Workflow Wonder- Best Time Management Tips
Top insights from my first two weeks of my time at Workflow Wonder.
I’m constantly looking for ways to improve productivity and manage my time better, and I invest most of my learning hours into self-development and personal growth.
One of the courses I was part of was Khe Hy’s Supercharge Your Productivity, where I met Marian Knopp. She is an SYP mentor and has her own cohort-based course focused on workflow design and time management.
I’m currently a student in Marian Knopp‘s course, Workflow Wonder, and I’d like to share the top insights from my first two weeks of her workshops:
1️⃣ Time Blocks
Marian emphasizes time-blocking as an essential tool in your productivity arsenal. Time blocking allows you to prioritize the essential tasks in the day, forces you to allot sufficient time to complete your tasks while being realistic about your goals, and removes the choice of overloading your plate.
When you block your day for your tasks, you are intentional about how you choose to spend your time and increase the likelihood of finishing your tasks when you give them all a specific time slot. Further, when you block your time in advance, you remove the element of surprise in the day, which usually causes disruptions in your schedule. When you have a time-blocked day, you don’t let other people or external circumstances decide your day, and you take complete control of your time.
My top takeaway is to have at least one version of your time-blocked calendar be public, so people cannot schedule meetings in these slots. Create a list of your priorities for each day, and make sure they are blocked in your calendar.
2️⃣ Clarify Consumption Habits
We consume immense amounts of content every day, and it exerts a mental task as our attention is pulled apart by distractions. I’ve learned that I should clarify my consumption habits first to ensure that I don’t waste my time on dopamine-spiking content while making time for meaningful content that adds value to my life.
What this entails is making a list of sources where you’re consuming information from each day. It could be the news, watching Youtube videos, reading articles online, scrolling on Twitter, watching Instagram reels, TV shows, or movies- make an exhaustive list of all your content sources.
Next, make a content wishlist of some of your favorite content or material you’ve always wanted to check out but never got around to. For me, this list contained courses to learn from and books I’ve always wanted to read.
Finally, schedule content consumption slots in your calendar to ensure that you make time to consume the content you love. It will also force you to limit content consumption and binging to these slots so you can focus on other tasks throughout the day.
3️⃣ RIZE Blocks
Marian’s signature concept is RIZE, or Reach Inbox Zero Everywhere. This includes listing all sources of your do-later tasks, such as your to-do list, your financial review, going through your company Slack, and your email inbox.
Reaching Inbox Zero Everywhere means being intentional about recurring tasks you frequently do, listing them in a single source of truth, and then scheduling time to perform them every day.
Again, this will force you to make time every day to perform these tasks to ensure they’re done. It also limits these tasks to their respective time blocks, so they don’t eat up the rest of your day or distract your attention.
These have been my three highlights from the productivity and personal growth space this week. If you liked what you read, connect with me on Twitter and let me know. If someone forwarded this newsletter to you, subscribe to GrowPro Labs here to receive it in your inbox every Monday.
I’m on a mission to make Mondays great, and this newsletter is a part of my efforts in helping you achieve mindful productivity, personal growth, and living your Ikigai.