Whether your company has decided to take on a fully remote, hybrid, or back-to-office work setup, chances are, you will use virtual tools to manage it. That means implementing certain digital or cloud-based systems instead of relying on the old manual processes. 

One process that can especially benefit from being digitized is time tracking at work.

Employee monitoring software has gone up 59% in usage since the start of the pandemic. Time tracking through digital software makes it easier for managers to keep track of their teams’ work without having to micromanage them. 

In this blog post, we’ll go through all the benefits of using a time tracker and show you how to choose the right time tracking tool for you and your teams.

Benefits of Time Tracking Software

Around 95% of US workers are happy to track their time. Why? They agree that tracking time accurately is important. 

The reason this number is so significant is because these people have seen the other benefits that tracking software can have for both the company and its employees. 

So, why should companies start using time tracking software, to begin with? 

Here are some reasons.

Benefit #1: Time tracking software improves productivity

If your goal at work is to maximize time and energy, time tracking is a highly beneficial practice.

It allows people to monitor where their time goes and reorganize their schedules accordingly. 

When employees track their time, they’re able to see what tasks might not be bringing the desired results and reschedule or even eliminate them in the future. 

In addition to better understanding which tasks are valuable (and which are not), employees can also have a better understanding of how much time they spend on particular tasks.

Having access to time tracking software also enables managers to look at their teams’ workload and see if they need to add more people — or introduce tools that could help employees save time, energy, and resources.

Benefit #2: Time tracking software improves transparency

Buddy punching occurs in some workplaces, causing businesses to lose $373 million a year. In fact, 16% of US employees and 34% of Canadian employees admit to buddy punching.

So, time theft is a big problem for many companies. Accountants say 92% of their clients deal with time theft.

Thanks to time tracking, managers can keep an eye on what employees are working on at any moment. At the same time, team members can have a better overview of what their colleagues are doing and what tasks they’re currently performing. 

Therefore, using time tracking software ensures better transparency within teams.

Benefit #3: Time tracking software improves profitability

When productivity in an organization improves, business growth comes naturally. 

Companies that want to save time, maximize revenue, and lower employee turnover rates could find that time tracking software can play a role in the endeavor to improve company productivity — and, in turn, improve profitability as well. 

Namely, time tracking software helps teams better organize and prioritize tasks — to focus more on profitable activities. 

Also, time tracking allows teams to track project costs and determine if the said projects are profitable — in relation to the time put into them. 

How to choose time tracking software

So, now that we know why time tracking software is so beneficial, the question is — how does a company land on the time tracking tool that’s right for them? 

Here are some steps to follow when looking for the best employee time tracking software for your company — plus some useful time tracking tips. 

Step #1: Consult the team

Much like anything in business management, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions to employee time tracking. 

First, you need to consider the unique challenges and strengths of your employees.

So, it might be best to consult at least one of your teams\deparments about the time tracking features they would like to use. 

Maybe the said team\department wants more autonomy — so, using a time tracking tool that monitors screen activity could be counterproductive. 

Or, maybe they need a tool that has geo-tagging that allows people to log in from different locations — which is a great solution for field workers, for example. 

It all depends on what your employees need most — which is why you should consult them during the process of selecting the time tracking app they will use. 

Such an approach will also ensure more buy-in once you start using the tool of choice.

Step #2: Think about what you want to achieve with time tracking

Before choosing a time tracking tool, think about what you want to achieve by using it. 

And, make sure your time tracking goals align with the time tracking goals of your teams.

Remember — your employees not being comfortable about using a particular tool has little to do with tool implementation and more to do with setting the right boundaries. 

Your goals for using time tracking software can include: 

• Better time management,
• Lower absenteeism,
• Optimizing workplace interactions, and
• Minimizing the effect of distractions. 

Now, when it comes to your employees, you’ll have to consider some additional goals, to tie them in with your time tracking efforts.

The most important goal to consider is ensuring people’s privacy. 

So, make it a practice to only track what needs to be tracked and leave the rest to the employees. 

Furthermore, track only company-owned devices or personal devices used for work purposes. 

Step #3: Get a few options and compare

Once you have parameters, goals, and team buy-in, you can start shopping around for the best time tracking software. 

Make a list of time tracking apps that are:

• Within your budget, and
• Have the features your employees need to reach their time tracking goals. 

Then, make a comparison across these parameters and evaluate apps based on how well they can perform the activities you need. 

Check out this list of the best time tracking tools in 2022 to get a head start on selecting the best options out there.

Step #4: Choose the software

Once you’ve collated a list of clock-in and clock-out apps that best suit you, it’s time to land on the one tool that you will use moving forward. 

It’s best to select only one piece of software for the whole company, so you don’t have to pay for multiple services. 

This will also help you avoid building silos and creating confusion within different teams and departments. 

Step #5: Roll out slowly

As we’ve already established, choosing a time tracking software is a major decision that could impact years of operations. 

So, once you’ve made your choice, introduce the software slowly. 

First, have a trial period to assess the time tracker’s functionality and ensure it’s the tool you really want to use in your day-to-day operations. 

However, avoid switching tools too often — to avoid having your employees learn how to use new tools every couple of months. 

Step #6: Get feedback

Also as previously established, the best time tracking app is the one your employees will feel most comfortable with. 

After all, in the end, the decision on whether you’ve made the right choice ultimately rests on the people who will use the time tracker tool. 

So, try to get feedback from your employees on how practical the tool is after they’ve used it for a while. 

One effective way to get feedback is to roll out a survey after the tool trial period and have employees share their experience in using it. 

You can look into factors such as: 

• Ease of use,
• Comfort with the tool, and
• Hitting desired goals.

Step #7: Implement company-wide

After you’ve found the right tool, and had a test team\department approve of its usefulness after a trial period, it’s time to take the time tracking tool company-wide, officially. 

So, start introducing the tool to other teams and departments and provide as much training as possible.

Ensure that everyone has learned how to use the tool before becoming stern about compliance.

Remember — a little patience will go a long way in this transition phase. 

If you are already using a time tracking tool — whether digital or traditional — assign a time period during which employees will have a chance to smoothly migrate from the old solution to the new one. 

Also, get feedback consistently as you go. 

So, take your time when implementing the tool — but also set a full roll-out date, so that employees don’t get too lax about learning and getting accustomed to the new time tracking tool.

Wrapping up: Employee time tracking vs Micromanaging

Employee time tracking can sometimes feel like micromanagement — but only when managers and stakeholders implement it too hastily without considering the employees’ needs.

Take the time to communicate how these tools will benefit both you and your employees and ensure that you pursue a win-win situation at all times. 

Remember that your teams should be on your side. The way you implement tools will play a significant part in reaching that goal. 

How do you keep track of your time at work? Is there any tool that you’ve found particularly useful? Write to us at blogfeedback@clockify.me for a chance to have your answer featured in this or one of our future articles. And, if you found our tips on how to choose the best time tracking software particularly helpful, share this article with people you know would benefit from it.

What are teal organizations?

How do they function?

Why is time tracking so important to them?

How do they manage their time, projects, and team(s)?

To find out the answers, we talked with Justyna Wasielewska, Clockify Role Supervisor, and Mateusz Mikołajczyk, PM Global, from performance marketing agency MTA Digital that follows the Teal approach.

What are teal organizations?

The term teal organization came from the book Reinventing Organizations by Frederic Laloux. According to the Laloux Culture Model, cited in the book, organizations can be red, amber, orange, green, or teal.

Teal organizations have distributed authority, often functioning as decentralized, self-managed teams — the metaphor for teal organizations is a living organism. Hierarchies are fluid and natural — decision-making power goes to whoever has the most knowledge, interest, and passion on the topic. Trust is a big thing, as well: there’s no micromanaging, every team member is trusted to do their job the best they can. It can be a great organizational model for both profit and non-profit organizations.

Teal organizations enable three breakthroughs:

1. Self-management: They operate effectively using a system based on peer relationships. Power and control are not tied to specific positions.
2. Wholeness: They reject “traditional” professionalism that prefers masculinity and extroversion; instead, they let that their workers bring their “whole self” to work (a.k.a. be fully themselves) and create a safe work environment.
3. Evolutionary purpose: Teal organizations have a strong sense of purpose and base their strategies on what they sense the world needs from them. In accordance with the “living organism” metaphor, their purpose is not static, but always evolving: instead of trying to predict and control the future like traditional companies do, teal organizations listen in and constantly reshape and refine their purpose.

To better understand teal organizations, let’s also see what the other colors from the Laloux Culture Model symbolize for organizations.

Contrasting teal organizations with red organizations

Red organizations have a strong leader who has absolute power over the others. Subordinates follow the orders of the boss with no questions asked (“or else…”). They represent the most basic form of human organization.

Contrasting teal organizations with amber organizations

Amber organizations have a strict hierarchy, reporting lines, formal roles, and a chain of command. The dominant leadership style is “command and control” — those on upper levels give orders and those on lower levels follow them. These organizations thrive in stable and predictable environments.

Examples of an amber organization are the military, public schools, and government agencies.

Contrasting teal organizations with orange organizations

Orange organizations are focused on innovation: What do we need to do to improve? How do we come up with something bigger and better? How do we beat the competition?
The pyramidal structure is still present, but decision-making authority is now shared with more people. Since these organizations are results-oriented, there’s a meritocracy based on who delivers the best results.

Examples of orange organizations are big corporations and public universities.

Contrasting teal organizations with green organizations

Green organizations strive to resemble families. They want to empower and motivate employees. Other than profit, they have a strong company culture, defined values, and a role in the community. Their structure is less hierarchical and resembles an inverted pyramid: CEOs and leaders serve, rather than direct their organizations.

The most commonly used examples are culture-driven organizations, such as Southwest Airlines and Ben and Jerry’s.

How do teal organizations function?

It’s a common misconception that there is no hierarchy or bosses in teal organizations. There are, but their approach is different than in more traditional organizations. Here’s what Justyna Wasielewska and Mateusz Mikołajczyk have to say on the subject:

“The fact that a person is our Team Leader doesn’t mean that their opinion is always superior and that only they are allowed to make any decision in the team. We see Team Leaders more like people who have a holistic view of the team, and those who see the “big picture” of projects. Their job is to help individual team members solve problems, facilitate the flow of work, and generally “connect the dots.”

An example of how teal organizations function

Our interviewees further illustrated the way these types of organizations work:

“Imagine that, with a pack of your friends, you’re planning the trip to the mountains in ex. China (foreign, and quite exotic country for eastern culture) — you want to climb, eat local food, visit some places. Some of those friends are the experienced climber, the cook, and someone who speaks Chinese. Who should be “the boss” of the whole trip?

It’s natural, that, in terms of climbing and safety — you’d listen to the climber, the cook will be your guide to local cuisine, and you’ll leave the communication with locals to the one who speaks Chinese. So each of them is a kind of “the boss” in their area of specialization.

The same applies at MTA — so the hierarchy is not given by CEOs, leaders, etc., but it’s more based on meritocracy, where everyone can be “the boss” of some part of the organization, which he/she is specialized in. For example — being specialized in Facebook Ads, I don’t have the knowledge to decide how should we take care of our client’s Google Ads accounts. Everyone just has a different role to play in the organization, so we could grow and evolve, and no one is superior.”

Why is time tracking important for teal organizations?

For a teal organization to function well, everyone needs great organizational and decision-making skills. That is often achieved by tracking time. This practice has many benefits, from easier task prioritization to better time management.

Time tracking significantly facilitates:

• Keeping track of what everyone is doing
• Finding out how long it takes each member to complete their tasks
• Maintaining motivation and a high productivity level
• Reducing procrastination and idle time
• Calculating the project’s profitability
• Keeping everyone accountable
• Seeing where exactly the project budget is going

When you track your time, you can analyze the time you spend on individual tasks and projects as a whole, as well as create analytics of all activities as an organization.

MTA Digital team shared the biggest time tracking benefits for them:

“If you combine the data with projects and their incomes, it’s a super-powerful combo that allows you to dig really deep into data. As a result, we can better understand our business, manage teams, and find out which projects generate the most income.

For example, by estimating the monthly time of each specialist and the time of the projects, we’re able to see, if and how many new specialists we may need to hire in the upcoming months.”

Which time tracker works best for teal organizations?

MTA’s choice is Clockify:

“In our opinion, Clockify does indeed have many advantages that we haven’t found in other similar tools. Some of those that made it number one for us are:

• price,
• responsiveness of Clockify support,
• adjustability,
• Chrome plugin,
• integration with Asana, Google Calendar, and Gmail,
• “Do not allow saving time without…” option.”

According to Wasielewska and Mikołajczyk, the Clockify feature that helps their organization the most is “using the API and linking it to Google Sheets via Google Scripts. With this feature (as we wrote in our own case study) we manage the basic elements of the organization’s functioning, such as the profitability of projects, the creation of reports for clients, or the payroll.”

Tips for applying the teal approach to your organization

As good as working in teal organizations sounds, it’s not for everyone. If you don’t have good time management skills and don’t like taking responsibility and making decisions (instead of just following instructions), this approach may not work for you.

However, if all the advantages — strong relationships between team members, almost unlimited possibilities to shape your own development path, and freedom to make decisions, just to name a few — sound too good to not give it a try, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind.

These tips helped Wasielewska, Mikołajczyk, and their team the most:

Hire people you can trust

Trust is one of the main values of teal organizations. It begins from the first step of the process — hiring.

“Hire people you can trust, and REALLY trust them, and LET THEM DO THEIR JOB, make their decisions, make mistakes and learn, while fully supporting them. Build the infrastructure of the organization, so they could use their best skills, and help them understand the common goal, so you could achieve it together. This type of system kind of enforces a two-way trust. If you are not able — as a company manager — to trust your employees to make rational decisions for the good of the business, then teal is absolutely not the solution for you.”

Help co-workers in a respectful way

Treat your coworkers as your equals and avoid micromanaging at all costs.

“Try to help the ones you are coworking with — don’t treat them like children who don’t know what to do and need your guidance in every area. Listen to them, and always try to find win-win solutions, rather than focusing on mistakes and problems themselves.”

Encourage transparency

Trust (that we previously talked about) and transparency go hand in hand. Both are a two-way street — start with yourself, so you can expect it from others.

“Be transparent — fully transparent, show everyone your perspective, and don’t hide what you think. I am a great supporter of the principle of radical honesty (read Kim’s Scott Radical Candor for more info ?).”

Link salaries with performance

Make a good salary a natural consequence of excellent performance and effort.

“It’s also helpful, and for us super important, to link salaries with performance. With that implemented, organization members learn that the money doesn’t come from “the boss” and the relationship you have with her/him, but that your salary is a bonus for a well-done job, and that money comes from satisfied clients.”

Conclusion

With its unique approach to business, fluid hierarchies, and self-regulation of the system, teal definitely seems like the future of management. However, it requires a specific skill set to make sure everything goes smoothly — team members need excellent organizational and time management skills.

Time tracking is one of the most important things to do to stay on top of all the work in teal organizations. It helps with keeping track of what everyone is doing, calculating the project’s profitability, and keeping everyone accountable.

You start getting immersed in work… and the alarm goes off, interrupting your train of thought. If only there was something similar to the Pomodoro technique, but with time intervals that fit your workflow better!

I have good news for you — it already exists. In this article, we’ll talk about the Flowtime technique, why you should try it out, and how to use it to take your productivity to the next level.

What is the Flowtime technique?

The Flowtime technique is a time management technique for creatives, developers, students, and everyone else whose tasks require deep concentration. It consists of picking a task, working on it until you get tired, and then taking a break. You repeat the process until you finish the task. Sounds simple, right?

It boosts your productivity by encouraging flow (a mental state of focused attention) and letting you rest when you need to. It makes you completely concentrated on the task you’re working on — your mind becomes less likely to wander off to topics such as: “What am I going to have for lunch?” or “What are the actors from my favorite childhood show doing now?”.

In order to better understand how the Flowtime technique can help you be more productive, let’s look at why it is a good alternative to the Pomodoro technique. Pomodoro is a time management technique made by Francesco Cirillo in the 1990s. The name was inspired by the pomodoro-shaped (pomodoro means “tomato” in Italian) kitchen timer Cirillo used to measure his progress.

The technique involves completely focusing on your work for 25 minutes, then taking a five-minute break; repeating this 4 times and going on a longer, 20-minute break after that. The cycle continues until you finish all your work for the day.

Pomodoro can be great for tasks you don’t want to do (e.g. filing your taxes) or tasks that don’t require deep thinking (e.g. cleaning). The problem arises when you have to do something that requires creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. The time frame of 25 minutes is often too short and interrupts your workflow and train of thought. In addition, 25-minute intervals can also be too long for certain tasks.

The Flowtime technique fixes these problems, as you can choose your own time frames and ensure they align with your workflow. Let’s look at a simple example.

An example of the Flowtime technique in action

When you’re studying, 25 minutes often isn’t enough time to go through a lesson, understand it, and memorize it. That kind of activity requires more time, such as 60 or 90-minute work intervals. Similarly, 5 minutes isn’t enough for your brain to rest after an hour of intense studying; it’s better to take a 20-minute break instead.

A step-by-step guide to the Flowtime technique

If you want to try out the Flowtime technique, follow these steps:

1. Pick a task. Multitasking is a no go; only do one task at a time and give it your maximum focus.
2. Write down the time when you got started. You can do it manually or use time tracking software.
3. Work until you start to lose focus and feel tired. Check out the heading below for additional signs you may need to rest for a couple of minutes.
4. Take a break. The break can last for however long you need to feel rested and refreshed. Write down the exact time you went on the break, as well as the break length. There are some suggested rest time lengths (but you’re under no obligation to follow them):
   • For under 25 minutes of work, go on a five-minute break.
   • After 25-50 minutes of work, get an eight-minute pause.
   • When you complete 50-90 minutes of work, you can have a 10-minute rest.
   • More than 90 minutes of work can be followed by 15-20 minutes of break time.
5. Repeat.

If someone interrupts you, write down what the interruption is, the time you got interrupted, and the time when you start working again. After a while, you’ll be more aware of what distracts you, and you’ll be able to take the necessary steps to avoid it.

As time goes by, you’ll figure out how many minutes of work are ideal for you and how much time you need to recharge.

How do you know you need to take a break?

A crucial question when implementing the Flowtime technique is tied to breaks — how will you know it’s time to take a break? Well, the good news is that your brain will send you clear signals. Some of them are:

• You start feeling tired,
• You feel like you’ve been sitting for too long,
• You’ve finished a (longer) task,
• You have a hard time focusing, or
• You can’t seem to find the right solution to something you’re working on (and it gets you increasingly frustrated).

This technique doesn’t have a lot of rules, the most important thing is to listen to your inner voice. Its simplicity is one of its biggest advantages.

Pros and cons of the Flowtime technique

Nothing in this world is perfect, and time management techniques are no exceptions to this rule. Here are some of the main advantages and disadvantages of the Flowtime technique.

Advantages of the Flowtime technique

Here’s why you should give the Flowtime technique a shot:

• It’s personalized. Customized time intervals help you to be in tune with your workflow. Using a personalized time management technique is like wearing a tailored suit; a mass-produced suit from a store can get the job done, but it can’t compare to the tailored one. Don’t feel at ease working in 25-minute intervals and taking 5-minute breaks? Mix and match until you find your ideal time intervals.
• Enhances focus. This technique makes it easier to engage in deep work. Taking a break when you need to is one of the most important factors: you can fully immerse yourself in work only when your brain is refreshed and rested.
• Helps with estimating time. Considering that mixing and matching time intervals will require you to track the time you spend on tasks, you’ll get a lot of benefits that come with it: a better idea of how you spend your time, more accurate time estimates, improved productivity, and reduced procrastination are just some of them.

Disadvantages of the Flowtime technique

If you decided to try out the Flowtime technique, be mindful of these things:

• Figuring out which time frames work best takes time. This technique doesn’t reach its full potential right away; it takes some trial and error to figure out what works best for you. Patience is necessary.
• You need to plan well. This technique requires you to know your tasks in advance, estimate the time they take, and prioritize them.
• Doesn’t work for unpredictable schedules. If your job requires a lot of impromptu meetings and unplanned, yet urgent tasks, this technique may not be for you. It’s difficult to maintain interrupted work time and planned breaks in a dynamic environment.

How to make the most out of the Flowtime technique

Now that you understand the concept of the Flowtime technique, alongside its pros and cons, let’s see how you can make the most out of this technique and boost your productivity.

Pick one specific task: no multitasking

Working on only one task at a time (also known as unitasking) is the only strict rule of this technique. It may seem that doing multiple things at the same time helps you get more done, but it’s actually quite the opposite. According to studies, “the human mind and brain lack the architecture to perform two or more tasks simultaneously.” Multitasking leads to dispersed focus, which results in more errors and half-completed tasks.

Only giving your 100% to one task gives you excellent results. As Lindsey Pollak, a career expert and author of Getting from College to Career, said in a Forbes article, “It’s absolutely important to know how to unitask because some projects and decisions require deep, uninterrupted thought. If you can’t do that, you might make an okay decision or do an okay job. But if you can really focus on one thing, you’re more likely to do really well.”

Remove distractions

This almost goes without saying — get rid of all distractions before you get to work. You probably already have a pretty good idea of what distracts you the most, whether that’s social media or chit-chatting with your coworkers. Before you get to work, make sure you:

• Turn off all notifications,
• Put your phone in silent mode and/or in another room,
• Put on noise-canceling headphones,
• Let your coworkers know you’re working on something important so they don’t interrupt you,
• Leave only the things you need for work on your desk (and maybe a cup of coffee or a snack),
• Keep a piece of paper for scribbling down the thoughts that deserve attention, but not right now, such as “I need to pay my bills today” or “I need to call a friend to wish her a happy birthday”. Write them down and continue focusing on your task. Those thoughts are important, but not urgent — they can wait for your next break.

Use a time tracking app

To make this technique go even smoother, use a time tracking app such as Clockify, which allows you to use a Pomodoro/Flowtime timer.

When you start out with the Flowtime technique, you have to write down the exact times you start or stop working, get interrupted, etc. Writing down everything by hand is time-consuming and you have to worry about possibly losing your papers.

After you download Clockify’s time tracking browser extension, all you have to do is define your time intervals, and start tracking. Press Start when you start a task and the timer will start running. When the work interval comes to an end, you get a notification that it’s time to take a break. You get another notification when it’s time to start working again.

You can also add project names so you can have a clear overview of everything that’s going on; not to mention that finding a pattern of optimal work/rest time intervals will be significantly less difficult.

Don’t interrupt your flow with a mandatory break

It’s important to note that even when you figure out the perfect time intervals for you, they’re still not set in stone. Even if the timer goes off, you don’t need to go on a break if you feel like you don’t need to. Listening to your mind and body is the key: nothing is mandatory (except unitasking) and everything can be altered to fit your current working habits.

Conclusion

Remember the scenario from the beginning? Let’s see how it would go using the Flowtime technique:

You’re sitting at your desk, looking at all the work you need to do. Your work is looking right back at you. You glance at the clock and turn on the timer. Okay, you got this.

You start getting immersed in working… until your focus wears off and you start feeling tired, so you rest a bit. After a while, you start feeling refreshed, so you continue working. You don’t feel rushed or interrupted. You’re actually pretty satisfied with the work you’ve done so far.

If you’re looking for a personalized time management technique that will help you to focus, the Flowtime technique might be what you’re looking for.

You have to be consistent, which is not easy. However, there are some methods that can help you, such as Don’t Break the Chain. In this article, we’ll explore what the Don’t Break the Chain method is, how to make the most of it, and what’s the best way to form a positive habit.

What is the Don’t Break the Chain technique?

Don’t Break the Chain or The Seinfeld Method is a productivity technique attributed to Jerry Seinfeld (even though he claims it’s not his idea).
Allegedly, Brad Isaac, an aspiring comedian at the time, found himself in the same comedy club as Jerry Seinfeld. Naturally, he asked Seinfeld for advice. In the Lifehacker article, Isaac described that encounter:

“He said the way to be a better comic was to create better jokes and the way to create better jokes was to write every day. He told me to get a big wall calendar that has a whole year on one page and hang it on a prominent wall. The next step was to get a big red magic marker. He said for each day that I do my task of writing, I get to put a big red X over that day.

After a few days, you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job is to not break the chain.”

That’s the story — no matter if it’s true or not, the described productivity technique can help you reach your goals and grow as an individual.

Now, how do you know this technique is for you? Well, you might want to implement it in the following cases:

• You want to build long-term habits,
• You like crossing things off a list,
• You want a super simple productivity technique,
• You like having a visible representation of your progress.

Four easy steps of the Don’t Break the Chain technique

To implement the Don’t Break the Chain technique, you’ll need to follow four steps:

1. Set a goal to adopt a good habit. It can be working out, eating less sugar, meditation, learning a language, playing an instrument, writing, painting, or any other thing you’d like to get better at.
2. Make sure your goal is specific and realistic. Don’t set a goal that will overwhelm you; if you want your habit to last, it has to be sustainable. Pick something that makes a difference, but can be done even when you’re busy or don’t feel like it — for example, drawing one sketch or reading 10 pages of a book. If you’re feeling motivated, you can always do more, but don’t choose something that will be hard to keep up with when you’re not eager and inspired.
3. Grab a calendar and mark a big, red X for each day you meet your goal. Focus on accomplishing your task one day at a time.
4. Don’t break the chain. The longer the chain, the guiltier you’ll feel if you break it.

The psychology behind habits and the Don’t Break the Chain technique

The Don’t Break the Chain technique is successful because it makes you focus on the process, not the results themselves — it helps you form a long-lasting habit. The Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin published a study that revealed that focusing on the process has a bigger effect on achieving your goals than focusing on the outcome.

In the research, students who visualized themselves preparing for a test performed better than students who visualized themselves getting a good grade. Those who visualized the process were more likely to study, which landed them better results. So, if you want to accomplish something, concentrate on the habits that will bring you results, rather than the results themselves.

Understanding the habit loop

When you’re building a new habit, it’s a good idea to be aware of the psychology of habits. A good habit you’re trying to form is usually a replacement for a bad habit you have to break. As Charles Duhigg said in his book “The Power of Habit”:

“The Habit Loop is a neurological loop that governs any habit. The habit loop consists of three elements: a cue, a routine, and a reward. Understanding these elements can help in understanding how to change bad habits or form better ones.”

The cue is something that triggers the habit. The routine is a habit you wish to change or reinforce. The reward is positive reinforcement for desired behavior.

If you want to break the loop of a bad habit you have (and at the same time, build a new, good one), here’s what you have to do:

• Define the cues that trigger your bad habit. It can be a location, a time of day, a person, an emotional state, or an immediately preceding action. Every time you catch yourself repeating a habit, try figuring out what’s the cue and determine the pattern.
• Figure out what reward(s) your bad habit gives you. For example, if you’re endlessly scrolling through social media, that may be entertainment, distraction, or connectedness.
• Think about what good habits can give you the same reward(s). If you want to feel connected, spend quality time with a friend. If you want to entertain and distract yourself, you can read a book or listen to a podcast on a topic that interests you.

How long does it take to form a habit?

It’s often believed that it takes 21 days to build a habit. The myth stems from an observation made by plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz. He noticed a pattern that it usually took his patients around 21 days to get used to their new face or body. In 1960, he published a book “Psycho-Cybernetics” which said:

“These, and many other commonly observed phenomena tend to show that it requires a minimum of about 21 days for an old mental image to dissolve and a new one to jell.”

The book became a big success, while his words became misinterpreted as “It takes 21 days to form a habit.”

According to a 2009 study by the European Journal of Social Psychology, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form a habit. On average, a behavior becomes automatic after 66 days. The number depends on the habit in question, too: drinking a glass of lemon water in the morning is easier (and consequently, takes less time) than going to the gym.

So, when you start with Don’t Break the Chain, you can set a goal of keeping the streak for 66 days to make sure your new habit has become a part of your lifestyle.

What happens if you miss a day?

There are two types of people: those who believe that if you miss a day, you should start all over again, and those who think you should just keep going. I belong to the latter category.

An all-or-nothing attitude brings more harm than good. Perfection is unattainable and the inability to do everything impeccably often causes self-guilt. Numerous studies highlight the negative effects of perfectionism, such as increased stress, analysis paralysis, and poor self-image. It also sabotages your productivity and personal growth.

As long as it doesn’t happen often, one skipped day won’t ruin your progress. However, if you think a broken chain will make you go off track, it’s better to start over again. You get to decide, you make your own rules.

It’s important to note that some types of activities require days off. Those days shouldn’t be considered as breaking the chain as long as they’re pre-planned. For instance, if you’re working out, you need rest days to let your muscles recover and reduce the risk of injuries.

Another “justified absence” is if you’re sick — in that case, you can put S on the calendar, so there is no blank space. Similarly, you can put V for when you’re on a vacation.

How to get back on track after breaking the chain?

If you struggle to continue with your habit after breaking the chain, here’s what you can do:

• Schedule a time slot for meeting your goal. Set a reminder if you have to.
• Find an accountability buddy.
• Maintain a routine and stick to your schedule.
• Prepare for success. If your goal is to eat less sugar, don’t keep sugary drinks and foods in the house. If you want to work out in the morning, lay out your gym clothes and prepare everything you need before you go to bed.
• Remind yourself of why you started.
• Take a step back and think about why you fell off track. How can you prevent it in the future?
• Don’t be too hard on yourself — fall-offs happen to everyone.

Tips for making the most out of the Don’t Break the Chain technique

If you want to excel in building good habits while using the Don’t Break the Chain technique, keep these tips in mind.

Pick only one goal at the beginning

If you’re just starting with the Seinfeld Method, it’s best to pick only one goal to focus on. Maximum two or three, if you have extra free time. Be mindful that every new habit you introduce takes time and you can’t get more hours in a day. Juggling between your usual schedule and new activities can get overwhelming (and we don’t want any additional stress).

Put the calendar where you’ll see it

Pick a perfect place for a calendar depending on what your goal is. If you want to write 500 words every day, put it near your laptop. If you aim to take 10,000 steps a day, you can put it by your front door. If you put it somewhere you’ll see it often so that today’s blank space can annoy you, even better.

When you look at it, it should remind you of meeting your goal and not breaking the chain. After a while, your brain will start associating the location with the activity.

Determine what accomplishing a daily goal means beforehand

Before you start, precisely define what your goal is. Not doing that was my main problem when I first started — I would find every loophole and convince myself I somehow deserved to mark X on the calendar, even though I didn’t. For example, “Read more” is not specific enough; “Read 20 pages of a book every day” is better.

But, you can get into even more detail. Does it count if you read articles instead of a book? Can you mark the task as completed if you read 18 pages, or does it have to be strictly 20? If you decide to switch to an audiobook, how many minutes will 20 pages translate to? Decide on these finer details and mark them down, for future reference.

Set deadlines for your streak

The task of not breaking the chain for the rest of your life can be a bit much, to say the least. So, set a deadline for your streak, e.g. a 30-day streak or a 100-day streak, to make it easier to mentally handle it. When you accomplish your goal, reward yourself (see the heading below) and set a new deadline.

Motivate yourself

You can motivate yourself in two ways (it’s allowed — even preferred — to use both):

1. Find your “why”. Why have you chosen that goal? When motivation inevitably wears off, you’ll have to remind yourself why you even started. And if you don’t have a satisfactory answer, it’s not very likely the habit will stick. Things don’t last long-term without a good reason.
2. Set up a reward system. I’m a big advocate of treating yourself, especially when you deserve it. If you manage to not break the chain for a month, buy yourself something you want. Knowing you’ll get a reward if you accomplish your goal will give you some additional motivation to succeed.

Choose a tool that works best for you

All you need for this technique is some type of calendar, everything else depends on you. According to your preferences, you can choose:

• A wall calendar,
• A desk calendar,
• A mini calendar that fits in your bag,
• Google Calendar (or any other digital calendar)
• A habit tracker app, such as Streaks or Habit List,
• A habit tracker in your planner or bullet journal.

Conclusion

Doing something good for you every day takes dedication, discipline, and good organization. Breaking bad habits is hard, especially at the beginning. The good news is that it gets easier over time: after a while, you’ll be able to do it without even thinking about it. Until that happens, just focus on the process and, of course, don’t break the chain.

If you’ve been spuddling these days, you may be a victim of Parkinson’s law. Don’t worry if that’s the case, we have a solution for you.
In this article, we’ll talk about what Parkinson’s law is, why it makes you waste time, and how to avoid it.

What is Parkinson’s law?

Parkinson’s law is an observation that states that “Work expands to fill the period of time available for its completion.” In other words, people adjust their pace to the workload and the amount of time they have to finish it.

This law is named after Cyril Northcote Parkinson, the famous British historian and author. He wrote the definition above as an opening line to his article for The Economist in 1955. He later wrote a book about the concept, named Parkinson’s Law: The Pursuit of Progress.

In the article, Parkinson intended to take aim at the inefficiency of the bureaucratization of the British Civil Service, where he worked. He noticed that everyone was busy all day long, but very few things were actually accomplished.

Parkinson’s law has since been proven with several studies.

There’s also the Parkinson’s Law of Triviality, which states that people within organizations often give undue time and attention to trivial matters. As Parkinson said, “The time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the sum [of money] involved.”

Parkinson’s law in project management

Simply put, if you have 2 weeks to complete a task, it will take you 2 weeks to get it done; if you give yourself 5 days for the same task, you’ll manage to finish it in 5 days. Inadequate deadlines often cause procrastination and spending too much time on trivial matters.

Time estimated to complete a task can be exaggerated because of:

1. Too big of a buffer, because, as Murphy’s law states, “If something can go wrong, it will go wrong”,
2. An inaccurate idea of how much time it takes to complete the task.

We often wonder, “How much time do I have to complete the task?”, instead of “How much time do I need to complete the task?” That comes as no surprise: in the workplace, there are rarely incentives to finish early, since you are “rewarded” only with even more work. As that additional work seldom results in higher pay, many employees don’t find finishing a task early worth the effort.

However, in instances when we care about doing something fast, but also, as efficient as possible, what we should be asking ourselves is: “How much time should I realistically take, without compromising the performance?”

What is an example of Parkinson’s law?

In his work, Parkinson gave an example of an old lady who spends the whole day writing a postcard to her niece. He wrote: “An hour will be spent in finding the postcard, another in hunting for spectacles, half-an-hour in a search for the address, an hour and a quarter in composition, and twenty minutes in deciding whether or not to take an umbrella when going to the pillar-box in the next street.” In short, it took her the whole day to do a simple activity that a busy person would finish in a couple of minutes.

Another common example is a student who procrastinates and then crams everything in 2 days and 2 nights before the exam.

There’s even a phenomenon called the Student Syndrome, where people delay doing the task until right before the deadline. It’s believed that the term was introduced by Eliyahu M. Goldratt in his novel “Critical Chain”; he drew a parallel between students who wait until the last minute to study and employees who do the same with their project tasks because they think they have enough time to do everything.

As the Stock-Stanford Corollary to Parkinson’s law states, “If you wait until last minute, it only takes a minute to do.”

What are some examples of Parkinson’s law in the workplace?

Apart from the above-mentioned Student Syndrome, there are a lot of examples of Parkinson’s law in the workplace.

One of them is when a software company 37signals (now Basecamp) introduced Summer Hours: they work 4 days a week, 8 hours a day during the summer. They started experimenting with it in 2007 and they still do it 14 years later, so it must work. But how?

Their co-founder, Jason Fried, shared his opinion for the New York Times — in short, taking more time off makes you more productive.

He also explained:

“Very few people work even 8 hours a week. You’re lucky if you get a few good hours in between all the meetings, interruptions, web surfing, office politics, and personal business that permeate the typical workday.

Fewer official working hours help squeeze the fat out of the typical workweek. (…) They [employees] don’t waste it on things that just don’t matter. When you have fewer hours you usually spend them more wisely”.

Meetings can also be a good example of Parkinson’s law.

Sometimes, people ramble, exceeding the time allotted, with no structure or agenda in sight.

In the end, you leave without a clear idea of what’s been said in the last 2 hours.

Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, said in his interview with Harvard Business Review:

“Frightened, nervous managers use thick, convoluted planning books and busy slides filled with everything they’ve known since childhood. Real leaders don’t need clutter. People must have the self-confidence to be clear, precise, to be sure that every person in their organization — highest to lowest — understands what the business is trying to achieve.”

But, he concludes that simplicity is the hardest to achieve. People often think that using big and complicated words will make them appear smarter. Instead, it just wastes time — communication in the workplace should always be clear and concise.

How do you overcome Parkinson’s law?

There are a few ways to overcome Parkinson’s law and boost your productivity.

Determine project’s value and importance

If you want someone to be efficient (yourself included), they need to be aware of the project’s value and importance. It’s hard to be motivated to finish a project with no particular significance.

So, always paint a bigger picture. Explain not only how the current task helps with reaching a bigger goal, but also what will come next. Sometimes, people procrastinate because they don’t know what to do after they finish what they’re working on at the moment. Because of that, there should be a schedule and a plan for the project.

Set deadlines

Apart from a project deadline, set a few additional deadlines for each milestone.

For example, I have self-imposed deadlines for all the phases of writing my articles. That way, I can make sure I finish everything on time without any stress. I set due dates for completing the first draft, the second draft, and finally, editing.

Work in time slots

To stay focused throughout the day, work in time slots. They can be as short as 25 minutes (as in the Pomodoro technique) or as long as 90 minutes. I wouldn’t advise working longer than that, as studies suggest that the brain can only focus for 90 minutes before needing a 15-minute break.

Making breaks will help your mind stay fresh, focused, and efficient.

Track your time

To figure out how much time each project actually takes, track your time. There are plenty of easy-to-use time tracking apps that will let you see how you spend your time — what percentage of it is spent working? And how much time goes to procrastinating or doing trivial things?

It’s a good idea to do a Weekly Review of your work: at the end of every week, check how you spent your time in the previous 5 days. Is there an area you should improve on? Is there something you should spend more or less time on? Weekly Reviews are something that really made a difference in my productivity.

Try timeboxing or time mapping

Allocating fixed units of time for activities in advance is called timeboxing. It’s a time management technique that serves to allocate time periods and put a strict limit to activities that would otherwise take away too much of your time.

A similar technique, called time mapping, goes a step further: when you dedicate each unit of time to an activity, it gives you an overview of your time. It also includes deciding on your top priorities in all areas of your life.

Precisely define what means the task is done

Set clear expectations of what it means to complete the task successfully. This is helpful both for perfectionists, who always have something to improve or add, and for beginners, who may feel insecure in their skills.

Furthermore, precisely determine everyone’s roles and responsibilities in a project, to avoid wasted time due to misunderstandings.

Have your goal somewhere visible

When we don’t have our goals in mind (and in sight), we tend to get caught up in insignificant tasks. To avoid that, write important things you need to accomplish in a visible spot (such as a post-it note on your computer), so you can remind yourself of what you have to focus on.

Make your goals transparent

Tell people around you about your goals. Other people will keep you accountable — when you tell everyone about the things you want to achieve, you will subconsciously feel obligated to accomplish them as soon as possible. As a consequence, you’ll procrastinate less and waste less time on trivial matters.

Challenge yourself

Try finishing a task 10% faster, without compromising the quality. If you do well, next time try completing it 15% faster, then 20%, and so on. For example, if it usually takes you an hour to finish a task, try finishing it 5 minutes earlier, then 10 minutes earlier. After that, try completing the task in 45 minutes and keep gradually shortening the time — until you find that ideal sweet spot where you don’t spend too much time on a task, but still finish it with flying colors.

Conclusion

Parkinson’s law is an unwanted, but frequent visitor in every workplace. When you start being aware of it, you are on a good track to become more efficient. Luckily, you can avoid it in many ways, from setting additional deadlines to tracking and analyzing your time.

But how do you learn new things?

In this article, we’ll find out how to successfully learn any new skill using learning frameworks called the DiSSS method and the CaFE method. Plus, we’re going to offer additional tips on how to master new skills.

What is the DiSSS method?

The DiSSS method is a framework created by Tim Ferris, devised to help people master new information-based topics.

DiSSS is an acronym for Deconstruction, Selection, Sequencing, and Stakes (i is just here to remember the acronym easier). Let’s get into more detail about what each of those letters means and what questions it answers.

D: How do you deconstruct a skill?

D in DiSSS stands for Deconstruction. You deconstruct a skill by finding the smallest useful units of knowledge. For learning a language, it’s a word; for playing an instrument, it’s a note.

You can also divide the skill you want to learn into sub-skills. If you want to become a good public speaker, the sub-skills you’d want to learn could be confident body language, voice control, effective communication, rhetoric, and delivery.

S: How to determine which units to focus on the most?

The next step is Selection. It means you need to determine 20% of those minimum units that will produce 80% of the outcome. When defining the DiSSS framework, Tim Ferris tested this ratio in practice.

Namely, he made huge progress with his Japanese when he stumbled upon a poster that contains all 1,945 of the jōyō kanji (characters and their readings) designated for basic literacy by the Japanese Ministry of Education.

If you’re learning to play guitar, there are a few chord progressions that are used in hundreds of songs — they are your 20%.

If you are looking to build muscle, your 20% could be compound exercises, as they activate several muscle groups simultaneously (always consult a professional trainer about the right exercises for this).

Does “the 20% that produces 80% of the results” sound familiar? You’re right, it’s the Pareto principle. It’s the observation by Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto that 80% of the consequences come from 20% of the causes.

S: What is the best order of learning the units?

After that, we have Sequencing. A lot of people give up because they start with something too advanced for a beginner and they get discouraged.

You have to find out what is the most effective order of learning the units. Since it highly depends on the skill you’re trying to develop, it’s best to ask someone who has already mastered that skill.

S: How to stay motivated and disciplined?

The third S stands for Stakes. Set up some psychological and social mechanisms to keep yourself motivated and (even more importantly) disciplined. Here are some of the things you can do to set up the stakes.

Tell your friends

Tell your friends what you’re doing so they can keep you accountable. If there’s a deadline, announce the deadline too. You won’t give up as easily when you tell everyone about your goal — think of it as positive peer pressure. Moreover, your friends will be more understanding if you have to skip a gathering to work on your goal because they’ll know how important it is to you.

However, according to a TEDx talk by Derek Sivers (which is based on several studies), this practice might be counterproductive in some cases. It tricks your mind into thinking the goal has already been accomplished, thus making you less motivated. Sivers suggests phrasing your goal in a way that doesn’t give you such satisfaction, e.g. “I really want to run a marathon, so I need to train five times a week. Kick my ass if I don’t, okay?”

Set weekly goals

A week is long enough for some progress to happen and short enough to not lose motivation. Breaking a big goal into smaller ones makes it less scary and gives you a sense of accomplishment along the way.

Set a reminder

According to a study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes around 66 days to form a habit. Until then, there’s no shame in setting a reminder to make sure you don’t forget to work on your skill.

Make a habit tracker

You can make a habit tracker yourself, get a template, or simply use any calendar you have around. Cross off each day that you worked towards your goal. The longer the streak is, the worse it feels to skip a day and break it. This technique is called the Don’t Break the Chain or The Seinfeld Method.
Besides, crossing off a day gives you the same satisfaction as crossing off a completed task off of your to-do list.

Set a reward system

As Jack Torrance from The Shining feverishly typed over and over again, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. To keep yourself motivated, create a reward system that will make you breeze through your tasks. For smaller goals, it can be something as simple as your favorite chocolate bar, while for reaching an important goal you deserve to treat yourself with something bigger.

What is the CaFE method?

The CaFe method is a secondary framework for learning a skill that goes hand in hand with the DiSSS method. It’s also created by Tim Ferriss.

CaFe stands for Compression, Frequency, and Encoding. Here’s what each element is about, in more detail.

Compression

Can you compress the most important 20% (chosen during the process of Selection) into a cheat sheet?

Not only will you have the most important information easily accessible, but the process of making a cheat sheet will help you with learning. I always made cheat sheets when I was studying for my university exams. By the time I’d create a perfect one, I wouldn’t even need it anymore because I would memorize everything while making it.

You can have fun with the cheat sheet: color-code it, use bold fonts, and make it aesthetically pleasing.

Frequency

How often and for how long should you study? Keep in mind your limits and deadlines.

For example, I know that I can engage in deep work for a maximum of 3-4 hours a day, including breaks (unless I am under the pressure of a rapidly approaching deadline). Because of this, it wouldn’t make sense for me to set a goal of learning 8 hours a day.

Encoding

Create mental anchors and tricks that will help you remember easier. Try to connect things you want to memorize with something you already know, for a rapid recall.

It may take some time until you find out what works best for you. It can be through:

• Acronyms. For instance, the acronym HOMES can be used to remember the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
• Songs or rhymes. They are frequently used when teaching children, but can also prove useful with adults.
• Making up sentences to remember the spelling or order of something. For example, memorizing the sentence “Only unique goats have talents” to remember the spelling of the word ought. To memorize the order of the planets in the Solar system (which I’m sure you already know, but it will serve as an example to explain this mnemonic technique), remember the sentence “My very educated mother just served us nachos.” M stands for Mercury, V for Venus, E for Earth, and so on.
• Associations, my personal favorite. They don’t necessarily have to make sense, they can be as ridiculous as you want them to be. For example, if you can’t remember that gato means “cat” in Spanish, imagine a cat standing on a gate (my brain provided me with mental imagery of a chubby black cat proudly sitting on the majestic gold gate, like a tiny emperor). Gato and gate share 3 out of 4 letters, close enough, you’ll memorize it.

How can I learn to master anything?

Along with using DiSSS and CaFE methods, you can try out these tips to learn any skill faster and easier.

Be very specific with what you want to learn

If you’re familiar with the concept of SMART goals, this point will come as no surprise to you. Starting to learn a new skill can be overwhelming. Whether you want to learn to cook or a new language, the number of recipes and words is not only enormous, but also always growing. Where to start? How do I know if I accomplished my goal?

As Peter Drucker wrote, “What gets measured, gets managed.”

Try setting a very specific goal instead of a broader one. For example, make it your goal to learn to cook 5 simple meals you like and eat often. After you master that, you can either:

1. learn to cook another 5 simple dishes, or
2. try out slightly more complicated recipes.

This way, you’ll have a better idea of where to start and you’ll know when you complete your goal.

Define failure points

Before you start pursuing a skill, think about why you might fail. What are the reasons you quit before or the reasons others failed? If you’re aware of the failure points even before you start, you’re less likely to struggle with them.

Find a mentor

Having someone to guide you through your learning process can save you a lot of time and money in the long run. These are some of the questions you should ask your mentors:

• What should I focus on the most in the beginning?
• What are the biggest waste of time I should try to avoid?
• What are the biggest mistakes novices make? And what mistakes are common even within experts?
• When looking at the experts in your field, who is amazing at what they do even though they are not a natural talent? (These are the people you have the most to learn from!)
• Have you taught others and did they replicate your results?
• What are your favorite resources on the subject?

Learn by doing

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

― Benjamin Franklin

Studying is great, but start putting that knowledge into practice as soon as you can. If you’re learning a language, try writing and speaking, rather than only reading and listening.

Is it scary? It can be.

Will you make mistakes? Yes.

Will you learn faster? Also yes.

Most people are afraid of failure and being made fun of, which is why they avoid making mistakes at all costs. Unfortunately, they’re inevitable. And those who are not afraid to try and fail, learn better and faster than those who play safe.

Also, embarrassment is temporary but knowledge is forever.

Seek feedback

It’s important to note that the crucial part of learning by doing is realizing you made a mistake and then correcting it.

Sometimes, errors are obvious, sometimes, not so much. That’s why you should ask for feedback, preferably, from your mentor, or someone who has a lot of knowledge on the subject. Getting criticism is not the best feeling in the world, but you can’t improve without it.

Wrapping up: how do you know when you’ve mastered a skill?

Let’s say you’ve applied all of the principles and tips we talked about in this article. How do you know if you mastered a skill? When can you truly say, “I know this”?

If you successfully followed all the steps of the DiSSS method, there’s a high chance you’re on the right track. Other than that, these are some of the signs you’ve mastered a skill:

• You do it effortlessly and naturally,
• You are confident in your knowledge ― i.e., you know you know something,
• You can teach someone else to do it,
• Someone is willing to pay you to teach them this skill,
• People ask you for advice or to be their mentor.

Of course, there is no such thing as learning everything; there’ll always be something new that you don’t know yet. A true master is someone who never stops being a learner.

What is flex time and why is it so appealing to so many people? We’ll try to answer those questions in this article. We’ll also talk about the advantages and disadvantages of flexible working and what you should pay attention to if you want to introduce it to your workplace.

What is flex time?

According to the Department of Labor, flex time (also spelled as flextime or flex-time) is a type of work schedule that is “an alternative to the traditional 9 to 5, 40-hour workweek. It allows employees to vary their arrival and/or departure times.” Starting and ending hours are flexible, while the number of working hours per day/week is fixed. Employees on traditional schedules typically work from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., whereas a flexible schedule can start (and end) at any time.

However, there is often a “core period” when all employees must be on the job. It creates a good balance between collaborative work and focused solo work.
For example, if the core period is from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m., you can start working anywhere from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. — it’s just important that you’re at work 12–4 p.m.

A flex time policy is at the discretion of each business. However, flexible working might be harder for client or customer-focused employees, due to the nature of their job.

On the other hand, types of employees that can (and often do) work flex time are: freelancers, part-time workers, remote workers, healthcare workers, consultants, and creatives like writers and graphic designers.

Types of flexible working

These are some of the most common types of flexible working:

• Part-time: working less than full-time hours, typically 20-29 hours a week.
  • Job sharing: an arrangement where two part-time employees split the workload, benefits, and working hours of one full-time employee.
• Remote: working from home or any other place that’s not a traditional place of work.
• Compressed hours: working full-time hours over fewer days.
• Flex time.

A flexible schedule is not one-size-fits-all. It could be:

• A fixed schedule with individualized starting and ending hours (e.g. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.),
• A schedule with individualized starting and ending hours that vary daily (for example, working 8-4 p.m. from Monday to Wednesday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday and Friday),
• A split shift, e.g. working from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., making an extended, 3-hour lunch break, and then working 3-6 p.m.

Advantages and disadvantages of flex time

If you think about adopting the flex time business model, you should take into consideration these pros and cons.

Advantages of flexible schedules

These are the most prominent benefits of flexible working.

Increases job satisfaction

Arguably, the biggest advantage is being satisfied with your job — and, according to a workplace study by Staples Advantage, “63 percent of the happiest employees say they are able to telecommute, work flex time, or both.”

A similar conclusion can be found in a Forbes article: “Research (our own and others) shows that employees are healthier, experience less stress, and are more productive and engaged when they effectively make choices about how, where, and when they work. One way to do this is by responding to individual ‘work styles’.”

Boosts productivity

Choosing your own hours is the perfect opportunity to work in tune with your circadian rhythm. For a lot of people, periods of high alertness and wakefulness are in the late morning and late afternoon, while energy levels are lower in the early afternoon.

It doesn’t have to be like that — some people are at their most productive state early in the morning or late at night. Flex time allows you to work at the time of the day when you’re the most efficient, thus increasing your productivity.

Gives more freedom and flexibility

You have more time for things outside of work that are important to you; you also don’t have to sacrifice your personal life for work obligations.

Helps you avoid rush hour

If you have to commute to get to work, traffic won’t be as big of an issue as it would be if you worked 9-to-5. Choosing your own schedule means that you can go to work a little earlier or later than the majority and avoid the rush hour.

It’s helpful for parents

If you’re a parent, getting ready in the morning can get hectic — but having a flexible schedule can make your life much easier. You can help your children get ready, make them breakfast, or give them a ride to school without rushing and wondering if you’ll manage to be in the office on time.

The same goes for picking them up from school, coming to their soccer games, or being able to work from home when they’re sick.

Decreases absenteeism

Flexible scheduling can reduce absenteeism, as employees are less likely to arrive late or call in sick. It also allows them to complete all personal obligations they may have during the day, while still working their regular number of hours.

Greater cost-efficiency

Flexible working allows you to save money in many different ways, from spending less on electricity bills to buying fewer office supplies. When fewer people are coming to the office, you can rent a smaller office and spend less money on rent.
Moreover, higher job satisfaction (that we discussed earlier in the article) means higher employee retention.

Disadvantages of flexible schedules

Flex time also has some downsides.

Can be isolating

To some people, spending time alone and working by yourself is as close to paradise as it gets. To others, it can be quite isolating and negatively affect their mental health.

Can be complicated to coordinate and schedule meetings

Determining when every employee works can be quite time-consuming. If everyone’s schedule is different, finding a time that works for everyone can be next to impossible.

It’s harder to monitor overtime hours

With so many different schedules in the equation, it can be difficult for managers to keep track of everyone’s overtime work. That can turn into a problem when it comes time to get paid for those extra hours.

Work-life balance with flex time

What is work-life balance like when you’re working flexible hours? Either really good or really bad, depending on the circumstances — hence it is its own category.

On one hand, you are able to choose your own hours and make the optimal schedule. That allows you to be in tune with your natural rhythm and make time for everything important to you. It reduces stress and it’s good for your overall health.

On the other hand, you can end up getting many important emails and messages before and after your working hours. Since there’s always someone working, there’s always something going on. That creates an “always-on” mentality and leads to burnout.

If you’re working flexible hours, do your best to work only during your working hours, not the whole day. It’s easy to get caught up in work, but it’s crucial to have a balance.

Advice for successfully adopting flexible working

You decided that the pros outweigh the cons and you want to include flex time in your business model? Here are some tips to make that change as smooth as possible.

Have good communication

The process of adopting the flex time model should include addressing everyone’s concerns and questions, as well as jointly resolving any issues that may occur.

But open communication shouldn’t stop there — when your team is virtual, frequent and transparent communication is a must. In their book, Effective Public Relations, professors at the University of Wisconsin Scott M. Cutlip and Allen H. Center defined 7 C’s of effective communication:

• Completeness,
• Conciseness,
• Consideration,
• Concreteness,
• Courtesy,
• Clearness,
• Correctness.

Track working hours

To have a clear overview of everyone’s schedule and the number of hours worked, it’s best to use a time tracker such as Clockify. It may take a few minutes out of your day, but it will leave no room for any confusion and misunderstandings. When you track time, you can make sure billings and payroll are as accurate as possible and no one is underpaid or overpaid.

Include flex time policy in the employee handbook

A flex time policy consisting of specific rules relevant to your company should be your top priority when implementing a flex time work schedule. 

However, before you add your flex time policy to the employee handbook, make sure it includes:

• Reasons and objectives for flexible working,
• Different types of flexible scheduling offered,
• Conditions that need to be met to qualify for flex time (if there are any),
• Instructions on how to request and use flex time — can employees choose their working hours and place of work every day, or do they need to submit a request in advance?

Conclusion

As Millennials and Gen Z value freedom and being in control of their time, flex time has the potential to throw the 9-to-5 schedule off the throne. It doesn’t seem like a negative change: flexible working increases job satisfaction, allows more freedom and flexibility, boosts productivity, and has greater cost-efficiency.

It’s important to note that you don’t have to be productive and busy 24/7. That’s an unhealthy mindset — all of us need to rest, relax, and recharge.

However, if you are well-rested, have nothing to do, and want to be productive, we got your back. In this article, we’ll explore 100+ different productive things to do when bored.

Do some work

The beginning of our list of productive things to do when bored is quite predictable — catch up on work. (It gets more interesting, I promise.)

1. Catch up with the industry news

It’s important to have an idea of what’s happening in your industry, if there is any interesting news, and what your competition is doing.

2. Ask for feedback on your work

Feedback is the key to improvement. If your team and/or manager haven’t given it to you, don’t be afraid to ask.

3. Clean out your inbox

Getting to inbox zero is often not an easy task, but it gives you a sense of accomplishment and puts your mind at peace.

4. Write or update your CV or resume

If you don’t have a CV or a resume, now it’s time to create one. If you already have it, it may be useful to update it.

5. Make or update your LinkedIn profile

As your LinkedIn account is a form of a digital resume, it should be up to date and filled with relevant information. If you don’t have one, you should make it, as it allows you to connect with other people in your industry and follow their work.

6. Find a new location to work or study

If you work remotely, you probably get bored of working from home — at least from time to time. So, try to find a new location where you can work; a change of scenery can boost your productivity. It could be a cafe, a park, or a coworking space.

7. Research side job options

If you could use some extra money, you can find a job on the side. You can find and perform a lot of work online and even make a passive source of income — just do some research to figure out what’s the best option for you.

Become healthier

Being the healthiest and happiest version of yourself will boost your productivity, but even more importantly — you’ll be healthy and happy.

8. Go for a walk with your dog

Long walks are good not only for you but for your dog too, for a variety of reasons — two main ones being that you both get to 1) exercise, and 2) spend time with each other.

9. Go on a hike

You get to be in nature, get fresh air, burn some calories, and enjoy beautiful views. Time very well spent, if you ask me.

10. Try out a new sport or fitness class

Last week, my best friend and I randomly decided to try playing tennis. It was abundantly clear that neither of us is going to be the next Serena Williams, but we tried something new, laughed a lot, and had a good workout. Even if you go by yourself, it will have the same benefits.

11. Do a YouTube workout video

If you’re short on time or prefer working out in the privacy of your home, there are hundreds of workout videos on YouTube. Whether you’re a beginner or you prefer strenuous exercise, you can find something for yourself.

12. Stretch or do yoga

Being flexible comes with many benefits: fewer injuries, less pain, better posture, and increased mobility, just to name a few. Try doing some stretching or yoga whenever you can.

13. Make a healthier version of your favorite meal or dessert

I can guarantee that whatever your favorite food is, there is a recipe for its healthier version online. Try it out, you have nothing to lose — except maybe a few extra calories.

14. Grow a plant

It can be a flower, a herb for your kitchen, or even a tree if you have a backyard. Growing a plant is therapeutic and rewarding, plus they help clean the air and reduce noise levels.

Be creative

Creativity releases dopamine, a natural anti-depressant, and increases brain plasticity. Unleash your creative side with some of the items from this list.

15. Go on a photo walk

Photowalking essentially means taking a walk with other photography enthusiasts and snapping photos. However, if there are no such events near you or you’re not comfortable with doing it with others, you can do it by yourself. Take a walk in your neighborhood and take pictures of things that catch your attention.

16. Try out a new recipe

Channel your inner Jamie Oliver and cook something you’ve never cooked before. Bonus points if it’s somewhat healthy and/or exotic. But, it doesn’t have to be.

17. Discover your artistic side

Try painting, drawing, pottery making, or even writing a short story. Don’t worry if you’re talented or not. You don’t have to be good at being creative to enjoy it. Besides, creativity is like a muscle — the more you exercise it, the more it grows.

18. Make a productivity playlist

It’s no secret that music affects productivity. Do you listen to classical music or nature sounds when you work? Or maybe you prefer energetic, feel-good songs? Make a perfect playlist that will get you in the mood to get things done.

19. Do a DIY project

There’s no better time to do that DIY project that has been on your Pinterest board for months than when you’re bored. You’ll get to be creative, have the satisfaction of making something with your own two hands, and (hopefully) end up with something pretty or useful.

20. Redecorate your room or your workspace

Redecoration doesn’t have to be expensive — adding a pop of color, changing the lighting, or hanging up some wall art can completely transform the atmosphere of a room.

21. Make a physical photo album of your favorite memories

I’m sure most of us have thousands of photos on our phones and computers. Going through all those pictures doesn’t have the same effect as looking at our childhood photo albums, right? Pick your favorite memories and make a physical photo album out of them.

Connect with others

No man is an island. Spend more time with your favorite people (and furry friends).

22. Catch up with a friend or a family member

Call a good friend, your mum, or your favorite cousin and have a simple chit-chat. What are they up to? And have you already told them about everything that’s happening in your life?

23. Spend time with your pet

You have other things in your life, but your pets only have you. Give them some extra cuddles and buy them a new toy.

24. Attend a networking event

Get to know people in your industry. You can get fresh ideas, new job opportunities and precious advice, as well as gain more knowledge.

25. Reconnect with an old friend

Do you have a friend you still think fondly of but lost contact with over time? Send them a message, maybe you’ll get to rekindle the friendship.

26. Plan a family or friends gathering

We all live busy lives and often days (or even months) can go by without seeing our loved ones. Plan a gathering and enjoy some quality time together.

27. Find an online community that shares your interests

It can be a reading club, a fitness community, a plant lover community, or something entirely different. You’ll get to talk about your interests, share tips, motivate each other, and improve yourself.

28. Preserve family memories

Make a family tree, collect family stories, and make a family photo album, or several albums. Have all those memories saved so the whole family can enjoy them in the future.

29. Get to know someone on a deeper level

Make a deeper connection with someone and get to know each other better, whether it’s your partner, a friend, or a family member. You can play 36 questions to get to know someone better or the We’re Not Really Strangers card game.

30. Tell someone you love and appreciate them

It may sound cheesy, but life is short, we don’t know how long we’ll be here, and one day you’ll be glad you did.

Help someone

Helping others doesn’t only feel good, but also gives you a sense of purpose and belonging. Besides, it’s just the right thing to do.

31. Perform a random act of kindness

Do something good just for the sake of it, without expecting anything in return. It can be as simple as holding the doors open for someone, picking up litter from the beach, or buying coffee for the next person in the drive-through.

32. Donate blood

If you can, I would recommend donating blood. A small gesture for you may make a difference between life or death for someone. I had a positive experience every time I went to donate blood, as the staff was always super friendly.

33. Volunteer

Look up volunteering gigs in your area. Whether you choose to volunteer in an animal shelter, a food bank, or an art organization, it’s an experience you’ll remember.

34. Write a review

This may not sound noble like other items on this list, but if you’ve ever researched a product before spending your hard-earned money on it, you know how important this is.

35. Help elderly neighbors

If you have elderly neighbors, check if they need some help. You can make their life easier with some easy tasks (well, easy for you, not so easy for them), like going grocery shopping or walking their dog.

Organize your life

The most productive thing you can do when bored at home? Get organized.

36. Review, update, and organize your schedule

Is your schedule optimal, up-to-date, and as efficient as it possibly can be? If not, review it and make changes where necessary. If you track your time, this will go smoother as time tracking gives you a more accurate idea of how you spend your time and how you should schedule your tasks.

37. Declutter your space, physical or digital

Don’t keep anything that doesn’t have a purpose and/or doesn’t make you happy. When you declutter physical stuff, separate it into 3 piles: to sell, to donate, and to throw away.

38. Organize files on your computer and phone

Replace “jshakdjfl” with normal file names — this is especially important for documents — and organize them in folders (not named “hagdjahshshs” or anything similar), for an easier search.

39. Organize your camera roll

Delete blurry photos and the ones you look bad in. If you have 70 almost identical photos, leave 2 or 3 and delete the rest. It will look less messy and you’ll be able to find the photos you want much faster.

40. Organize your closet

Declutter, tidy up, and store clothes in categories so you always know where to find something you need. If you’re feeling extra productive, you can even color-coordinate your clothes.

41. Unsubscribe from newsletters you’re no longer interested in

If you haven’t opened their email in a while, unsubscribe. Let go of the unnecessary clutter in your inbox.

42. Unfollow/unfriend all the accounts that don’t add value to your life

Be conscious of the content that you consume on social media. How does it make you feel? If someone you follow triggers negative thoughts and emotions, unfollow them. The same goes if they don’t add any value to your life, whether it’s inspiration, entertainment, or useful information.

43. Create email templates

If the emails you receive require similar answers, make your life easier by creating email templates instead of typing everything out over and over again.

44. Make backups of important documents and photos

Last, but definitely not least — make backups of all the important files you have. Every single one. If you make more than one backup, even better. Most of us learned the hard way how risky it is to keep everything only in one place.

Be practical

There’s no better time to do all those not particularly exciting, but necessary tasks than when you have nothing to do.

45. Clean your house

Tidying up, vacuuming, mopping the floor, washing the dishes, cleaning the windows… There’s always something to do around the house, especially if you have kids and/or pets.

46. Clean your car

On the same note, clean your car too. Clean the interior and give it a good shower in a car wash.

47. Clean your makeup brushes

If you wear makeup, your brushes and beauty blenders are likely overdue to be cleaned. I know it’s boring, but your skin will thank you.

48. Update your wardrobe to prepare for the next season

Go shopping for some clothing items for the next season, but shop mindfully! Only buy things you’ll actually wear and, if you are able to, buy from ethical brands.

49. Set up a life binder

A life binder is a binder that contains all important documents in one place. That includes various paperwork, insurances, bills, passwords, important contacts, and so on.

50. Make a list of things you need to buy

I always have a list of things, big or small, that I need to purchase when I get the chance (mostly stuff for my apartment). Making such lists is a good idea if you’re an impulsive shopper, as it makes your money go towards something you need instead of unnecessary things.

51. Rearrange your furniture according to feng shui principles

Feng shui is a system of traditional practices originating from ancient China. It has the goal of enhancing your wellbeing in a space by making a good flow of energy within that space. Look up feng shui principles and make some adjustments in your space — after all, just making a little change may be refreshing.

52. Fix something around the house

Is your faucet leaking? Do your walls need a fresh coat of paint? Is your garbage disposal clogged? You can try to repair it.
But, if you don’t know how to do it, it’s better to give a call to a professional to get it fixed.

53. Do all those small tasks you’ve been avoiding

Stop procrastinating and do all those small tasks you’ve been avoiding, such as making a doctor appointment, paying bills, sending that email, etc. You can’t play the “I don’t have time, I’m too busy” card now.

54. Have a No Spend Day

Do a challenge of not spending a single cent for a whole day. Can you really do it?

Work on yourself

In the wise words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Make the most of yourself….for that is all there is of you.”

55. Journal

Writing down all your thoughts and concerns has a big positive impact on your mental health. It makes your head clear, boosts your memory and comprehension, reduces stress, and you become more in tune with yourself and your emotions.

56. Write a letter to your future self

I do this every 1st January, but you can do it wherever you want. Set goals for yourself, make predictions about the future, envision how your ideal future will look like (and then make it happen).

57. Start working on one of your weaknesses

We all have our strengths and weaknesses, but it takes a very determined person to actively work on the things they’re not good at. Those who can do it are often the most successful ones.

58. Make a list of bad habits you want to stop doing

This is similar to the previous point, but not quite the same. Think about all the bad habits you have and write them down. In another column, write good habits you can replace the bad habits with.

59. Write a list of things you’re grateful for

We often get too caught up in trying to get something bigger and better to pay attention to all the things we already have. Stop for a moment and think about everything you are grateful for.

60. Make a list of your achievements in the past month or year

On the same note as the last point, we often don’t appreciate how far we have come. Making a list of your past achievements, big or small, will motivate you to accomplish even more.

61. Upgrade your morning routine and make it more productive

It doesn’t have to be that typical productive morning routine you see everywhere on the Internet (waking up extra early, working out, reading, and so on). Try to make a morning routine that’s productive, but still attainable and realistic (for you).

62. Test out time management strategies or productivity hacks

Have you found what strategies and hacks boost your productivity the most? If not, put time management techniques to the test and figure out what works best for you.

63. Write a bucket list

Write down everything you want to do before you die — it can be a travel bucket list or to-learn bucket list too.

64. Do personality tests

Get to know yourself a bit better. There is a wide variety of personality tests to choose from; some of the most popular ones are the 16 personalities or MBTI personality test, the Love languages test, the Enneagram personality test, and the Big Five personality test.

65. Do something that scares you

Sometimes, the best way to overcome a fear is to face it.

66. Create a self-care routine

You need to take care of yourself — after all, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Create a self-care routine that will make you feel great inside and out.

67. Revisit your New Year’s resolutions

Remember those resolutions you made at the beginning of the year? How many of them did you manage to stick to? If the answer is not that many (or none), don’t worry, you still have plenty of time — but start now.

68. Try out a new hobby

Do you have a hobby that has always seemed interesting, but you never had the time or courage to start? Try it out now. You can even revisit an old hobby you started to neglect over time, if you think you might still enjoy it.

69. Find your ikigai

Ikigai is something that you love and you’re good at, something that the world needs and you can be paid for. It’s a Japanese concept referring to something that makes life worthwhile and gives you a sense of purpose. I agree that finding your life’s purpose on a random afternoon sounds pretty ambitious, but you can at least give it a thought.

70. Give some attention to your mental health

Mental hygiene is as important as physical hygiene, especially in the anxiety-inducing world we live in. There is no shame in asking for professional help if you feel like you need it.

Learn something new

According to many, learning is the ultimate productivity. Successful people are learners.

71. Read

As Charles W. Eliot said, “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”

72. Listen to a podcast or audiobook

If you prefer listening over reading, podcasts and audiobooks are a great option. One of their biggest benefits is that you can listen to them while doing other things like commuting or cleaning, which is impossible with a physical book.

73. Take an online course

A good thing about the Internet is that you can take courses, even the ones from prestigious universities, from the comfort of your own home. Did you know that you can, for example, take free Ivy League online courses?

74. Start learning a new skill

You can start learning almost any skill online, whether it’s coding on Github or studying a new language on Duolingo. Other than coding and languages, skills that can improve your career are data analysis, public speaking, copywriting, audio and video production, and negotiation (among many others).

75. Learn more about finances and budgeting

No matter what you do, you’ll have to manage and handle money. You should learn how to properly do it.

76. Learn something about psychology

This is another topic everyone should learn about — find out how to read body language, how to recognize an emotional manipulator, how we learn and process information, etc.

77. Watch a tutorial

Watch a video tutorial on something you can’t seem to get right, whether that’s doing your eyeliner or solving a math problem. This is particularly useful if you’re a visual learner.

78. Watch a TEDx talk on the topic that interests you

TEDx talks are a fun way to learn something and get some food for thought, as well as discover new topics that may interest you.

79. Find a new productivity podcast, app, or a YouTube channel

Find a new content creator that talks about productivity to get a fresh perspective on the topic and get some new ideas. If you don’t know where to find them, check out our list of top productivity resources on the internet.

80. Take a self-defense class

This is, unfortunately, something that is incredibly useful to know. It’s the knowledge that you’ll hopefully never get to use, but if you get in a situation where you have to, it may save your life.

Have fun

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do for yourself is to have some fun and take your mind off work.

81. Watch a classic movie made in the year you were born

There are some movies everyone should watch, as they got a classic status for a reason. If you don’t know where to start, pick a movie made in the year you were born (because why not?).

82. Learn to make a cocktail

If you’re a fan of cocktails, you can learn to make your favorite one. If you are a beginner, don’t worry, there are a lot of cocktails that only have 2 or 3 ingredients and are easy to make.

83. Organize a themed party

It doesn’t matter if there’s a special event (like a birthday) coming up or you just want to make a themed party for the sake of it — pick a fun and creative theme and have a good time. Sometimes the preparations for such parties can be more fun than the party itself.

84. Buy something from a small local business

If you want to treat yourself, consider buying something from a small local business. Not only will you get something high quality and unique, but you’ll also help a real person pay their bills, instead of helping an already rich CEO buy their third yacht.

85. Do that one thing you’ve always wanted to do but had no one to do it with

You’ve always wanted to attend a soap carving course, but had no one to go with? Do it by yourself, life is too short to wait on others.

86. Be a tourist in your own city

Wander around your own city and discover it as a tourist would. It’s fun to get a different perspective on the city you live in (and often take for granted).

87. Go to a museum or an art gallery

Go to your local museum or art gallery and learn something new about history, art, and culture. You can also go on digital tours of museums all around the world, such as the Vatican museums, Guggenheim museum in New York, and Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

88. Organize a weekend getaway/road trip

Is there a place worth seeing that’s close to where you live? If yes, plan a road trip to visit it, especially if you haven’t been there yet.

89. Do sudoku or play memory games

Have fun while training your brain. The most popular options are sudoku puzzles and memory games. You can also play time management games to boost your efficiency.

Plan and prepare

The better your planning skills are, the smoother your life goes.

90. Write a to-do list

Writing a to-do list helps you prepare for the next day, makes you feel in control of your time, and gives you a sense of accomplishment and progress when your cross off a task.

91. Make a plan for the upcoming week

I usually spend Sunday evenings making plans for the upcoming week. I don’t plan every second of the week, but I like to have a general idea of how to divide my weekly workload, what I am going to do after work, and what fun things I can do on the weekend.
You can also do a weekly review.

92. Create a meal plan for the next week

Planning your meals in advance and meal prepping is a great way to eat healthier and save time. It will also make your grocery shopping much faster and easier.

93. Make a 5 or 10-year plan

Switching to a more distant future, think about what you want to accomplish in life and set some long-term goals.

94. Make a strategy to achieve your goals

Whether your goals are big or small, short or long-term, you need a plan to achieve them. Make a good strategy and divide them into smaller steps to accomplish them easier.

95. Plan a few go-to outfits

Has it ever happened to you that you need to get out of the door in 3 minutes, but you have no idea what to wear? Put together a few outfits for a couple of different occasions, so when you’re in a hurry, you already have a good outfit prepared and you don’t need to make decisions on the spot.

96. Make a vision board

Making a vision board is a creative way to figure out what you want to accomplish and direct your energy towards it. That way, you’ll have a visual representation of your goals in a place where you can see them all the time and make sure your mind stays focused on them.

97. Start planning birthday or Christmas gifts

Take some stress off the future and start planning (and buying!) gifts early. When the holiday season comes, you’ll get to enjoy it, instead of running around trying to do all shopping last minute. It will also be easier on your pocket.

98. Make a savings plan

If you don’t already have a savings plan, you should definitely make one. It’s smart to have some money on the side, whether you plan to make a big purchase or save it for a rainy day.

99. Plan a vacation

It’s never too early to plan a vacation. In fact, the earlier you start, the higher the chance to catch good deals and cheap flights.

100. Put together an emergency bag

Put together a bag with essentials you can just grab and go in the case of an emergency. Pack things like nonperishable food, water, a first aid kit, flashlight and batteries, and medication you take.

Relax

Relaxing is crucial for both your mental and physical health.

101. Take a nap

A good nap can fix a lot of things; boredom is one of them. If you have extra time, catch up on sleep. Both your body and mind will thank you for it.

102. Try color therapy

Buy an adult coloring book with a design you like and start coloring. It’s great as a stress and anxiety relief.

103. Meditate or pray

Both have many benefits, such as focusing on the present, reducing negative emotions, increasing patience and tolerance, and gaining new perspectives on stressful situations. It’s important to take a moment to be mindful and live in the present.

104. Don’t do anything and let yourself be bored

After all, being bored has some benefits too. You should let yourself be bored sometimes. In many cases, boredom can spark creativity. As Gayatri Devi, a professor at the Pennsylvania State University, said: “Boredom is the last privilege of the free mind.”

Well, we’ll tell you how. In this article, we’ll provide actionable tips on how to say “No” at work (without feeling guilty) and help you figure out the reason you avoid saying it.

Why do you avoid saying “No”?

Before we get into concrete tips on saying “No” at work, it’s important to figure out why we have a problem with it in the first place. There are many situations in which it’s completely justifiable to say “No“, such as:

• Unrealistic deadlines,
• Something that’s just not your job (especially when you have something that actually is in your job description that you need to focus on),
• You are asked to do something in a way that it’s proven to be ineffective,
• You already have too many things on your plate.

Yet, people are still hesitant to say it, in fear of conflict and/or being labeled as “difficult to work with.” We don’t want anyone to be disappointed or angry with us — we want to be agreeable. After all, since we were children, we were taught that saying “No” was impolite.

As Dr. Vanessa Bohns, Ph.D., and a professor of organizational behavior at Cornell University, said for the Wall Street Journal: “One of our most fundamental needs is for social connection and a feeling that we belong. Saying ‘no’ feels threatening to our relationships and that feeling of connectedness.”

Unsurprisingly, women are more likely to say “Yes” even if they want to say “No“. In the words of academic coach Mary McKinney, Ph.D., for the American Psychological Association, “Saying no is more challenging for women because of societal pressures to be likable. Men are still seen as likable if they’re assertive, while women are more likely to be seen as likable if they’re compliant.” This pressure is even bigger for minority women.

Do’s and don’ts of saying “No” at work

Saying “No” is a delicate art; there are quite a few things you need to keep in mind in order to do it correctly at work. To make it easier to remember everything, we divided the tips into DO’s and DON’T’s.

DO’s of saying “No” at work

These are the practices you should follow when you want to say “No” at work politely and guilt-free.

Reframe how you think about the word “No”

The first step is to reframe how you think about saying “No“.

Saying “No” to something that doesn’t matter is essentially saying “Yes” to something important to you — such as a priority task you want to save time for.

It means that you respect your time and you want to be intentional about spending it. There’s nothing wrong with that and you’re not a bad person for doing so. Your time and energy are finite resources, so you need to pick wisely what you’ll spend them on.

Be both assertive and polite

Pay attention to your tone and body language. As Jonathan Price said in his book, Put That in Writing, “Tone is the hardest part of saying no.”

On one hand, you should be straightforward and assertive and say “No” firmly. On the other hand, you should also be pleasant and polite.

Don’t be mean, but don’t be too nice either — try to have a neutral tone. Not an easy task to do, but finding the right balance is crucial to deliver the “No” the right way.

If people have to decide between believing words that come out of your mouth and your body language, they are more likely to choose the latter. Learning to recognize body language cues is a good skill to have to know someone’s true intentions, even though we can recognize a lot of them instinctively. So, pay attention to your body language:

• Body language that says “No” — folding arms and crossing legs, sitting back, turning torso and feet away to disengage, closed posture, etc.
• Body language that says “Yes” — leaning forward, open posture, sitting upright but comfortably, enthusiastic hand movements, etc.

Suggest an alternative

How to politely say “No” at work? Don’t just give a flat-out “No“. Propose an alternative. Even though you’ll technically refuse to do something, you’ll still seem helpful and like a team player.

Instead of saying “I won’t be able to do that”, try something like this: “I’m not available right now, but I’ll be happy to do that on Thursday, when I finish the task I’m currently working on.”

Acknowledge the other person

A little bit of empathy goes a long way; despite telling them “No”, you’ll still want to maintain a good relationship with others.

Try to always speak from a place of compassion and make people feel heard.

Use phrases such as “I realize/understand that…”. For example, “I understand that you are really busy and I wish I could help, but my schedule is completely packed.”

Block time in your calendar when you’re busy

If you want to say “No, I’m busy” without actually saying it, time blocking your work calendar may be the answer. It helps to avoid confrontation, which is a plus in a lot of people’s books.

Block out the time frame when you don’t want to be disturbed (make sure your calendar is not private and others can see it too) and let it speak for you.

Practice

Practice saying “No” in situations that aren’t crucial for your future, such as saying it to a salesperson trying to get you to buy something you don’t want. This will help you build confidence to say “No” when it really matters.

You can even rehearse saying it in the mirror if that works for you — we won’t judge.

Weigh out the cost and benefits of saying “No”

Part of being good at time management is knowing how to spend your time in the best way possible. Is it finishing your task or helping your coworker? Depends on the situation.

Saying “Yes” to everything, no matter how quick it is, interrupts your concentration and ability for deep work. And no matter how much you want to help, sometimes you just don’t have the right skillset to complete a task successfully. Not all tasks are tasks you can or should do.

On the flip side, helping can strengthen the bond between you and your teammate(s), or even help you improve your skills.

Not all situations are black and white and you’ll have to weigh out the potential costs and benefits of accepting (or refusing) to do a task.

Prepare for a possible negative feedback

No matter how nice and reasonable your “No” was, some people aren’t going to take it well, especially if it’s your first time setting boundaries.

Be mentally prepared for that option and know it has nothing to do with you.

As Holly Weeks, the author of Failure to Communicate, said for Harvard Business Review, “You can influence how the other person reacts, but you can’t control it.” (Re)actions of other people are not your fault — everyone is responsible for their own.

DON’Ts of saying “No” at work

These are the practices you should avoid if you want to achieve the best possible delivery of your “No“.

Don’t go into too much detail

You should, of course, give a reason for your refusal, but you don’t have to go into too much detail. You don’t need to tell them your whole life story. “I’m so sorry, but my manager gave me another task and I’m already working on one big project and I’m having a hard time finishing everything and I never come home before 8 PM and I’m too tired to even cook so I basically live on coffee and takeout and…” is too much.

“Thanks for reaching out, but I need to finish the high-priority project I’m working on, so I, unfortunately, wouldn’t be able to help you.”, is just enough.

Don’t over-apologize

Don’t say “Sorry” too many times. In fact, it’s better to avoid saying it and turn the “Sorry” statement into a “Thank you” statement whenever possible. For example, saying “Thank you for your patience” instead of “Sorry for waiting.”

Don’t feel under pressure to answer immediately

If a situation is complex, you don’t need to have the answer right away. Taking some time to think about it, weighing out all the options, and checking your calendar is completely okay.

Don’t be afraid to say “I need some time to think about it, can I get back to you?”.

Don’t give false hope that you’ll change your mind

If you already know what your answer is going to be, don’t prolong saying it. It will only be harder with time, especially if you’re an anxious person — but even if you aren’t, that mental burden will add extra stress.

Moreover, it’s fairer to the other side too, as they’ll have more time to find someone else.

Additional tips for specific situations

Since we went over the basics, here are some additional tips on how to say “No” in specific work situations.

Saying “No” to your boss

Saying “No” to your boss can be tricky. After all, it’s intimidating to refuse someone who can get you fired.

The best way to go about it is to talk about priorities.

1. Thank them for thinking of you — it’s nice that they want to involve you in new, exciting projects.
2. Explain what you’re working on now and how taking additional projects is going to affect your current ones.
3. Ask which projects should take priority.

It can look something like this: “Thank you for thinking of me for this. If this is a priority, I can start working on it right now, however, it will push the deadline of [the project you’re currently working on] by 2 months.”

Saying “No” to your coworker

A lot of people have a problem with saying “No” to coworkers because they don’t want to be perceived as jerks who don’t want to help a teammate in trouble. You can avoid this by being as honest as possible.

If you have no expertise in a project they’re asking you to take on, just say it.

If you lie and get caught — for example, if you say you’re “too busy” and then they see you take on other projects — it will damage your relationship.

If you still decide to lie (I can’t really tell you what to do, can I?), don’t be obvious. Busy people don’t take long coffee breaks and laugh at cat videos in the office.

Saying “No” to your employees

I believe it’s important to follow your instructions to a T for a project to succeed. But, giving a flat-out “No” to your employees’ suggestions won’t exactly create a positive working atmosphere. Instead, thank them for their suggestions and try to explain why you do things the way you do. Try to turn that “No” into a “Why”.

Additional tip: Don’t be patronizing while doing so.

Conclusion

Saying “No” at work is not easy, but it’s often necessary. Just like in private life, you must set boundaries and stand up for yourself; stop over-apologizing and succumbing to pressure to put the needs of others before your own.

It’s a skill that has to be learned over time. There are things you can do that can help you, such as suggesting alternatives and acknowledging the other person — but, practice makes perfect.

If you want to dive deeper and learn more about the financial aspect of working overtime, keep reading. In this article, we’ll talk about working overtime without pay and try to answer how to go about common concerns regarding working off-clock (mostly in the USA and EU).

What does it mean to work overtime?

Overtime refers to the hours you spent working that exceed your regular working hours (typically, 40 hours a week).

Fair Labor Standards Acts (which requires FLSA compliance) looks at weeks, not days. That means that, as long as you’re working 40 hours a week or less, that’s not considered working overtime, no matter how long your daily shift is. However, in some states such as Alaska and California, employers are required to pay workers overtime if they work more than 8 hours per day.
In some countries in Europe, such as Germany, there’s also a daily limit: the maximum amount of working time per day is ten hours (if within six months the overall average working time doesn’t exceed 8 hours a day).

There are three types of working overtime, depending on the way working overtime is handled in your contract of employment. It’s important to know that you are only obliged to work overtime if that is stated in your contract.

• Voluntary: overtime hours that are at employees’ discretion. There is no obligation in the contract to work overtime.
• Compulsory and guaranteed: it’s written in the contract that employees must accept overtime when it’s offered. It’s common for jobs that require on-call duties or meeting up with clients outside the regular working hours.
• Compulsory but non-guaranteed: if you are offered to work overtime, you must accept it, but it’s rarely offered. It’s mostly reserved for busy periods of the year.

Is it legal to work overtime without pay?

No (in most cases — see exceptions in the question below).

According to US federal law, it’s illegal to not compensate non-exempt employees for working overtime, even if they do it without the employer’s approval. You are owed 1.5x your regular rate of pay for any overtime hours worked. So, for example, if your normal hourly wage is $20, you should be paid $30/hour when you work overtime.

If an employer fails to fairly compensate their employees for their overtime labor, they have to face the following penalties:

• paying for those extra hours,
• paying fines from the state or the Department of Labor, including liquidated damages and civil penalties.
• If they continue to avoid paying, they could face criminal charges.

We can conclude that avoiding to pay overtime is not really worth it, as you’ll end up cashing a lot more than the original sum. As there are serious consequences for not handling overtime pay properly, always seek legal advice when in doubt.

Every business that fulfills the following criteria is required to pay their employees overtime:

1. If it has $500,000 in annual sales,
2. If it’s smaller, but your employees work in “interstate commerce”, or do business between states,
3. If it’s covered by its state’s overtime law.

When are you not entitled to overtime pay?

According to FLSA, employers aren’t required to pay overtime for working during the weekend, holidays, or other regular days of rest, unless that’s over your normal work hours.

Unfortunately, there are also some other circumstances in which you’re not entitled to overtime pay:

1. If you are an employee paid on a salary basis with a weekly pay of $684 or more. Those employees are called exempt employees, and, unlike their non-exempt colleagues, they are not entitled to overtime pay nor minimum wage. Exempt job categories include professional, administrative, executive, outside sales, and computer-related.
   That means that, if you’re an exempt employee who gets paid $800 per week and you work a few hours over your regular 40 hours, you’re not legally entitled to be paid more than $800.
2. If you are an independent contractor, as they’re technically not employees.
3. If you work for seasonal amusement or recreational business.
4. If you’re an administrative, executive, or professional employee paid on a salary basis who spends most of the time performing job duties that require the use of discretion and independent judgment – so-called “white-collar” exemption.
5. If you’re an outside salesperson.
6. If you work in professions such as criminal investigator, newspaper deliverer, domestic babysitter, seaman, an employee on a small farm, engaging in fishing operations, etc.

In the EU, employees who may be exempted from overtime are the ones whose hours are not pre-determined or can be determined by the workers. Examples include managing executives or other persons with autonomous decision-making power, family workers, and workers officiating at religious ceremonies. Professions such as journalists, off-shore guards, emergency workers, and tour guides can be exempted as well, provided that they have compensatory rest and appropriate protection.

Can working overtime be illegal?

In some instances yes, overtime can be illegal, as employees are human beings, not robots, and they deserve to rest. Besides, being overworked can cause serious health issues (both mental and physical), burnout being the most frequent one. Because of that, most of the countries that have labor laws, also have regulations regarding the maximum number of working hours.

In the EU, it’s illegal to work for more than 48 hours a week on average, over the reference period of 4 months. Employees are also required to have 11 hours of interrupted rest a day, as well as at least one day off every week and two days off every two weeks (in addition to 11-hour daily rest). There are, however, certain exceptions when it comes to jobs such as emergency workers or armed forces.

In the USA, there is no limit on how many hours employees can work in a week, provided they are 16 or older. The FLSA also doesn’t require breaks or meal periods to be given to workers — although some states might do.

How to track overtime hours and why is it required in Europe?

To make sure every employee gets the proper rest they deserve (as we discussed above), tracking overtime hours became a legal obligation in the EU. The Court of Justice of the European Union issued a decision in May 2019 that every member “must require employers to set up an objective, reliable and accessible system enabling the duration of time worked each day by each worker to be measured”, to track both regular and overtime hours.

This decision has a goal to:

• Minimize (or completely avoid) unpaid overtime,
• Make sure employees get enough rest,
• Help with diminishing toxic work culture where productivity is measured in hours spent working instead of the quality of results.

To track overtime hours, it’s best to use a time tracking software, as it’s the fastest and the easiest way to do so. You can track time via:

• Time recording, by simply clicking “start” when you start working and “stop” when you finish,
• Timesheets,
• Calendar,
• Automatic tracker, if your tasks are digital.

Can you be fired for refusing to work overtime?

According to FLSA (29 U.S.C. § 201 and following), the federal overtime law, an employer can fire an employee if they refuse to work overtime. An employer can also require an employee to work long hours (paid, of course).

However, according to section 62 of the Fair Work Act 2009, an employee has the right to refuse if they find overtime hours to be unreasonable. Factors that can determine if overtime hours are reasonable include:

• If an employee’s health is at risk,
• The workplace’s needs,
• If the employee is given enough notice that they have to work overtime,
• If the employee has already stated that they can’t work overtime,
• The pattern of work of the industry they work in,
• Nature of the employee’s role, etc.

What can I do if my employer doesn’t want to pay me for overtime hours?

If your employer doesn’t want to pay you for the work you put in off-clock, you can ask for time off in lieu (TOIL). That means that, instead of financial compensation, you get extra time off on top of your regular paid leave.

TOIL rules and regulations may differ from company to company, as well as country to country, so it’s best to check your contract to see:

• How exactly TOIL scheme works in your company,
• The minimum amount of time that can be worked to accrue TOIL,
• When TOIL can be taken and does it “expire”,
• What happens to accrued TOIL if the contract is terminated.

Conclusion

Working long hours, especially working overtime without pay, can be a tricky subject to tackle. One of the most crucial things is being familiar with the labor laws of the country you live, as well as your contract of employment (don’t forget to read the fine print, too). This way, you will better understand your rights and whether you’re entitled to more than what you’re currently getting.

However, good planning and allocating resources properly can come to the rescue. If you do it right, you’ll likely manage to bring the project to an end successfully, without major chaos occurring.

In this article, we’ll learn how to track resource allocation and why it’s important.

What is resource allocation?

According to the PMI’s survey, only 26% of companies always use resource management to estimate and allocate resources, while 36% use it often. What is that and why should it be used more frequently?

Resource allocation, or resource scheduling, is a process of identifying and assigning resources in a way that will bring the most success in completing your tasks. Scheduling resources in advance and tracking your team’s progress have a role in resource allocation as well. It’s a short-term plan that will help you in pursuit of a bigger goal.

Resources are key players in project management and allocating them gives you a clear overview of what has to be done.

There are different types of resources:

• People: Each team member has a unique skillset and brings something different to the table. The more diverse a team is, the better. According to Harvard Business Review, teams that consist of people of different ages, cultural backgrounds, sexes, and races tend to be more objective and innovative.
• Equipment and machinery: Depending on the project, it could be a computer program, a hammer, a set of brushes, or a bulldozer. Part of resource allocation is deciding which exact equipment and tools will be used, who will use it, and for how long.
• Materials: Consumables used in a project, such as stationery, paint, or gas used for travel.
• Facilities: Buildings and work areas — a place where you work.
• Money.
• Time.

These are the three resource allocation decisions you should keep in mind. And, here are the three questions that lead to them:

• What? (Which goods are produced?);
• How? (How are they produced?);
• For whom? (Who gets them?).

Resource allocation example

Let’s say your project is painting a mural. Resource allocation would be:

• Finding the painters whose art style fit the project requirements and the idea;
• Deciding what part of the budget will go to buying materials and supplies and what part is going towards directly paying the artists;
• Deciding what type of paint to buy and in which colors;
• Determining the deadline, and so on.

After you’ve finished all of that, your job is not done yet. You ended up with two painters with different skillsets, 10 cans of acrylic paint, 6 cans of spray paint, a ladder, 3 sets of brushes, and a certain amount of time to finish it. Those are your resources. How will the two painters divide the brushes? Will both of them get to use the ladder, and if yes, for how long? What would be an ideal daily workload? Who will paint which part of the mural?

Assigning the right team member(s) to a specific task is one of the most important aspects of resource allocation. The task complexity must match their skill level — if you give a simple, entry-level task to an experienced employee or a complicated task to a new hire, you won’t get the best results. In the first case, the project cost would be unnecessarily high. The latter would cause a lot of stress and the results probably won’t be satisfactory.

Importance of resource allocation

Resource allocation is more than just delegating tasks — having the right resources at the right moment can make a difference between success and failure. Not doing resource allocation properly can result in missed deadlines, delayed or unfinished tasks, blown-up costs, and overall chaos.

A way to avoid that is making sure you’re going to have all the resources available when you need them. Allocating resources in advance helps identify if any source is unavailable and plan further steps around that.

Benefits of good resource allocation also include:

• Significantly reduced costs;
• Achieving the best possible outcome with existing resources and constraints;
• Easier juggling between multiple projects;
• Maximized productivity as it helps finish tasks as fast as possible without compromising quality;
• Eliminating a lot of risk, as you would go over potential risks beforehand.

How to track resource allocation

These are the steps of tracking resource allocation.

Identify resources’ availability

You should first determine who and what are your available resources and, in the case of human resources:

• What skills do they possess;
• How many of them have skills that fit the project requirements;
• How long are they available to work on the project.

After you have a clear idea of who and what you’re working with, you can start allocating those resources. Also, be aware of the factors such as: are your team members going on vacation and when, are they sick, what’s the condition of the equipment you’re working with, what’s the duration of the office space lease, etc.

Know the scope of the project

Before you start working, you and your team have to have a deep understanding of your project as a whole, as well as all of its aspects. That includes, but is not limited to:

• Defining the goal of the project itself, as well as every milestone;
• Determining everyone’s role, responsibilities, and expected workload;
• Defining the project’s duration;
• Managing expectations;
• Identifying constraints that limit the project and possible ways to overcome them;
• Going over potential risks.

Making the project scope as clear as possible will help you avoid potential misunderstandings and make everything go smoother.

Divide the project into tasks and match them with resources

After you all get to know the project, divide it into tasks and assign them to the necessary resources. Along with tasks, list their duration, deadline, team members who’ll do them, required skills, and location. It’s crucial to be realistic while doing this step and estimate correctly — especially when it comes to time and budget.

With all of this information in mind, you can forecast needed resources for each task as efficiently as possible.

Track time

PMI’s survey revealed that, of the projects started that were deemed failures, in 26% of cases the inaccurate time estimate was the primary cause.

To have a better idea of time spent and to be able to control it better, track your time. That way, you’ll also be able to:

• Create a realistic timeframe for the project;
• Ensure your project is profitable;
• Track the progress and overall performance of your team;
• Calculate billable and non-billable hours;
• Make sure tasks are done on schedule and anticipate possible delays.

Track resource utilization

When you’re managing a project, you have to determine if you’re using the most of what you have. Or maybe there are resources that are over or underutilized? Both can bring their own set of issues, so it’s a good idea to track resource utilization, just as you would track projects and tasks or time.

Resource utilization goes hand in hand with resource allocation. It entails measuring how effectively the available resources are utilized and helps you maximize productivity.

There are a few easy formulas to calculate (human) resource utilization, or how much your team spends working:

• Resource utilization = Busy time / Available time
• Resource utilization = Planned working hours (bookings) / Available hours
• Resource utilization = Recorded working hours / Available hours

Benefits of this practice include better ROI as a result of maximum utilization, better visibility, reduced risk of oversights, and avoiding burnout (as it’s a way to prevent overworking).

Re-allocate if necessary

It’s not unusual for a project to go through a couple of changes until it’s finished, whether it’s the change of budget, duration, or scope. With each change, you’ll probably need to re-allocate resources to fit the new circumstances.

Also, it would be a good idea to review and analyze how each task and/or project went in regards to resource allocation. Have you done it effectively? Did you go over the budget or extend the deadline? Is there something you could have done differently? Doing this and implementing necessary changes is detrimental to future improvement.

Don’t over-allocate

Over-allocation means either 1) taking allocation resources to excessive measures or 2) allocating too many tasks. Just as a computer would bug if it has to process too many things at once, your team members won’t be able to do their best if they’re overworked. It can cause high stress levels and burnout — and they don’t result in anything good.

Conclusion

Resource allocation is an important aspect of project management. If you manage to do it correctly, your life would become much easier as you would avoid a lot of potential issues. Some of the best resource allocation practices are: identifying resources’ availability, getting familiar with the project’s scope, tracking time and resource utilization, and making sure you’re not over-allocating.

Just imagine — a beach, sand, palm trees, your favorite cocktail in one hand and ice cream in the other. The sun is shining, you feel a summer breeze on your face, and you’re perfectly relaxed.

But before you clock off from work and head to your well-deserved break, you need to submit a vacation request.

Or is that a PTO request? 

Is there a difference?

In this blog post, you’ll learn:

• What PTO, vacation, and sick leave are, 
• How to choose the best PTO policy, and 
• The answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding taking time off.

What is PTO?

PTO is an abbreviation for paid time off. Paid time off is an employee leave policy that refers to the time you take off from work with no loss of pay. Federal law does not contain any regulations regarding paid time off. 

To get an expert definition of essential terms regarding time off, we contacted Armine Alajian, Founder and CPA at The Alajian Group. She differentiated PTO from specific time off policies:

“Essentially, PTO is the policy that houses the other types of time off, like vacation time and sick leave.”

According to the US Department of Labor, reasons for taking PTO can vary and typically include:

• Emergencies,
• Sudden necessities, 
• Planned vacations, and
• Illnesses.  

In some companies, PTO includes:

• Vacation days, 
• Sick days, 
• Personal days, and 
• Holidays — all in one. 

This kind of plan is called a consolidated leave plan. In other companies, these leaves are treated separately.

Is PTO the same as vacation?

Vacation generally refers to time off from work employees can take to rest and recharge. 

Alajian highlights the planned aspect of vacation time:

“Vacation time is a specific portion of PTO that employees can use for leisure. It is typically pre-approved and scheduled in advance.”

Vacation time is crucial in helping people achieve work-life balance. It gives employees enough room to spend quality time outside of work.

So, the straightforward answer to the vacation vs. PTO dilemma is that PTO and vacation time aren’t the same. Vacation can be a part of a company’s PTO policy or be treated as a separate time off policy. 

But is vacation time paid? 

According to the FLSA, employers in most US states are not required to offer paid vacation to their employees. They have the freedom to offer or deny vacation pay to their workers.

What is sick leave?

Sick leave presents days off workers take to recover from illnesses or serious medical issues. 

Alajian points out that employees usually take sick leave on short notice:

“Sick leave is another type of PTO that allows employees to take time off from work due to illness, injury, or medical appointments. It is intended to provide employees with the necessary time to recover or seek medical care without losing their regular pay. Sick leave is often taken on short notice due to unforeseen circumstances, while vacation time is usually pre-approved in advance.”

So, is sick leave paid or not?

Employees are allowed to take unpaid sick leave for “recovering from one’s own serious illness or caring for a seriously ill loved one,” according to the FMLA. However, the federal law doesn’t specify any requirements for paid sick leave. 

Thus, some employers may include sick leaves within their paid time off policies. But this decision is completely up to the employer. 

PTO vs. vacation and sick time: Key differences

There are many differences between PTO, sick time, and vacation — from the level of flexibility that comes with these 3 types of leave to the difficulty of keeping track of them.   

Let’s take a closer look at what exactly makes them different:

PTO policies: How to choose the best one

A good PTO policy can be one of the main benefits that attract potential employees. So, it’s something companies need to invest time and effort in. 

As an employer, you have the freedom to choose your company’s PTO policy as well as the way your workers earn their time off. The most popular PTO policies include:

• PTO accrual (accrued PTO),
• Bank of PTO, and
• Unlimited PTO.

Accrued PTO means that the number of days off an employee can take is directly proportional to the number of days the employee has worked during the year. However, the number of days workers accumulate each week or month is up to the company. 

Bank of PTO includes employers offering workers a fixed number of PTO all at once. The number usually resets on January 1st or, in some instances, on the dates the employees started working. With this policy, there is no separation between categories (vacation, sick leave, personal days off). 

Lastly, unlimited PTO is usually a benefit that allows employees to take time off whenever they need it, as long as it doesn’t interfere with their work. There’s no maximum number of days they can take. 

Aside from the type of policy, employers also have to choose how the time off is grouped. You can choose between consolidated and separate leave plans, which we’ll further explain in the next section. 

Consolidated vs. separate leave plans — which is better?

If you don’t choose a leave plan that works for your company, you may not be able to reap all of the PTO benefits you normally would. That could happen if you don’t consider some of the pros and cons of separate and consolidated leave plans.

Consolidated leave plans include all types of leave — vacation, sick leave, personal days, etc. 

Your workers would have a number of days off they can use for whatever they need. This allows for more flexibility and freedom when taking time off, which can relieve employees of pressure to explain their reasons for using their leave.

Moreover, a consolidated plan is less of an administrative headache since it covers different types of leave. Thus, it’s much easier to keep track of employees’ time off.

In addition, consolidated PTO is better for multicultural environments, as it’s more inclusive. It allows each employee to take time off to celebrate their holidays — even if they’re not widely celebrated in the country or city they live in.

On the other hand, a separate leave plan means creating various PTO policies and assigning each one a specific number of days off. You could allocate days for vacation, personal days, sick leave, parental leave, etc. 

When employees want to use their time off, they have to choose the type of leave they wish to take and provide an explanation of their request.

A key benefit to offering different types of leave is that it discourages workers from coming to work sick so they can have more vacation days available, as these policies would then be separate. This is especially important as CivicScience reports that 35% of Americans showed up to their offices while sick in 2021.

11 Most frequently asked questions about PTO and vacation

Do you want to learn more about the benefits of PTO? Still confused about what PTO really means for your business? Let’s clear away any confusion!

1. Is it better to use PTO than vacation?

Is it better to use up your personal PTO days or vacation days when taking a vacation?

Well, that depends on your company’s PTO policy. In the US,  your employer doesn’t have to provide you with paid leave. So, you’ll first have to check whether your company even has paid leave available. 

If your employer offers paid leave, specifically, separate paid leave policies, the best option is to use the vacation days you have available for vacation. That’s because the main purpose of a separate leave policy is to allow employees to take time off for various purposes so they can properly rest and take care of their affairs. 

For consolidated leave plans, you can use your time off for whatever reason as all of the time off policies are unified.

But, what if your company doesn’t offer paid vacation, and you can’t afford to take any unpaid days off? Well, in that case, you could check your options with your employer and see whether you could negotiate additional employee benefits.

2. Does my company have to give me PTO?

In case you live in Europe, you’re entitled to at least 20 days of time off per year. 

On the other hand, if you live in the US, it’s pretty much the same as with vacation time — your employer is usually not legally required to give you PTO. 

However, an increasing number of US employers are becoming aware of the importance of preventing burnout and taking a break from work. 

That’s probably why 79% of civilian workers and 81% of private industry employees had access to paid holidays in 2022. Moreover, 77% of civilian employees and 79% of those working in the private sector had access to paid vacation. Finally, paid sick leave was available for 79% of civilian employees and 77% of private industry workers.

3. How far in advance should I request time off?

The earlier the better.

In general, it’s best to consult your employment contract to see when you can request time off. 

Some companies require two weeks’ notice. In others, you need to place your request at least 30 days in advance, or even submit a request 3 or 6 months prior to your time off.

4. What happens if I don’t use my PTO?

First of all — you should definitely use your PTO. 

Life is not just about work and taking time off is beneficial to your mental health and overall well-being. 

Also, being overworked affects productivity — and not in a positive way.

If you firmly decided you don’t want to use those days off, your company’s policy or the laws in your state dictate what happens to unused PTO. Here are the most common scenarios for unused PTO:

• Days you haven’t used will carry over into the next year,
• You will be able to “cash them out,” or
• You will lose them — that’s the so-called ‘Use-It-Or-Lose-It’ policy.

5. What happens if I don’t use my vacation days?

In case your employer offered you paid vacation and you decided not to use it, you should check your employment contract to see what happens with your vacation days. 

Some companies allow employees to carry over their unused vacation days into the next year. Others expect their employees to use their vacation time by the end of the year. 

Keep in mind that in some states — such as California — employers are required to pay you for any unused time off. 

So, make sure to check your state labor laws for more information on vacation time. 

6. How many days of time off is average?

In the US, the average number of PTO primarily depends on the: 

• Industry, 
• Years of service, and 
• Type of PTO policy.

For instance, private-sector employees with separate leave plans with one year of service had 8 days of paid leave on average. On the other hand, public-sector employees with the same service length had 9 days of paid leave on average. 

Both private-sector and civilian US workers with consolidated leave plans had 14 days off on average in 2022. 

Many European countries have set the minimum number of paid days off companies can offer. Most countries offer a minimum of 20 paid days off. On the other hand, in the majority of Canadian provinces and in Japan, the minimum number of days off is 10. 

7. When should I use PTO?

When and how you use your PTO depends on your company’s policy. That’s because time off rules are not universal. So, always double-check your employment contract.

However, you should generally be able to use PTO whenever you want, given that you got approval from your supervisor. Your days off may not be approved if that period is particularly busy or another coworker is off work at the same time.

If you’re a new hire, you may have to wait a certain amount of time before you can start using your PTO.

8. Can I be forced to work during PTO or vacation?

In general, you should not be forced to work during your days off. 

But, some employers may include this possibility within the fine print of their employment contracts. Thus, you have to check your contract to make sure you can use your days off without having to check in at work.

9. Can I take time off if I don’t have any PTO or vacation days left?

What happens if you run out of your time off? Can you still take a break from work?

Well, you can take unpaid time off. As the name suggests, it’s the time taken off from work not compensated by an employer. 

Leave-without-pay policies, just like PTO policies, differ from company to company. Moreover, some employers may offer it in place of PTO. 

10. What does PTO mean for holidays?

Your employer doesn’t have to provide you with paid holidays unless you’re a federal employee (postal worker, office clerk, lawyer, or accountant).

Still, according to research by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 81% of private industry workers had access to paid holiday leave in March of 2022. 

The same research also shows that the highest-paid workers are more likely to have paid holiday benefits. For instance, 95% of the highest earning private sector employees had paid holiday available in March of 2022. 

11. Should I track my time off?

Tracking your time off makes it easier for your managers to stay on top of your overall balance and organize work accordingly. This way, they’ll know exactly when each employee will be absent from work. 

What’s more, using a PTO tracker can make your workdays a lot easier as well. 

Since tracking your time off gives you a visual overview of both accrued and the time off you have available, you’ll always be able to plan your time off in advance and balance your private life and work more efficiently. 

Some time off trackers, such as Clockify, give you the option to request time off, which saves everyone a lot of time and trouble. 

Conclusion: Double-check first, request your time off next

PTO and vacation may seem like two peas in a pod. But, as you may have guessed just by reading the title of this blog post — they are not the same. 

So, the next time you start getting ready to book a flight or plan for a long weekend, you’ll know exactly which type of leave to request.

But, since time off policies usually vary from company to company, it’s always better to double-check the general information provided in an employee guidebook.

Still, two things are for sure:

1. You should make sure to understand the time off policy in your company, and 
2. Not using your days off and taking some time to relax is a mistake. You deserve that break!

Which one do you prefer — consolidated PTO or a separate vacation policy? What do you see as the benefits of your preferred time off policy? Let us know at blogfeedback@clockify.me, and your answer may be featured in one of our future articles. Also, if you liked this article, be sure to spread the word to your friends and colleagues!

But more often than not, planning is difficult – from lack of resources to lack of vision, from not knowing where and how to start to having difficulties with setting effective goals. The future can be unpredictable and planning can be tricky.

Yet, it’s not impossible. In this article, we’ll go over what long-term and short-term planning mean, what is the difference, as well as how to successfully do both. Of course, with examples included.

What are long-term and short-term planning?

Let’s start by defining what long-term and short-term planning are.

What is short-term planning?

Short-term planning is usually considered to take 12 months or less. Your daily, weekly, monthly, even quarterly and yearly goals – all can be filed under “short-term goals.” They are stepping stones that will help you to reach your big goal(s).

That type of planning requires you to look at the current situation and fix potential issues as soon as possible. Sometimes “as soon as possible” takes a day, sometimes 6 months, depending on the complexity of the issue.

Here are some examples of short-term goals, divided into five categories: career, education, personal development, finances, and marketing.

• Career goals: “Apply for a job”, “Make a website for your business.”
• Academic goals: “Take another marketing course”, “Pass the AP Statistics exam.”
• Personal development goals: “Start going to bed before midnight”, “Track your time for a month”, “Join a gym.”
• Financial goals: “Pay off the debt”, “Get a raise before the end of the year.”
• Marketing goals: “Increase brand awareness”, “Boost website traffic.”

What is long-term planning?

Long-term planning involves goals that take a longer time to reach and require more steps; they usually take a minimum of a year or two to complete. They aim to permanently resolve issues and reach and maintain success over a continued period.

We’ll discuss an exact strategy to set and complete long-term goals later in this article.

Before that, let’s go over a few examples of long-term goals:

• Career goals: “Build a profitable business”, “Turn your passion into a career.”
• Academic goals: “Get a Bachelor’s degree”, “Get a Master’s degree abroad.”
• Personal development goals: “Learn a foreign language”, “Travel on all 7 continents.”
• Financial goals: “Save for retirement”, “Become a millionaire.”

What is medium-term planning?

That’s not all, folks: there’s also medium-term planning. It entails applying more permanent solutions to short-term problems and implementing policies and procedures to make sure that those short-term problems won’t happen again. If a piece of equipment breaks, a short-term solution would be to fix it, while a medium-term solution would be to invest in a service contract.

Another example of medium-term planning is investing in employees’ training programs rather than organizing a workshop from time to time (which is a short-term solution).

Key differences between long-term and short-term planning

The most obvious difference between long-term and short-term planning is the amount of time each one takes; while short-term planning involves processes that take 12 months or less, long-term planning is, as the name suggests, longer – there’s no upper limit to the longevity of a long-term plan.

There’s an anecdote that Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, told a group of managers that it’s “important to think where we should be in 200 years.” (You don’t have to think that far ahead – a 5-year plan is completely fine.)

Another difference is their complexity: long-term planning is more elaborate, tactical, and involves more steps. As opposed to that, short-term planning is often quite straightforward. Short-term goals usually serve as milestones that get you to your long-term goal.

In business, short-term goals are mostly focused on internal issues, such as customer complaints or inefficient management, while long-term goals cover both external and internal issues. When you’re planning long-term, you need to be aware of external factors, like global trends and changes, political situation, the ways current events may affect the economy, and so on.

The difference between long-term and strategic planning

Another frequently asked question is: Is strategic planning the same as long-term planning? If not, what’s the difference between the two?

Strategic planning consists of statements and goals that determine things such as:

• Where your company should be in the next couple of years and how to get there;
• How to successfully respond to changes in the environment;
• What’s the anticipated financial performance;
• What’s the most effective business strategy.

Strategic plans are not actionable – that’s where long-term planning comes in.

Long-term planning determines concrete processes and actions needed to achieve strategic goals. It also focuses on setting priorities, aligning resources, forecasting, and handling unexpected changes.

In other words, strategic planning determines what and long-term planning determines how.

How to set long-term goals in 5 steps

As setting good long-term goals is the foundation of every other planning you’re going to do, it’s important to get it right. That can often be hard and overwhelming, especially if you’re making plans for the distant future, e.g. 10 years in advance – which is why we made this step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Define your vision

Ask yourself: What is your (or your company’s) vision? What is your purpose? What are your core values? If you’re a company: what problem do you want to solve and how would the world look without that problem?

Ideally, where would you want to be 3, 5, and 10 years from now? What is, right now, stopping you from achieving that? What changes do you need to make? If (or better to say, when) you manage to achieve your goals, how different would things be, and in what way?

All these questions will help you clarify what do you want to achieve. The next step is – how to get there?

Step 2: Set SMART goals

If you’re sure in the direction you want to take, it’s time to set goals. They should be challenging, yet achievable, and most importantly, they should be SMART.

The examples I’ll provide to explain each letter of this acronym are mostly short-term goals as it’s easier to understand that way, but these criteria can (and should) be applied to any type of goal, including long-term goals.

• Specific: Once I heard someone say that “goals should have their name and last name”, meaning they need to be as particular and well-defined as possible. “I want to find a job” is not a specific goal, while “I want to land a _____ position in ____ field, preferably in ____ type of company in ____ area” has a name, last name, even a middle name.
• Measurable: In order to know if you’re making progress, you need to be able to measure it. That’s why setting goals such as “increase brand awareness” is not very good – how do you know if you accomplished it or not? Instead, try something like “get 5K followers on Instagram and 1K likes on our Facebook page.”
• Attainable: As we mentioned above, the goals you set should be challenging, but possible to achieve. “Earn a million dollars in a week” is measurable and time-bound, but not realistic, at least not for most of us (that being said, if it’s realistic for you, go ahead and set that goal).
• Relevant: Relevant goal is a goal that fits your vision and has importance to you. If you want to be a lawyer, setting a goal of graduating from medical school doesn’t make a lot of sense for your career path.
• Time-bound: Give yourself a specific time frame to complete the goal; if it has multiple steps, impose a deadline for each milestone.

Step 3: Break down your goals into smaller ones

After you set your SMART goals, it’s time to break them down into smaller chunks, that will again be divided into series of actionable steps.

Big goals often consist of a few milestones that you need to reach; each one should become its own short-term or medium-term goal. Think of them as checkpoints in a race or levels in a game – you need to pass them all to get to the finish line and win.

Keep dividing it until your big goal becomes a weekly or daily to-do list. The more complicated the goal is, the more times you’ll have to break it down into smaller parts.

Let’s say you just got into university and your goal is to get your Bachelor’s degree.

• First, you’ll divide it into 3 or 4 goals (depending on how many years it lasts): “finish 1st year”, “finish 2nd year”, and so on.
• To be able to do that, you need to pass your exams, and each of the exams will become its own goal.
• To pass each exam, you usually have to take quizzes, write papers, make presentations, etc; again, each of those pre-requirements becomes a subgoal.
• Then you divide that into concrete steps: doing research, writing the first draft of your paper, editing it…

By making tiny steps like these, you’ll eventually and gradually accomplish your long-term goal.

Step 4: Prioritize

Go through your list of goals and put them in the order of their priority. That will facilitate making short-term goals and organizing your time, energy, and money in the right way. First focus on the goal(s) that will make the most difference and that align with your values the most.

Also, ask yourself: Are there some areas that need immediate assistance? Are any of those goals time-sensitive? What is the likely outcome of (not) making this a priority?

Step 5: Keep updating your list

Goals and priorities may change over time. Because of that, it would be a good idea to occasionally go through your list, make sure it’s up to date and change something if needed.

Conclusion

There are different types of planning: short-term, long-term, and medium-term. Short-term planning focuses on resolving present issues and takes 12 months or less.

Long-term planning is more complex and tactical and takes more time.

Medium-term planning means applying long-term solutions to short-term problems.

What all of them have in common is that all of them require thinking ahead, setting goals effectively, and problem-solving.

On the negative side, it’s not very likely that we’ll have more than 24 hours anytime soon.

On the positive side, you don’t need more than 24 hours — there are numerous ways to get the most out of the time you already have.

In this article, we’ll go over ways to maximize efficiency and get the best use out of our time.

Myths about work efficiency

Before we dive into the secret of (time) efficiency, we have to bust some popular myths.

Being efficient means working as hard as possible

Does it ever happen you spend the whole day completing less important tasks from your to-do list, without tackling the high-priority ones? Or, you spend all your time writing to-do lists, researching, and thinking about every possible outcome… without doing any actual work?

If you rarely have time for family and friends, if you’re always doing something but not getting closer to your goals, and if you feel guilty when you’re not working — you’re definitely busy, but are you productive?

Busyness doesn’t necessarily equal productivity. Completing tasks is a better indicator of productivity than the amount of time spent working.

Working from home is less efficient

Sometimes there’s a misconception that working from home essentially means watching Netflix in your pajamas and playing with your pets while your work laptop is open next to you.

Recent studies beg to differ — working from home seems to be more productive than working from the office. A study by Stanford University done over 9 months that included 16,000 workers found that working from home increased productivity by 13%. The increase in performance has contributed to a more convenient work environment, as well as fewer breaks and sick days.

According to a survey by ConnectSolutions, 77% of those who work remotely at least a few times per month show increased productivity — 30% do more work in less time and 24% do more work for the same amount of time.

To be successful, you have to copy the habits of highly successful people

Every successful person’s morning routine seems to include waking up extremely early, having a strict workout routine, taking a shower with cold water, meditation, reading, keeping a gratitude journal, having an extremely healthy breakfast… The list goes on. And, all that before 9 AM.

While I’m happy such a routine works out for them and they enjoy it, there are a few problems with copying their habits:

1. They are not for everyone, nor do they fit everyone’s lifestyle. You should tailor your daily habits to you, your goals, and your way of life. We’re all different, so the fact that something works for other people doesn’t give you any guarantee that it will work for you.
2. This may be controversial, but unless 1) you are a morning person and that’s when your productivity is at its peak or 2) you have important things to do early in the morning — there’s no real reason to wake up at 5 AM.
3. Don’t let other people’s habits and daily routines make you feel bad about your productivity or guilty because you’re not making every minute count. This leads us to our next myth…

You have to be productive every second of the day

Getting rest is as productive as working. Forcing yourself to work all the time will lead to burnout, exhaustion, and lower performance since you will be too tired to focus properly.

Experts recommend a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night, as well as taking regular breaks when you’re working so your mind can stay fresh and concentrated. Working intervals can be anywhere from 25 minutes (with 5-minute breaks, as is the case in the Pomodoro technique) to 90 minutes (with 20 minutes of break time).

Downloading every productivity app there is will help you

As much as we’re fans of productivity apps, downloading and attempting to use every single one of them usually does more harm than good. To prevent getting overwhelmed, start with downloading just the ones you feel will help you the most and test them out to see if they work for you.

If they do — great.

And, if they don’t, you can always download an alternative or try something else.

Ways to maximize efficiency

Now that we’ve busted some myths, here are some of the most effective ways to maximize efficiency — from getting the best use out of your time to beating procrastination.

Track your time

Being efficient means getting the most out of your time and spending it wisely.

But first, you need to ask yourself — What do you spend time on?

If you don’t know, you should start tracking your time. This practice will help you analyze the way you spend your time, and provide answers to questions such as:

• Is there something you should spend more or less time doing?
• What changes can you make in your schedule to make it suit your needs better?
• What areas of your time management need improvement?

Moreover, time tracking facilitates accurately estimating the time you need to finish a certain project. It also provides data that will help review your performance.

Eat the frog

You don’t have to become a fan of French cuisine — the Eat the frog method entails doing the task you dread the most at the very beginning of your workday.
The “frog” can be an extremely difficult task, an extremely important task, or an extremely difficult and important task. Only when you’re done with the “frog”, shift to the next task of less importance.

Remember that done is better than perfect

You should always try to do your best. But, when you become overly critical and set unrealistically high standards for yourself and others, it can become a problem.

Try to remember that done is better than perfect and finish the task even though it’s not 100% perfect. This mindset will:

• Help you get results;
• Avoid overworking and burnout;
• Make you more productive;
• Help you save time;
• Be easier on your mental health.

Be proactive

Efficient people are proactive people. They focus on what they control and make their own path by making decisions, instead of letting the current circumstances choose their path. How to be more proactive?

• Plan ahead;
• Provide timely updates to your team members and managers;
• Be active in team discussions;
• Problem-solve;
• Seek feedback;
• Don’t dwell on mistakes, but learn from them.

Have a plan B if things go wrong

Speaking about being proactive and planning ahead, take into consideration that there’s a possibility that your plan may fail. As much as it’s well thought out, there’s always something unexpected that may occur. To minimize the surprise factor, go over the things that may go wrong and make a plan B, just in case.

Minimize distractions

Think about what distracts you the most.

Is it your phone? Turn off notifications and/or place the phone in another room.

Is it talking to your coworkers? Give them a heads-up that you’re working on an important task and that you’ll chat on a break.
Is it a nosy workplace? Invest in noise-canceling headphones.

Preparation is the key to success — the better you know your workflow, what can disrupt it, and what the necessary steps to avoid the interruptions are, the more efficient you will be.

Delegate less important tasks

Ask yourself — what tasks align with your exact skill set and must be done by you specifically? Those are your most important tasks — make them a priority on your to-do list. Try to delegate the ones with the lowest priority level so you can have enough time and energy to tackle your main tasks.

Communicate effectively

Effective communication in the workplace is clear, concise, respectful, as well as open and frequent. Everyone should have their turn to talk and voice their input during team discussions, while others listen actively. Always keep in mind the point of the discussion and the problem you’re trying to resolve. Good communication minimizes mistakes and misunderstandings and makes everything go smoother.

This is especially true if your team works remotely or has adopted a hybrid work model. In that case, it’s equally important to find the right communication tools, from emails to team chat apps. My team uses Pumble as our team chat and collaboration app of choice — it’s great for teams looking for a budget solution as it’s free for unlimited users and it offers access to unlimited chat history.

Learn to say “No”

Time is precious — you only get 1440 minutes each day to accomplish everything, including your work and your private life. Be picky with how you spend it.

Others, however, probably don’t hold the same sentiment when it comes to your time, so you have to learn to say “No”. Be assertive, but polite; give people a reason for your refusal, but don’t explain too much and go into too much detail.

Use the “2-Minute Rule” for procrastination

This tip is my favorite; if anything helps me be productive, this is it.

The first step is the hardest one — that’s why it should never take more than 2 minutes to do. Make it as easy as possible to start.

“Write” becomes “open a new document”, “exercise” becomes “put on your workout clothes”, “go through your emails” becomes “open the email app.”

That doesn’t sound too bad, right?

When you manage to start, it suddenly becomes much easier to continue doing what you need to do and eventually finish it.

Ask for help

If you get stuck, there’s no shame in asking for help. I understand that it can be nerve-wracking, especially if you’re a new hire, but the fastest way to learn is to ask. Besides, it’s better to ask and do it correctly than to make mistakes that could easily be avoided.

The first option should be to check if the answer hasn’t already been shared with you or is just a Google search away. If it’s not, find the right person for your problem and ask away.

If a meeting can be an email, make it an email

According to Atlassian, the average office worker spends 31 hours a month attending unproductive meetings. The 91% of average meeting goers claimed they daydream during the meeting, 73% did other work, 39% even slept, and 45% felt overwhelmed by the number of meetings they attend.

Some things need to be discussed and brainstormed in a meeting; others can be just an email. If the former is the case, keep your meetings on-point and productive.

Additional ways to maximize efficiency you maybe haven’t thought of

Other than the usual ways to combat procrastination, disorganization, and other nemeses to productivity, there are also some fun and/or interesting things you can try to maximize efficiency.

Find the right playlist

If you’re one of those people who can’t function without music, finding the perfect tunes to work to is an important factor in your success. Some prefer apps with background sounds, some enjoy lo-fi or jazz radio, some have a YouTube playlist specifically for hustling. Or maybe noise-canceling headphones do the trick for you? Music can affect productivity both positively and negatively, so make sure you find the right playlist.

Don’t disregard the importance of adequate musical background!

Hold standing meetings

Try holding a standing meeting — it’s, just as the name says, a meeting where everyone stands. That may seem unusual, however, it has a number of benefits, as it:

• Takes less time;
• Keeps the team engaged, thus improving performance;
• Is more on-point;
• Puts less stress on the body — specifically, the neck, back, and shoulders that can start aching after a prolonged period of sitting.

Give yourself little rewards

Some tasks are extraordinarily boring and/or hard, but they have to be done — and, what’s even worse, they have to be done by you specifically.

After a lot of empirical research, I came to the conclusion that the best way to bring myself to do such tasks is to promise myself a small reward. I talked to people who use the opposite method: they choose a punishment for themselves if they don’t do the task, but I like the reward method more. It makes you form a positive association with your task, instead of a negative one.

And, in the wise words of Tom and Donna from Parks and Recreation, you should “treat yo self.”

Find repeatable shortcuts

If you find yourself doing something over and over again, don’t waste time always repeating the same process — automate it instead.

For example, if you get a lot of emails that require the same or very similar answer, make a template instead of typing out the same thing multiple times.

Make your workspace pleasant and inspiring

If you spend 8 or more hours in the same place, make that place enjoyable to be in. You can do it by:

• Decluttering your desk, your laptop, and your phone. Make Marie Kondo proud of you by throwing away and deleting everything that you don’t use. Keep only the things that are either important or, as she would say, “spark joy”, like a plant or a framed photo on your desk;
• Adding some personal touches to make the space more pleasant to work in;
• Choosing the right lighting that’s not too bright, but that keeps you awake and focused.

If you don’t know where to start, look up inspiration online. My personal favorites are aesthetic desk setups and stationery collections on YouTube — I watch them like I’m enchanted. Other than bringing me an unexplainable amount of joy, they also make me impulsively buy a lot of unnecessary things, so watch them with caution.

If you procrastinate, find an accountability partner

People usually do this when it comes to going to the gym or eating healthily, but hey, why don’t apply it to work too? If you struggle with procrastination, find someone who’s in the same boat as you and keep each other accountable and on track.

Be careful when choosing your accountability buddy, as this is a two-edged sword. It can backfire as you end up enabling each other to procrastinate more, together — which is the exact opposite of what we aim to accomplish.

Conclusion

Efficiency means achieving maximum productivity with minimal effort. In our case, that also means working smart and being intentional about your time. There are a lot of ways to achieve this, from minimizing distractions and “eating the frog” to finding the right playlist and giving yourself little rewards for accomplishing tasks. You just have to find the ways that work best for you and you’ll be on a good way to maximize your efficiency.

Good thing is, not all tasks are equal – some tasks are more equal than others. Have you thought about what your priorities are? What tasks of yours are more equal than others? A good way to become less overwhelmed is to simply prioritize. It’s also a good idea to categorize your priorities – work, health, personal life, etc.

In this article, we’re going to focus on work priorities and how to prioritize tasks; we’ll also go over the signs that you may need to re-prioritize and how to do that.

Difference between priorities and goals

Before we go into bits and pieces of (re-)prioritization, we need to clarify a distinction between a goal and a priority, since they’re often used interchangeably. They do go hand in hand, but they’re two different things.

Goals are the concrete things you want to accomplish, whereas priorities are what’s important to you and what you’re dedicating the majority of your time to.

For example, if your goal is passing a hard exam, your priority is probably studying. If your goal is getting a promotion at work, your priority will be working hard to meet all the requirements. If the goal is to increase sales, the priority could be launching a new product or coming up with a new strategy with the sales team.

How to prioritize 101

Prioritizing one task over another is not always easy, especially if both tasks are important. And when multiple tasks get involved, it can get quite overwhelming.
Here are some of the tips that can help you to set your priorities straight with less stress.

Make a master to-do list

Grab a piece of paper / open a blank document and make a list of all of your tasks, big and small. Gather all your small to-dos scribbled on random pieces of paper, written in the Notes app on your phone, screenshotted, or noted in your planner. It’s easier when you have all tasks in front of you, on one master to-do list.

After you write everything down, look at your big to-do list and slowly and thoughtfully start working on it. Break it down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals. Choose a few of the most important tasks for the month and break them down into smaller chunks for your weekly and daily to-dos. Also, there are many sorts of to-do list templates if you want to make the process faster and easier.

Keep your list somewhere visible

After you have made your list(s), place them somewhere visible – preferably somewhere in front of you so you’ll look at them often. You can stick them to your laptop or a wall in front of your desk, like a vision board’s more boring cousin.

Having your to-do list in your field of sight will keep you focused and motivated to cross things off as soon as possible.

Do only one thing at a time

I know it may be tempting, but don’t multitask. You won’t get more done in less time – you will just end up with a few half-completed tasks. It’s much more efficient to work on one task at a time, finish it completely, and then move on to the next one.

Think about what’s truly important to you

It’s not always obvious what tasks you should prioritize. To master the art of prioritization, you have to do some self-reflection. To put things in perspective, it often helps to ask yourself: What’s the most important thing that I can do today that will make tomorrow better?

What will get me to my goals the fastest?

What is the likely outcome of (not) making this a priority?

What tasks are time-sensitive?

What can I, and only I, do well that will make a difference?

What are my highest value activities?

Know your natural rhythm

Be aware of your natural rhythm and when your focus is at its peak. When do you feel at your best? Have you noticed you’re particularly productive at a certain time of the day? Do you work the most efficiently in the morning, in the afternoon, or at nighttime?

Whatever your answer is, that’s when you should do the most important task(s) of the day.

Cross-off tasks strategically

You know those days when, despite your hard work, you seem to get nothing done? If your list becomes too much, complete a few quick and easy tasks to give you a sense of accomplishment and some wind at the back to continue.

Be open to change

Be flexible and open to re-prioritize if new information comes along. It’s also okay for your priorities to shift over time. There are certain signs that let you know that you may need to stop and rethink your plan – keep reading to find out what they are.

Signs you need to re-prioritize

“When things go wrong, don’t go with them.” ― Elvis Presley

Sometimes, wisdom is knowing when to give up and pivot. It’s not easy abandoning something you’ve spent time, effort, and money on; however, spending even more time, effort, and money on the wrong thing is worse. These are some of the signs that you need to re-prioritize:

• You work a lot but feel like you aren’t getting anything done;
• You feel disorganized and unfocused;
• Your daily tasks stress you out and/or provoke only negative emotions;
• You worked on something for a long time but there are no signs of results;
• You find it difficult to stop working and fun things feel like a chore.

(Re-)prioritization techniques

Whether you’re tackling prioritization for the first time or you decided to re-prioritize your tasks, there are certain techniques that can help you. Here are some of the easiest and most popular ones.

ABCDE method

Grab your master to-do list from the beginning of this blog post. Next to each task write one of the following letters:

A – highest priority tasks. They are the most important and they will either have the biggest consequences if you don’t accomplish them or the biggest award if you do accomplish them.
You can have up to three A tasks, and you need to prioritize them too – mark them as A1, A2, and A3.

B – tasks that are important, but not as much as the A ones; rewards and negative consequences are smaller. B tasks should be done when all A tasks are completed.

C – nice-to-do tasks. If you don’t get them done, there would be no consequences. You won’t change the world by completing C tasks, but you can do them if you still have time and energy left after A and B tasks.

D – D stands for Delegate. Those are the tasks that can be done by someone else, so you can focus on the A tasks.

E – E like Eliminate. E tasks are the ones that are not important and shouldn’t take space on your to-do list.

The Ivy Lee method

In 1918, Charles M. Schwab, the president of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, was an incredibly successful businessman – he was one of the richest men in the world.

As he decided to increase the efficiency of his team and get things done better and faster, he hired Ivy Lee, a well-known productivity consultant. Lee asked for 15 minutes with each of the company’s executives, when he explained to them the following method.

1. At the end of every workday, write down 6 tasks you need to accomplish tomorrow. There can be less than 6 tasks, but not more.
2. Organize them in order of their true importance. You can use additional metrics like financial value to determine their order.
3. When you arrive to work, focus on the first task. Work until the task is finished, then move to the second one.
4. Work through the rest of your list in the same manner. If you don’t manage to finish all of them, move the unfinished tasks to tomorrow’s list.
5. Repeat.

The results were so satisfactory that Lee got paid six figures (in today’s money).

The main advantage of this method is that it facilitates starting (which is often the hardest part). It reduces decision fatigue – it stops you from having too many things on your plate and overworking yourself. It also forces you to be intentional with your time and energy, which is probably the reason why it’s so simple, yet effective.

MIT (Most Important Tasks)

Not everyone agrees with Ivy Lee – some people think that 6 tasks every day are too many and that you shouldn’t choose more than 3 daily priorities.

MIT strategy is based on a premise that all of us have limited time and energy for each day, so we have to choose up to three MITs (most important tasks) we will dedicate our day to. MITs are critical tasks that will make the biggest difference and get you the furthest in the pursuit of reaching your goals. If you are in doubt, think about what task makes you the most uncomfortable and anxious – the one you’re dreading the most is probably the one you should do first.

You should do your 2-3 MITs at the beginning of your workday, when your mind is still fresh and focused. If you suspect that you’ll finish them early, you can add a couple of nice-to-dos – something that would be nice to finish but isn’t as important.

Single task prioritization

If things get tough, you may need to shorten your to-do list even more ruthlessly. This can be a short-term solution for some and a good everyday option for others, depending on the type of work you’re doing.

Essentially, you pick one bigger task or a theme that relates to several tasks and focus on it for the whole day. For example, my priority during my workday is writing a blog post. That’s the only thing I focus on, but it contains a few related tasks, such as researching, actually writing (which ironically takes the least amount of time), and editing.

Eisenhower matrix

The Eisenhower matrix is named after Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was a five-star general in World War II, the 34th president of the USA, and the founder of DARPA and NASA (among many other things), so I think it’s safe to say that he was quite a productive guy.

The Eisenhower matrix makes you divide your tasks based on their importance and urgency.

• Important and urgent – tasks that should be done first.
• Important but not urgent – tasks that should be scheduled to be done later. Things like exercising or creating a long-term business strategy can fall into this category.
• Urgent but not important – tasks that you should delegate so you can focus on your most important tasks. In this context, “not important” means that it doesn’t necessarily have to be done by you, it can be done by someone else too. Examples of these tasks could be answering certain e-mails, uploading blog posts, or scheduling meetings.
• Not important and not urgent – tasks that you should delete from your to-do list.

Sometimes it can be hard to determine between urgency and importance. Urgent tasks are time-sensitive, while important ones contribute to our long-term goals and mission.

Pareto principle

One day, while taking a walk through his garden, Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto noticed that 20% of his pea plants were producing 80% of the peas. That led to more conclusions – in many industries and companies, 20% most productive portion is responsible for 80% of the production. 20% of the population holds 80% of the wealth. 20% of the customers make 80% of the revenue.

This later became known as the Pareto principle. As it states, 20% of our actions bring 80% of our results. That means that finding out what 20% of your tasks bring 80% of the results and focusing on them is a great prioritization technique. If you’re not sure which ones are your 20%, try figuring out what tasks of yours make the biggest difference and facilitate reaching your goals the most.

MoSCoW method

Before you ask – no, it’s not related to the capital of Russia. It’s the acronym MSCW (must, should, could, would) with two added “o”s for easier pronunciation.

It’s a popular technique for managing requirements. It divides them into 4 categories:

• M (must have) – non-negotiable requirements a project will fail without.
• S (should have) – important things that are not mandatory, but add a lot of value.
• C (could have) – requirements that are desirable, but not necessary; if left out, they would have small to no impact.
• W (won’t have) – not a priority; they might be nice to include in the future.

Conclusion

Mastering the art of (re-)prioritization is important in today’s world, where lines between business and personal life are often blurred and illnesses caused by stress get worse every day. If you absolutely have to stress, it’s important to be aware that not all tasks are worth stressing over – and that’s what prioritization is for. Grab your master to-do list and start thinking about what’s truly important to you.

Professional, productive, efficient, problem-solver, team worker, trustworthy… the list goes on.

Some of those characteristics, such as trustworthiness, honesty, and dependability, are especially important now, when we mostly work remotely. While everyone would want a team with those qualities, not everyone is ready to build a safe and open environment that will encourage honesty, instead of meeting it with defensiveness.

In this article, we’ll discuss what makes a person trustworthy, how to show trustworthiness in a workplace, how to build a work environment that encourages honesty, as well as how to go about communication in a virtual workplace.

What are the qualities of a trustworthy person?

There are two types of trust: competence trust (professional ability, trusting that they know how to do their job) and interpersonal trust (trusting them as a person). They are not the same, but they are often connected: if someone shows integrity in their personal life, it’s not wrong to assume that they’ll show integrity in a professional setting, too.

In a workplace, you have to have a little bit of both.

What are the qualities of a trustworthy person?

• They are reliable and dependable: you know they’ll keep their word, do their job well, and you can rely on them.

• They possess integrity and authenticity: they know what they stand for and they don’t think they’re above anyone else. They are humble and easy to talk to.
• Consistency is one of the most important qualities: they won’t turn their back on you out of the blue.
• They don’t sweep issues under the rug, they face them. They also try to see both sides of the issue to make a fair judgment.

How do you show trustworthiness at work and how to make your boss trust you?

• Be punctual. Always show up on time and don’t miss deadlines. Don’t make your team guess where Waldo is instead of discussing important issues at a meeting. They’ll perceive you as unreliable. It’s also disrespectful to others.
• Be consistent. Don’t give 110% one day and 23,54% the next day. No one will know what to expect from you and if they can trust you with the next project.
  Consistency also applies to your words and your actions being aligned: if you give someone your word, keep it.
• Give praise and credit where it’s due. It will make your coworkers feel valued, especially if they can tell it’s genuine, and it will show that you’re a team player.
• Give good constructive criticism. When someone asks you to give your opinion, try to give a thoughtful and honest answer. Of course, don’t be too harsh (social intelligence is absolutely needed in instances like this): be kind, but also point out things that should be improved.
  The difference between wanting to help someone and being rude is the intention you are speaking with, but lines can get blurred in delivery, so be aware of that.
• Don’t hide information. I don’t think this one needs further explanation – would you trust someone knowing they hid something from you?
• Avoid gossip. If someone talks badly about others to you, they’ll talk badly about you to others.

Building a trustworthy work environment

An open and respectful work environment is the key if you strive for honesty among employees and staff. As much as “honesty is the best policy”, life taught us all that it’s not always the case. Not everyone appreciates honesty: oftentimes, it’s punished instead of praised.

That’s why it’s your role as a manager or an employer to build an environment where everyone feels accepted, heard, and free to communicate openly.

Here’s how to do that.

Define your company’s values and stay true to them

What does your company stand for? Make it clear and stay true to it.

Strive to lead by example, as you set the tone for the company’s culture.

Writing a statement that “bullying won’t be tolerated” doesn’t mean much if some of your employees are experiencing mobbing. Punishing those who bully is a much more powerful statement and it shows that you practice what you preach. It makes both employees and (potential) clients trust you more.

You can’t expect employees to be trustworthy if you’re not trustworthy yourself.

Also, it’s important to introduce company culture and values to new hires from the start.

Embrace the differences

There are many personality tests; according to MBTI, for example, there are 16 personality types. Chances are your workplace contains every single one. Your coworkers may even come from different backgrounds and cultures.

People operate in different ways (and doing something differently doesn’t necessarily mean doing it wrong!). It’s important to be open and accepting, as well as aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. If everyone attempts to understand each other more, you’ll not only build trust, but also function much better as a team.

Organize team buildings

How to understand each other better? The obvious answer would be to get to know each other better.

Team building is a great option to achieve that. You’ll end up communicating with each other better and feeling safer – thus being more proactive and feeling more comfortable sharing new ideas. Plus, you’ll have one new experience and learn something new.

As Scott Schieman, chair of the department of sociology at the University of Toronto’s St George campus, said: “Trust is built by spending time together, not necessarily around work-related tasks.

We form and sustain social bonds this way, expressing verbal and nonverbal communication in ways that convey understanding, empathy, and shared concern. There’s no way endless Zoom calls can replace the depth and quality of in-person human interaction.”

Celebrate team wins

Celebrate your wins, both the individual ones and the ones you achieved as a team.

Don’t be afraid to praise your coworkers when they do a good job; it won’t take away from your successes and it will strengthen your relationship.

“A group becomes a team when each member is sure enough of himself and his contribution to praise the skills of others.”

– Norman Shidle

Communicate openly and equally

Discussions and brainstorming sessions where everyone can voice their opinion without judgment are crucial to be able to progress and succeed. Employees should be allowed to share ideas and voice concerns without the fear of defensive reaction, or even punishment. Here are some of the things to keep in mind:

1. Make sure everyone has their turn to talk.
2. Listen actively.
3. Have a goal – don’t forget what is the point of the discussion and what problem you’re trying to resolve.
4. Communicate in a clear, concise, and polite manner.
5. Respect other opinions and viewpoints, even if you disagree with them.

Use anonymity when appropriate

Don’t avoid using anonymity when needed: for example, when you’re discussing sensitive topics or you need (brutally) honest feedback.

It’s not very likely that anyone will be overly honest if they think they might lose their job over it. By offering them anonymity, you’re creating a safe space to express thoughts and opinions.

There are different ways to do this – anonymous forms are the most frequently used one.

Trust your team

Trust your team that they know what they are doing. Give them the freedom to do their job – no micromanaging or taking over their tasks. It causes negative feelings and distrust, especially if they have already proven that they do their job well.

On the other hand, it’s equally important for the team to justify that trust – after all, it’s a two-way street. When the goal is mutual trust, everyone has to do their part.

Discuss boundaries and expectations

To create an environment where everyone feels good and safe, it’s important to discuss boundaries and expectations that everyone agrees on.

If everyone’s opinion and perspective is taken into consideration,

1. Everyone will feel valued and heard; when you feel appreciated, you are motivated to do your best.
2. You’ll come up with the solution that works best for you as a team.
3. No one will feel as if something is imposed on them against their will, as they participated in the process.

Address and work on resolving mistakes as soon as possible

Since humans are naturally imperfect beings, mistakes are (unfortunately) inevitable.
That’s why it’s important to create a constructive environment where employees can bring those mistakes to awareness without being afraid of negative consequences, so everything can be resolved as quickly as possible.

Along these lines, if you have an issue with someone, resolve it in private and as soon as the issue arises. It may be an honest mistake. If it’s not and they don’t want to cooperate, bring the issue to the manager/HR/boss, but the first option should be open communication and a constructive discussion.

Bad mouthing them to the whole office is not only in poor taste and shows bad manners, but promotes distrust and creates a negative work environment. If you need to vent (we all do sometimes), it’s better to vent to a friend.

Being honest when working remotely

The pandemic and working remotely caused a (perhaps unforeseeable) obstacle: lack of trust. It’s not easy to trust someone you don’t see often, or maybe never even met in person.

You don’t smile at each other when you arrive at the office, you don’t talk about random things when you get coffee, you don’t share an awkward silence in the elevator – how would you know if they’re an okay person? Who knows if they do their job well?

“If you’re late for a meeting while working from home, it’s because your broadband wasn’t working, but if anyone else misses a meeting, you attribute it to their character,”

says Heidi K Gardner, faculty chair of Harvard Law School’s Accelerated Leadership Program and author of Smart Collaboration: How Professionals and Their Firms Succeed by Breaking Down Silos.

When you don’t know someone personally, it’s harder to accurately judge their character, and consequently, build trust. However, it’s not impossible. Other than building an overall trustworthy work environment (that we discussed previously in the article), there are some additional things you can do to ensure there is trust even when you’re working remotely.

Determine and discuss expectations and goals

Make sure to communicate expectations and share what’s the plan and what goal(s) are you, as a team, trying to achieve.

If everything is clear from the start, there’s little to no room for misunderstanding and confusion. Set the tone of open communication from the start. Not to mention that the quickest way to bond with someone is to share a common goal.

There are a few types of goals to be set:

• immediate – for a meeting you’re currently attending;
• short-term – weekly, monthly, or quarterly goals;
• long-term – annual or the goals for the next 2/3/5 years.

Communicate transparently and regularly

Chatting online takes away some of the very important aspects of communication: facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice. Sure, you can use emojis, but their little yellow face is not capable of showing emotions as well as the human face does.

That’s why you should put emphasis on transparent and regular communication. Say what you mean and mean what you say, but pay attention to how you deliver the message.
Since you don’t see each other regularly, make sure to regularly update each other on what you’re up to.

Don’t micromanage or try to spy on your team

Both can cause distress and lower their performance. It doesn’t exactly foster mutual respect, either. By micromanaging or spying on them, you’re actively showing them that you don’t trust them nor their ability to do their job correctly – not the best move in general, but especially when you’re working remotely.

However, I understand that as a manager or an employer, you want to make sure that everyone is getting their tasks done.

It’s a good idea for your team to track their time. As they’re in charge of the input and add time slots themselves, you’re showing them that you trust them. You’ll also be in the loop and know what they’re working on, but they won’t have the feeling that someone is constantly looking over their shoulder.

Conclusion

As much as honesty and open communication are important in a workplace, they’re often not easy to achieve. They require trust – which is not given, it’s earned.

The key thing is building a trustworthy work environment, where everyone feels respected and valued and where honesty is appreciated, not met with defensiveness or even punished.

Not an easy task to do, but getting a healthy and productive work environment is worth it.

To be able to accomplish everything, you need good time management and organizational skills. Timekeeping is a good option to make the whole process go smoother.

In this article, we’ll go over everything you need to know about personal timekeeping – what it is, why it’s important, and how to track personal time.

What is timekeeping?

According to the dictionary, timekeeping means “recording time, keeping track of the hours worked by the employees.”

Timekeeping is the most frequently used in the business world, because, as the famous saying goes, “time is money”. Businesses and freelancers track their working hours so they can bill accurately, be transparent, plan projects easier, optimize work processes, and improve work management.

A (very) brief history of timekeeping

Humans have been trying to track time since the dawn of civilization.

One of the very first tools were shadow clocks. They consisted of a stick placed upright in the ground that formed a shadow and markers along the shadow’s path that divided a day into segments.

Even in ancient societies, it was important to measure time so the workers could be paid accurately. Fun fact: according to this article from DailyMail, since the economy was based on the redistribution of goods, workers from Mesopotamia and Egypt were getting beer as a paycheck, among other food.

Since sundials are useless when the sun is not shining, we needed something different; the technology progressed to mechanical devices (water clocks, candle clocks, and hourglass, among others). In the 17th century, it advanced even more, when pendulum clocks were invented. Still, the Earth’s rotation was the most important “clock”.

Timekeeping technologies further evolved after the Industrial Revolution, as the relationship between an employer and employees started being defined by the good, old “time is money” principle we’ve already mentioned.

The first clock for tracking attendance is believed to be the one created in 1888 by Willard Le Grand Bundy, a jeweler from New York. His patent speaks of mechanical time recorders for workers in a way that implied that earlier recorders had already existed; however, he made some improvements, such as each employee having their own key.

A year later, those clocks started being mass-produced. However, like the rest of the technology of that time, they were bulky and complicated to use.

Nowadays, everything is done digitally and technology is advanced enough that even if you’re not a business, you can track your time for your own personal projects and goals, fast and easily.

Why is timekeeping important?

Here are the most important benefits of timekeeping, as well as why you should consider incorporating it in your day-to-day life and when working on your personal projects.

How timekeeping enhances your productivity

One of the biggest advantages of time tracking is that it improves your productivity. Here’s how:

The psychological way it improves productivity

Have you ever heard of the Hawthorne effect?

Hawthorne effect is a term referring to the tendency to work harder and perform better when you know you’re being observed and/or evaluated.

It was named after the research conducted at the Hawthorne Western Electric Plant (hence the name) in Illinois, USA in the 1920s.

It was originally conducted to study the effect of lighting on workers’ productivity. When the lighting improved, so did the productivity. However, productivity improved again when the lighting was diminished, even though it was expected to worsen. Researchers were perplexed.

Workers’ productivity improved whenever work conditions changed (for better or for worse), whether it was the lighting, working hours, or rest breaks.

It turned out that it wasn’t the variables of the work environment that changed the behavior, but the fact that they were being observed. According to many, the Hawthorne effect is unavoidable in research and studies that use humans as subjects.

Now, how can that help you and your productivity?

There won’t be a mysterious Big brother entity watching and evaluating you when you start timekeeping, don’t worry. Our brains work in a way that when we know what we do is being measured, we subconsciously try harder and consequently, perform better. Use our innate psychological quirk to your advantage: measure your own time.

The practical way it improves productivity

Procrastination is often the biggest nemesis of productivity, and tracking time can help with that.

Seeing a timer running i.e. having a visual representation of every passing second will prevent you from wasting valuable moments – it will encourage you to tackle the task right away. Also, knowing that if you scroll through Instagram for an hour, you’ll have to write it down, makes it a bit easier to resist the urge to go to social media.

Or, as we keep telling ourselves, “I’ll just check my social media for a minute and then go right back to work.”

Another problem is multitasking: even though you aim to get more done in less time, you end up losing focus and actually accomplishing less.
When using time tracking apps, you can’t put two entries at the same time, which forces you to focus on one task at a time. Doing tasks one by one makes you more efficient. When you switch from one task to another, your brain needs some time to get used to a different way of thinking, which makes you lose concentration and you become less productive.

You get things done faster and better when you don’t multitask.

Nikolas Baron, who worked as an SEO Manager and Growth Advisor for companies such as Grammarly, Ticketmaster, and Honey, said in the article published by inc.com:

“Rather than answering a call, checking email, and then moving back and forth between several tasks that I have in progress, time tracking actually encourages me to focus on one activity for an extended period of time to improve my focus and productivity. Also, time tracking is a great way to remind me to get up and move around every 50 minutes to clear my head and refresh my perspective.”

Quality of life is improved

When you start tracking your time, you will have access to data that shows you how exactly you spend it. You may face a painful realization that you waste way too much time on things that don’t really matter. As unpleasant as it initially is, you can use that as an opportunity to make a change and start spending more time on the things that you value.

What do you spend too much time on? What do you not spend enough time on? Does your schedule reflect your values and the goals you’re trying to achieve? If not, what can you change?

If you answer these questions and implement necessary changes, your quality of life will improve as you will put your time and energy into things that matter and that fulfill you.

Having a work-life balance

So far, we’ve talked about how timekeeping helps you:

• Know how much time each one of your tasks takes,
• Know what your priorities are,
• Identify non-essential and time-consuming tasks,
• Stay focused on your work,
• Minimize procrastination,
• Avoid multitasking.

All of those things get you on the right path to make a schedule that will allow you to have a healthy work-life balance. It allows you to organize better and make enough time for everything important, including health, sleep, and social life, not just working 24/7.

Additional tip when making a schedule: take into consideration the time of the day when you’re the most productive – for some people it may be early in the morning, and for others, late at night. If you adjust your schedule to your natural rhythm, you’ll be more focused and get things done faster. Work smarter, not harder!

How do I track personal time?

You decided that you want to start tracking your time, but you’re not sure how? It’s actually easier than you might think. None of the methods require more than a few simple steps.

Choose a timekeeping method

The first step is to choose a method. You can use pen and paper or a spreadsheet, but it’s the fastest and easiest to use time tracking software. Even within timekeeping software, there are different options you can choose from, according to your preferences.

Tracking time using a timer is simple and very useful if you want or need to be precise when tracking.

All you have to do is

1. start a timer,
2. indicate what project or task you are working on, and
3. stop the timer when you finish working on that project.

Timesheets are a quick way to add a lot of entries at once.

1. Select a project you’re working on,
2. Write how much you’ve worked on that task,
3. Add a row for each task/project you’ve worked on that day.

Manually time tracking is perfect for tracking all your tasks in one go. It lets you add time entries one by one, specify start and end times, and date.

An automatic time tracker is great if you want to track something that’s done on the computer. You don’t have to do anything, it automatically records the time you spend on computer activity. It’s the quickest method out of all, but it can’t be used for tasks and activities that are not digital.

You can also use the time blocking technique using the calendar view if you’re a visual person. You define specific time blocks for the tasks, events, and activities in your life, and then add them to your calendar.

Do weekly reviews

Every week or so, check your dashboard and a detailed or weekly report on your time tracking app. This is important to do so you can evaluate how you spend your time and if you should make any changes in your schedule.
When you start timekeeping, you’ll naturally become more aware of where your time goes, but seeing all the data will help you get the full picture. It will make it easier to plan and see the flaws in your schedule, as well as the optimal way to improve it.

Conclusion

Timekeeping is a great practice to reach your personal goals for a variety of reasons, the most important being that it boosts your productivity and helps you spend your time on the things you value and that matter to you, thus improving your quality of life.

The easiest option is to get a time tracking app and use it in a way that works best for you, whether you decide to fill timesheets, record time, or use some other method.

Whichever one you choose, it will be a step forward to good time management and getting your personal projects done.

As important as working hard is, workaholism – performative or not – isn’t something we should strive for. It’s dangerous to idolize it and put the pressure of being constantly busy on yourself (and others).

In this article, we’ll talk about why you should leave work on time instead, as well as how to do it, depending on the reason you’re staying overtime.

Why you should leave the office on time

Working overtime is okay in some instances. For example, when you’re trying to meet the deadline for a really important project, it’s completely justified, but it shouldn’t become an everyday thing. Here’s why:

Negative effects on your health caused by overworking

Not having a proper work-life balance takes a toll on your health, both physical and mental.

Overworking can cause a series of health problems, including a higher risk of a stroke, diabetes, and heart disease. These health issues are caused by a variety of factors: stress, sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, lack of sleep and physical activity, tobacco and alcohol consumption.

Neglecting your health, sleep, hobbies, social and love life can seriously impair your mental health too, as well as your quality of life.

In extreme cases, overworking can cause death; while that’s rare in the west, in east Asia it’s common enough to have a word for it (karōshi in Japanese and guòláosǐ in Mandarin Chinese).

Overworking leads to burnout

What is a burnout?

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, burnout is “exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation, usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration.” It causes feelings of reduced professional ability and negative emotions towards your job. In some cases, it leads to health issues too, such as chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, and a weakened immune system.
Emotional and behavioral symptoms include feeling helpless and trapped, isolating from others, using food/alcohol/drugs to cope, a negative, cynical outlook on life, and a loss of motivation.

In 2019, burnout was categorized by the World Health Organization as an “occupational phenomenon” that results from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed and it’s classified in International Disease Classification (ICD-11).

All in all, it’s not a good time.

If you think you may be at risk of burnout, you can do the MBI self-assessment test. It’s not a scientific diagnostic technique, but it can be helpful.

Being busy doesn’t necessarily mean being productive

Working long hours may actually not be that useful.

As Sara Robinson said in her article for Salon, “increasing a team’s hours in the office by 50 percent (from 40 to 60 hours) does not result in 50 percent more output…In fact, the numbers may typically be something closer to 25-30 percent more work in 50 percent more time.”

The premise that more hours don’t equal more productivity is backed up by a study by John Pencavel for Stanford University, that states that “below 49 weekly hours, variations in output are proportional to variations in hours; for those observations corresponding to 49 or more hours, output rises with hours at a decreasing rate and a maximum of output occurs at about 63 hours. Output at 70 hours differs little from the output at 56 hours.”

I’m not a mathematician, but I can conclude that productivity and additional time spent are not in direct proportion. The payoff is not big enough to make the negative effects of staying overtime worth it.

If you aim to improve your productivity, you should focus on quality instead of quantity and work smarter, not harder.

How to end your workday

If you want to stop working after your working hours are done, you first have to figure out why you keep staying in the office – is it because you feel guilty if you don’t, because of your workload, or because that’s the company culture?

If the workload is the problem

If you can’t manage to finish the work on time so you have to stay after your regular working hours, here are the steps you can take to avoid it.

Set the expectations for the day

Before you start working, set the expectations for the day instead of just going with the flow and seeing where the day takes you.
What do you need to accomplish? What are your priorities for today? What amount of work do you need to get done?

Decide in advance what you are going to do and how your workday is going to look like. Make a psychological commitment that you’ll end working by 5 PM (or whenever your shift officially ends).
It will not only help you focus on the important tasks, but it will also prevent you from feeling guilty because you will know your work for the day is finished and the expectations are met.

Track time

There’s something called planning fallacy. According to that phenomenon, we tend to underestimate the time we need to get something done and overestimate the time others need to complete the task.

Humans are not very good at accurately estimating how long it takes to do something.

That’s where time tracking comes in.

Before you make a schedule, get a work hours tracker to track how much time you and/or your team spend on tasks and activities. It lets you track project progress and even share time reports with others. It’s easy to use and it’s helpful for a variety of reasons:

• It lets you see how exactly you spend your time and what areas you need to work on.
• It helps with procrastination, as you’re less likely to waste time when you know you have to write down everything you did.
• It facilitates scheduling and getting into deep work mode, which leads to performance improvement.
• It lets you accurately bill the hours you worked overtime.

Make a schedule

Having in mind 1) your daily goal and 2) somewhat accurate estimates of how much time you need to complete tasks, you can make a schedule. Plan your day in advance.

Do the most important things first. Aim to finish the hardest task of the day before lunch, so you can get it out of the way when your mind is fresh and your focus is the strongest.

Do the less important tasks towards the end of the day, as they don’t require as much brainpower and energy.

Success coach and entrepreneur Ryan Jackson advises: “Schedule important tasks into your calendar or online diary, with reminders set – and take action on them at the allotted time. Allocate only a specific time slot to reading emails, for example, 30 minutes in the afternoon, or 10 minutes every hour.”

Don’t procrastinate

Do you often find yourself going through your social media or talking to coworkers about things that are not related to your current task? If you do, it’s likely slowing you down and causing you to stay overtime to be able to finish everything.

Try your best to be as efficient and disciplined as possible during work hours, so you can be free after and go home on time.

It may be tempting to just promise yourself “oh I’ll just finish it later”, but the future you will hate you for it. Your future self is tired and just wants to go to bed.

Wrap up the day

At the end of the workday, leave around 20 minutes to organize your workspace and prepare it for tomorrow, review your to-do list, file papers, or do whatever else you need to do to wrap up the day. Having this routine will help you transition from work to relaxation mode and prevent you from checking emails just one more time / making just one more phone call / doing just one more task.

Talk with your superior about priorities

If you did all of this but you still can’t seem to get through your daily workload in 8 hours, you may need to talk with your manager or team leader about priorities and discuss what you think can be reasonably achieved in a given time frame. Be assertive, but polite.

If feeling guilty is the problem

Stop feeling guilty by reframing how you think about leaving work. “I am going home to spend time with my family / cook a healthy meal that’s good for me / have some much-needed rest” instead of “I am not really doing anything after work.”

Start seeing value in things you do outside of work; you’re working towards something equally important as paid labor.
Leaving work on time doesn’t mean you’re lazy or not committed to your work. Getting things done and being efficient is far more important than being at work just for the sake of it.

You can also schedule something right after the end of your working hours to make sure you won’t find an excuse to stay overtime. It can be a dinner with a friend, shopping with your mum, a group training in a local gym, or anything else you enjoy.

Turn off your work phone and laptop, stop thinking about work and enjoy your free time. You’ll do your job better and you’ll be able to focus better when you’re happy and well-rested.

If company culture is the problem

If the company culture includes staying late just for a show, you should consider if you even want to work there. A work environment that encourages presenteeism is not a healthy work environment.

Presenteeism is, according to dictionary.com, “the practice of employees habitually coming to work when they shouldn’t—especially coming in sick or working overly long hours.”
(We can also argue how exploitative it is to expect employees to work overtime, often without adequate financial compensation.)

If you’re a manager of a team, set an example for others by leaving work on time and encouraging a healthy work-life balance.

Conclusion

Leaving work on time can be hard for different reasons, from feeling guilty to not being able to go through the workload in 8 hours. The fact that hustle culture is so popular and the number of hours spent working is flaunted like a badge of honor doesn’t help either.

You don’t have to participate in that. In fact, it’s better for your health (both physical and mental) if you don’t.

Having a good work-life balance will actually have a positive impact on your performance. Depending on the reason you stay overtime, different things can help – sometimes working on your time management skills is the right answer, sometimes it’s making a conscious effort to leave on time.