Time management is crucial. But I think the name is distracting. Because it's not about managing your time it's managing your energy and your focus. Sometimes you can complete a lot of tasks in a very short time. And sometimes you are just like depleted and cannot do anything and you just decide you, okay, give it up for today. So it's more of managing your energy and focus and decision making than managing your time.

I think we're still, of course time is a big factor here. When I'm talking to other freelancers, time management is always coming up. What you can do about it, time management is a skill. It is learnable The easiest way to do it is how I do it. I have a plan. Now I don't have a daily plan.

I don't write out every 15 minutes what I will do or every hour what I will do. For me that would go against my value of freedom. I want to be flexible. But I have a weekly plan. Monday morning, I take my time, sit down with a cup of coffee and write down every task I need to do and finish that week. Lately, I'm also categorizing my tasks, what it has to be done for myself for self development, what it has to be done for my family, what it has to be done this week for work and what has to be done.

Okay, not done, but what I will do as a free time. So this is a weekly plan, and I stick to it, and I check it every day. If you want to have a daily plan, you can do the same every morning. You can make it a morning ritual. Just sit down, write down your task and go step by step. Now some people say Joe Make a list and finish off the easiest first and you can put a checkmark on it and you feel already satisfied because you accomplished something.

I say, start the one, which is the most motivating for you do that and you can put a checkmark on it. Okay, it's out of my mind, I made it I finished one task, and then go on to the next one. We can go the opposite way. Start with the heaviest one. The pitfall there is that you might just drag along for a long time because you just hate the task. Like for me, writing my invoices, it's boring.

I don't like it. Still, I have to do it if I want to be paid, but usually I leave it for last. Also, if a task is so heavy for you as a burden, but you have to do it every week, make some time for it. Like for example for me writing invoices. I don't like it. So I make time for it.

Every day. I have half an hour aside to write my invoices and check my legal documents. Check if I have to write any practice code. So there is documentation time, which is only for that. And I see that after doing a task like that task a boring task, I am more open to my creative work. Just somehow My mind is relaxed in the creative part.

If you want to develop your time management skills, use a calendar or use a daily or a weekly plan. Or you can use the Pomodoro Technique if you really, really lack focus, the Pomodoro Technique was introduced in the late 80s. And it's about you set a list of tasks, you set the timer for 25 minutes, you finish your task and after a few times, working for 25 minutes very focused. You take a break now this is a very working and construct structure. I have several friends who are doing this and trying to manage their time by writing down what are they doing the most and where their time is going away. It is like managing your cash flow or or counting your calories in a day.

The basis is just counting your time, where is my time going away? So the Pomodoro Technique is great for focusing and to notice that the time is going away. What are you doing, which is stealing your time away? Okay, now I'm not using the Pomodoro Technique myself, or not anymore because I developed my own time management skills. As I said, time management is learnable. What I do are a loose weekly plan and stick to it.

And I'm also drawing my borders. This one I learned from the Pomodoro Technique. After one hour, 40 minutes, I stand up from the table, and for 10 minutes, I go around a bit, I make a sandwich, I make a coffee, I just go out to the balcony and breathe some air or go for a small walk if I feel so pop into the shop. 10 minutes break, then I'm coming back. My mind is refreshed again. Maybe I'm looking at the problem with fresh eyes also.

And I'm ready to work. The Time management is not about time, it's about energy and focus. So don't work all the time. Give yourself time to relax, and relaxing. I mean, this 10 minutes breaks. If you are tending not to have a break, just set up a timer next to you for 45 minutes, let's say, and every time the timer is off, just drop your work for 15 minutes, then come back and work more.

You can do this there is no boss looking over your shoulder, you can do this for yourself and you will be healthier, more satisfied and more efficient after a while. Just stick to this and figure out what is your own time management skill. What is your schedule? Now Time management is a very big part of a work life balance. It's about managing to finish enough work but it's about managing to have enough life aside of the work to have life with the family or for ourselves to take time off. So I always say that I'm not working weekends, unless it is very much necessary or unless it's a very important project to me, like recording discourse, or drawing my own art.

So unless it's my very own project, or the client is paying seriously, for working on the weekend, I am not working on the weekend and in the night. Why? Because I always say, working in the night and on the weekend is giving out first of all, a bad message that you are always reachable and clients gonna call you all the time. Secondly, that's their business. If a client is calling you at 10 o'clock in the night, when you already overworking and you want to relax. It's important to them, it's their business.

And it's giving a false impression to you that okay, you have to be also as busy as their clients. No, you don't have to. It's their business. It's okay to answer the emails in the morning. It's okay to start work in the morning. You don't have to work into nine then there is a big deadline.

You can break this rule when there is something very, very Important happened or at least may or even is happening and you have to solve it. Yes, you can work night and you can work weekend but don't always do it for me a few times a year, maximum, two, three times a year it's happening. But more of the times I don't work on the night and on the weekend this way I keep myself healthy. I keep myself focused, and I keep my time management and my work and life in balance. Here's a little tip as well. don't check your email after nine o'clock.

So if my daily schedule is that I work from nine o'clock to six o'clock, it's what I do. Sometimes after six o'clock I check my emails. If I check it in the night, I will think about that all the time. No, I made the rule for myself. I don't check my emails after nine o'clock after nine o'clock even my mind is sanitized and it's only for me and my family, my friends for my hobby. That's it.

So Time management is part time. For your work to focus on your work, and the other half of it is to keep your private life separated from your work time. Learn your skills. If you have any question about time management, please write I will answer