Free Time Management Tools & How to Use Them

Where are you losing time?

SAVE YOUR TIME!

• What is it that only you can do? • Are you repeating the same task over and over?

Schedule meetings and appointments with calendly.com

Connect apps and automate workflow with zapier.com

Social media management & scheduling buffer.com

SAVE YOUR TIME!

• What is it that only you can do? • Are you repeating the same task over and over? • Is the task even necessary?

–Carrie Dils, this webinar

Before you can spend your time well, you need to figure out exactly what you want to

spend your time on.

Plan how to use your time

• prioritizing to-do’s • scheduling your day

PRIORITIZE TO-DO’S

Covey Time Management Grid

Quadrant I Immediate and important deadlines

Quadrant II Long-term strategizing and development

Quadrant III Time-pressured distractions

Quadrant IV Low value activities (relaxation)

task management todoist.com

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143126563/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143126563&linkCode=as2&tag=cardil09-20&linkId=d740c32b97315c713e84dcbaa97d6f8f

project management asana.com

thing organizer trello.com

capture and organize evernote.com

SCHEDULE YOUR DAY/WEEK

• Create a routine • Group similar tasks • Optimize day parts

Maximize your productivity

• use time boxing • eliminate distractions

TIME BOXING

• Gets rid of context switching • Takes advantage of Parkinson’s Law

tomato-timer.com

https://www.google.com/#q=timer

ELIMINATE DISTRACTION

• Don’t leave your mail app open • Don’t leave social media apps open • Calendar your time blocks (if using a shared calendar) • Set boundaries with co-workers and family

(death to context switching!)

track your time

project time tracking system toggl.com

Simple Time Track (for Chrome)

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/

be honest with yourself

time monitoring rescuetime.com

TOOLS RECAP1. Calendly - Schedule meetings and appointments 2. Zapier - Trigger automated actions 3. Buffer - Schedule social media 4. Todoist - Create and manage to-do lists 5. Evernote - Capture and organize things 6. Trello - Visual project organizer 7. Asana - Project management 8. TomatoTimer - Pomodoro method for time boxing 9. Google - built-in timer 10. Toggl - time tracking system 11. Simple Time Track - very basic Chrome add-on 12. RescueTime - time monitoring

Questions?

CARRIE DILS @cdils

Carrie Dils and Diane Kinney have 25 years of combined freelance experience. They've learned many things the hard way, and can make the path easier for you. This is the book they wish they’d had.

REALWORLDFREELANCING.COM

OfficeHours.FM is a weekly podcast hosted by Carrie Dils targeting small business owners, freelancers, and others providing WordPress-based products or services.

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Carrie Dils is a teacher, speaker, writer, and podcaster serving the WordPress community. For articles on tech and business, visit:

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