Interesting Findings From a Time Management Experiment

I can proudly say that I’ve improved my time management skills since I started blogging here at Studenomics. Unfortunately, I’m no where near the same universe as Timothy Ferriss or the 4-hour work week loyalists.

I’m sure that everyone reading this has read various effective time management tips. That’s not an issue. The issue is how well have you implemented these tips? I thought I was pretty decent with my time management, but then I learned that I’m a rookie to rookies.

While on vacation I figured it would be a great time to try out my time management skills, in terms of running Studenomics that is.

I set up a few of my posts and a few guest posts to be scheduled on specific days. Since I had very limited internet access (being away plus expensive internet costs really sucks) I knew that I had to make the most of my little time online.

My little time management experiment yielded some interesting results. Below are my findings from my time management experiment:

Time constraints force you to get shit done.

You ever notice how you get roughly the same amount of work done regardless if you have the whole day or a little bit of time during lunch? At least I do. There are days where between work and school, I only have a little bit of time before bed to dedicate to Studenomics. I find that I turn off the distractions and get straight to business. I get my work done and move on to the next task.

When I have the whole day to work on Studenomics or on my school work, I’ll spend most of it on pointless tasks. I’ll look over the course outline for useless information. I’ll start working out or cleaning the room. Sometimes I’ll just catch up on the latest episodes of The Office. Regardless, having a time constraint in place forces us to get our stuff done.

Lack of time isn’t the problem.

Of course we could all use more time. I would love to get 25 hours out of my day. The thing is that chances are we all do have enough time. We just don’t use this time properly. How much time do we really waste on non-essentials? I’m willing to bet that it’s more than any of us are willing to admit.

Aside: Check out How-to get 25 hours in a day @ Smart Passive Income.

Big & audacious tasks yield the greatest rewards.

You can spend all week planning a cool business name and working behind the scenes on your new business start up accounting system. What does this mean? Not much.

Big and audacious tasks (selling t-shirts with an amazing graphic design, offering the most interactive tutoring session, or reading the most important chapter for that final exam) will do more for us than some minor time-consuming task ever could.

You don’t believe me? Then try it. Instead of worrying about coming up with a cool name for your new tutoring service, focus on reaching out to potential clients and offering the best one-on-one sessions out there. You may have a LLC set up along with a flashy website but this doesn’t mean anything for the student that wants to pass their Organic Chemistry final.

What can you do?

If you run a side business-

Do something that adds value to your readers/clients. It’s all about them, not you. Do something to improve the service you offer them. Impress them with a little something extra. Stop worrying about minor details that nobody cares about. Why would a Studenomics reader care about my business name or Twitter updates? Readers care about my articles. The readers want high quality articles and some interaction, nothing else. Not a fancy business card or a highly SEO optimized blog post.

When it comes to school-

Get off Facebook if you have an exam coming up. Study alone if you and your friends only talk about weekend gossip. Turn your cellphone off when you’re trying to finish that assignment that’s due in the morning. At the end of the day we all know what we need to do and what can be avoided for the time being.  I know that one article on a blog won’t create a paradigm shift for you. At the most I hope that you guys think twice before wasting time when you know you got work to get done.

When it comes to life-

There is one question you have to ask yourself and I’m going to have to steal a quote from Tim Ferriss for this:

Am I being productive or just active?

After reading this quote I’ve gotten into the habit of repeating it when I find myself doing completely random stuff online (i.e. looking up useless stats). My little time management experiment showed me that I keep myself active so that I feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. In reality I just took time away from the activities that I love doing in life just to keep myself busy.

Now I’m really curious, do you guys have any time management stories or tips to share?

BTW: I hope nobody stops reading Studenomics for time management reasons. Shame on you if you do!