to your goals and plans. If you notice significant deviations in certain areas, take time to reflect on the reasons behind them and find solutions to address them moving forward. Below is an example of Time Insights in action, showcasing one week in my own calendar from 2023.

All my business meetings are anonymized for obvious reasons. Blue represents my private calendar with personal activities, while red indicates the joint calendar with my wife. Although I can’t provide detailed insights into my week’s activities, I can share the Time Insights analysis with you. This offers a real-life example and demonstrates how to utilize it effectively.

What I track varies from quarter to quarter, aligning with shifting priorities. During this particular week at the end of our fiscal quarter and financial year, I dedicated more time to meetings with my team for alignments and default meetings—short sessions focused on progressing specific topics—than usual.
However, the analysis also reveals that critical areas received significantly less attention than necessary. This signals a need for corrective action.
Interestingly, the data indicates 5 hours of focus time. However, I must admit that I did not utilize these hours as intended during that particular week. This highlights an important point: numbers alone do not tell the full story or absolute truth. They provide objective feedback that can be interpreted and optimized accordingly.

Periodic Reviews – Based on objectives – Are you on track / Do you need to adjust your process

Now that you have the tools and ideas, consider the following time periods for effective time management:

Define Priorities: Allocate time at the beginning of each quarter or month to define your priorities based on current objectives and goals.

Execute to See Measurable Results: Dedicate focused time throughout the week to execute tasks and activities aligned with your priorities, ensuring measurable progress.

Review and Course Correct: Schedule regular review sessions at the end of each week or month to assess progress, identify any deviations from the plan, and make necessary adjustments to stay on track.

Consider which indicators lead to your desired outcomes, when to monitor them, and the actions you can take based on their insights. Reviews should not be seen as an end in themselves, but rather as a supportive activity to help you reach your goals. Therefore, approach them with seriousness, appreciation and a structured agenda to guide the analysis with intention.

If you’re seeking further guidance on structuring your progress reviews, consider subscribing to my newsletter or reaching out via email or LinkedIn message. Please allow some time for replies, as I prefer in-person or phone communication over instant messaging.
I invite you to share in the comments below what methods have helped you manage your time and priorities effectively and whether these approaches have been valuable to you.