Want to be more productive with your time? Try these 6 free tools

We all have 24 / 7 it’s how we use that time that’s different for everyone.

Time management

There is a MASSIVE industry in time management and productivity tools

it’s a very Western concept that we need to control/manage time  and be as productive as possible

I know that time management for me has always been a double-edged sword

I LOVE planning and organising and time control !! 

It was always very important to me to be in control. I had to-do lists/daily/weekly monthly yearly plans. I was very disappointed in myself if I didn’t stick to these time plans that I laid out to achieve everything I wanted.

Time Control was Ingrained

Coming from a health professional background of appointments that needed to be scheduled for patients I was always very time aware

Other peoples time was important so I needed to keep to time to respect others and myself.

Then as a ski instructor and Crossfit coach I had to make sure I got to class., kept to the class time frames so that everything ran smoothly. I was really good at this!!

And I think it was because of the way those industries/jobs were set up. That kind of time organisation/ management really worked well.

Working for myself online

Moving into the online world, those distinct lines of time management became very blurry and much more difficult, at least for me, to define and they became difficult for me to keep.

As an overachiever, I LOVE to get things done and to feel busy.  

When I started creating my time management system for my online business work I created very full days and weeks. It was so tempting to fill every single minute of every single day.

I knew that wasn’t practical, so I simply created a to-do list to the side of all the things I wanted to do but couldn’t fit

When I didn’t get everything done in that day or week (which was actually impossible to do because whenever  I finished something I added another task from my never-ending to-do list ) It felt like a failure that led to something even worse: PROCRASTINATION!

Procrastination made me feel unworthy. I would do so many other things until I got into a bit of flow, then I would have to stop because it was now time to go and do that other thing that I had scheduled  Most often it was an appointment that I had to attend to.

It was so frustrating.

I started looking for ways to manage my time better.

There are so many time management, productivity tools out there. I have spent hours searching for the perfect time management system.

Many of them have a focus on billing hours and invoicing which are great for small businesses that do that kind of thing.

But that may not be necessary for you as a Health and Wellness coach. Especially if you are a solo business person. If all you need to do is manage yourself and your clients then you probably already have a simple app for that.

Also, you may not want to spend lots of dollars on systems you don’t really need.

So what can you do?

I am a huge fan of keeping things simple and the power of ones.

By picking ONE thing to focus on at a time, and that includes choosing your time management tool or as I like to call them personal management tools, it will make managing yourself and time so much simpler.

How you fill your 24/7 will be different to the person next to you. It all depends on your unique needs right now.

Finding the right time management tools

Finding the right tools for you can take a bit of trial and error and to be honest it is an ongoing process that will flow and grow over time. 

Understand there is no right or wrong way to manage your time, it simply has to work for you and what you want to achieve.

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to listen to a couple of guys talking about time management tools which changed the way I approached my 24/7.

First are three free and easy techniques to help you manage yourself, your time and get things done.

Second, are three free software tools to do the same.

These SIX things can help you manage yourself and your time:

1/ Goal setting

2/ Batching

3/ The Pomodoro technique

4/ Google calendar

5/ Trello

6/ Toggl

Let’s take a look at these individually.

First, FREE techniques to get things planned and implemented.

1/ Goal Setting Sunday

This is something I learned a few years ago and has helped so much with reducing procrastination.

Every Sunday afternoon I sit down and review my previous week and then plan out the coming week.

The review makes me feel good about what I achieved last week and shows me what needs to be done this week.

I then look at what needs to be done for the coming week. What actions need to be done to get me where I want to be. Each day I have 3 MUST DO actions that will get me to my goal.

These are added to my Google calendar.

This process is by far the best thing you can do for getting things done in your business.

2/ Batching 

Batching is the process of assigning the same task to the same time period. MANY people think they are good at multi-tasking, thinking they can do more than one thing at a time.

Sorry to tell you but your brain can only focus on ONE task at a time. When you are supposedly multitasking you are still focusing on one thing. But it is only for a few minutes before you flit on to the next one.

This is not very productive. Focusing on ONE thing at a time gets you into flow and you can actually achieve so much more.

Batching like tasks together helps you stay focused and get more done.

For example, on Monday mornings I focus on my social media tasks. These can be anything from planning out my plan for the month, creating or scheduling posts.

Every Monday, I know from my goals of the week, what it is I am doing and I can jump straight to it. I LOVE that the decision has already been made and I have ONE task to focus on at a time.

3/ The POMODORO Technique

This technique is simple but powerful.

You set a timer for a certain time ( I started with 25 minutes ) and you focus on ONE task from your goals. For example, you may decide to create ONE social media post.

You set the timer and you use the Power of Ones to create your post. When the timer goes off you give yourself a 5-minute break and then reset for another 25 minutes working on the same task. After an hour you take a longer break.

You may then move on to a different task for the next hour. Repeat as many times as you need to for your day. Often 3 Pomodoro sessions can get all of your daily goals done!

Next are three free software tools that are invaluable to keep you headed in the right direction.

If you are a visual person these tools really help you see the big picture and get your goals for the week done.

4/ Google calendar.

My Google calendar has been an absolute joy and the worse thing in my life!

Let me explain, this calendar is amazing, it has coloured labels, 24 hours to fill and is so easily accessed via phone and laptop.

You may recall that I filled every minute of every day in the beginning. Yes, I even had my sleep scheduled on my calendar!!

Now scheduling your sleep may work for some people, but I became a slave to my calendar until I realised it was a tool for me to use, not the other way around.

Today my calendar has my work scheduled in the hours I choose, it has the tasks batched in beautiful colours, that are easy to see for me and the out of hours are left blank! These spaces on my calendar bring me joy and so do the tasks that I can achieve in my hour-long Pomodoro blocks.

Make sure you stay in charge of your calendar!

5/ Trello

Helps keep clients and projects organised.

Before Trello, everything went onto Google calendar.

The problem here is if you have to wait for something before you can continue, like a client to get back to you, then you will need to remember to add a reminder to the calendar. If you don’t do that well let’s just say you can waste a lot of time looking for things.

Using a project management tool like Trello keeps all the projects together in neat, organised visually appealing folders.

There are many different ones to choose from, Monday.com and Asana are two others, friends of mine use, but I do love Trello.

6/ Toggl -

Toggl is a time tracking tool. It keeps you on track and lets you know what and where your time goes.

It is super helpful if you are working for clients and need to track your time on an hourly basis.

It is also an amazing tool to use even if you don’t charge hourly. You can use it to actually see what you spend your time on in a day/week or any time frame.

I have used it for both. It was an eye-opener to see where my time went. You may be surprised to discover that blog post you think takes only an hour to write actually takes much longer.

Start with ONE

These six free tools are a great way to help you manage your time, or if you like manage yourself!

You can start with ONE.

Choosing one of these tools, get used to using it in your business. See how it feels and then add another.

I am a big fan of the keep it simple method and choosing ONE really works.

The best way to do that is to take some time and figure out what would make the biggest difference to you.

• Do you know what you’re doing every week? If not maybe setting goals would be most beneficial

• Do you have multiple projects on the go? Maybe a project tool like Trello would be a good place to start.

Pick ONE and give it a go!

Of course, if you are struggling to even figure out what that next best step and need some help then

Book a call with me and we can work it out together.

Photo by Fakurian Design on Unsplash