Do you ever wonder how comes that some people are able to make the most of every second of the day? When the day ends, these people have done a trillion of productive tasks and you are sitting there thinking: how could this be possible? Well, they are definitely not time travelers. On the other hand, they do know how to manage their time well.

If you want to become a master in time management (and perhaps one day a time traveler), this post is for you:

1. Generate a time tracking and set limits

When it comes to being more effective on your daily time, the first tip is to estimate out where your time is truly spent. You might assume that writing an article takes 1 hour but instead, you end up using an extra hour because you couldn't focus.

Download apps like RescueTime, Toggl Track, or Calendar or simply write down every 2 hours what you have done for one week. With this method, you'll be able to keep track of your time and start analyzing it.

After you've done your research it's time to set limits to each task. For instance, if I was writing this article, I would set up 1 hour of my time, starting at 8 am, and try to finish it by 9 am. In the beginning, you'll probably miss some estimations and that's ok, you can always get back to your analysis and try again.

It is also a good idea to set limits to your procrastination time. For example, you can set a limit to your daily social network use by 30 minutes. In this way, there is no more procrastination than that half an hour per day.

2. Build a small plan

It's never a good idea to start your working day without a clear mind on what to do.

On the other hand, preparing the day before a small list of tasks and accomplishments you need to focus on will make you start your day straight forward and without hesitation on your priorities.

To prioritize in an efficient way it's important to have these four different types of tasks:

• Important and urgent: do these tasks right away.
• Important but not urgent: schedule these tasks for another time.
• Urgent but not important: delegate these tasks if possible.
• Not urgent and not important: eliminate these tasks if possible.

3. Adopt a morning routine with MIT's

MIT's or Most Important Tasks are your most difficult and time-consuming activities. The most efficient way to deal with these tasks is to get them done first thing in the morning. This is because our energy is the highest during the morning.

In my personal experience, it worked having two MIT’s for each day. Your MIT’s should be precise actions that assist you get closer to a goal, not random activities.

For example, if your main goal is to work as a freelancer full-time at some point, two MIT’s of a day could be researching 30 potential clients and contacting them with your pitch. Once you finished your MIT’s you’ll have enough time to focus on the rest of the activities of the day.

4. No more “half-work”

It's ridiculously simple to split our focus between what we should be doing (our main task) and what society sends us with non-stoping distractions. Most of the times, we are trying to get some work done and we keep distracting to texts, emails, and other demands. We then turn our full attention to these demands instead of finishing the important work.

For example, you begin writing an article, but take a break to check your phone or open Twitter or Instagram for no apparent cause and end up wasting 40 minutes watching content or answering messages that distract you from your main task.

The most effective way, and straightforward, to deal with these distraction is to set aside a specific time (could be a couple of hours) to focus on a determined task. At the same time, I would put my phone and other distractions aside, and turn off notifications in the computer. This method is the only one I've found that allows me to concentrate for a determined period of time and avoid falling into "half-works".

5. 80-20 rule

The very well known pareto principle (80-20 rule) tells us that 80% of our work done comes from 20% of our efforts. This essentialy means that if you take a look at your schedule, you could take into consideration only 20% of your tasks and you’d be able to achieve 80% of your results.

Overall, these 5 rules will make your days more effective and you'll be able to achieve much more by focusing and spending less time.

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