- [Narrator] I've spent the past two years of my life making money online, while traveling to places like, this, this, this, and this. And I did this while only
working four hours per day. Which equals 24 hours per week. And the only way I could pull this off, was by becoming an expert
at time management. So in this video I'm
going to share with you my top 5 time management techniques. The first one is called the Power Hour, and this concept originally
came from a book called Deep Work, written by
a university professor named Carl Newport. The Power Hour technique
is when you spend the first hour of you day, performing
the most difficult task. And during this hour you
eliminate all distractions. You get rid of your
phone, you get rid of all the YouTube video tabs. You send your dog in the other room. And you are just focusing
on this one task. And there are two main
benefits to this technique. It helps prevent procrastination,
just by getting started. And it also helps you feel a sense of progress early on in the day. Which will set you up for
a more productive day. I remember back in
university, when I would study I would have so many things
going on in the background: I would have multiple YouTube
videos loaded on my computer, I would be checking my phone all the time, I would have the TV going
on in the background. And the result of doing
all of that is just taking way longer to complete the task. The second time management technique is using a calender. Aside from being able to
plan your Power Hours, having the ability to
view your week at a glance provides you with myriad of benefits. Such as, it allows you to plan for the upcoming day and week, it offers you the ability to schedule new events very easily, it keeps you accountable
for things you have to do, and it allows you to
prioritize your tasks. I personally love using
calenders because it eases my stress and anxiety. It allows me to clearly
see what needs to be done, how it needs to be done, and when it needs to be done by. If you have an online calender you even have the option
to share with people. Which gives them, the
opportunity to support you if you're very busy. You don't have to plan your entire month. Just start with your day
and then move to your week. In my opinion the most
challenging part about a calender is prioritizing what needs to be done. Which leads us to the third
time management technique, using the Urgent vs. Important Scale. An important factor for
effective time management is deciding where a task lies on the Urgent vs. Important Scale. This idea is adopted from a book called 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, written by habit expert Stephen Covey. Essentially you have to create a diagram like this one below, every activity you do
throughout the day can be placed in one of the four quadrants. The goal is to stay in
the top right quadrant of Important but Not Urgent. This promotes proactive behavior, so that you stay on top of things, and are minimally stressed. Examples of things that would fall under the Urgent and
Important category would be a serious deadline, a
doctor's appointment, or some kind of important meeting. Phone calls, emails, would fall under the Important and
Not Urgent quadrant. And the point was, busy
work would fall under the Not Important and Not Urgent quadrant, And you have to avoid this
quadrant at all costs. It's up to you how you want
to prioritize your tasks, and decide which tasks
should go into each quadrant. When you're prioritizing your tasks, it's important to have
a good understanding of how long things will take. Which takes us to the fourth
time management technique, Factor of Safety. There have been countless
times in my own working life and especially in my student life, when I've created a
seemingly flawless schedule, and everything is perfectly prioritized. Then all of the sudden I'm
interrupted with a problem that needs to be dealt
with in that moment. And this doesn't have to
be a professional problem. This could be a personal one. This could be a small
emergency, where you have to go and take care of your grandma,
or something like that. But the point is, it completely
throws off your schedule. And when we are delegating
our time for the day, we should always include
a Factor of Safety, to account for problems, distractions and errors in our judgment. Always plan a little
more time than you think you need when you're are
scheduling an activity. Especially when it's an important one. This will not only allow you
to maintain your schedule, but it will alleviate stress, pressure, and it gives you a sense
of calmness about your day, and tasks. Another great strategy for
alleviating stress and pressure, is my fifth time management technique, and this one is called
Taking Green Breaks. Humans are not robots, unfortunately, we cannot program ourselves
to work for 8 straight hours. Most of us know that people need breaks, but something most people don't talk about are Green Breaks. This one Harvard study explains that being around greenery will
boost your performance and decision-making. Well one study found, that
exposure to office plants boosted not only the
employee's well-being, but also their productivity by 15%. And that's why I'm recording this YouTube video with two lovely plants
right beside my computer. And here is a photo. Instead of just taking a
break at the water cooler, or instead of simply just
tabbing over to a YouTube video, as a study break, go
outside for ten minutes, and surround yourself with nature. If you are not in an environment
where you can do that, like let's say you're in a
city or you're in an office, simply surround yourself
with plants that are in your environment. And if there are none there,
bring some into your workplace. I personally found this
one has a huge impact on my creativity, and my overall mood. I honestly believe that
going outside in nature, is like giving our bodies medicine. When we look at photos like, this, this, and this. We just feel good. Time is without a doubt
the most viable asset we have in life. Everybody on earth gets
the same amount of time but it's up to us how
we chose to spend it. So learning time management
is a very important skill. If you enjoyed this video please be sure to subscribe to the
channel, thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next one.
