Set Themes, Not Goals For Better Time Management

It always seems like there’s so much to do and so little time to get it done. To better manage your hours, productivity weblog Zen Habits suggests that you forget about setting goals and try picking themes instead.

Photo by RBerteig.

The post covers various ways to live off-the-clock and eliminate expressions like “How much time do I have left?” To do so, Zen advises ditching the goal setting for monthly themes. Contributor Jonathan Mead, for example, chose “improving my ability to focus” as his monthly theme. He says that monthly themes, unlike daily goals, allow you to more fully concentrate on the task-at-hand without the anxiety of worrying that you’re not going to meet your more imminent deadlines.

Hit up the full post for other suggestions on how to better manage time, and let us know what you think about their suggestions in the comments. On the other hand, if you prefer the daily goal-tracking and to-do following, try taking 18 minutes to keep your day on track.

How to Live Without the Clock [Zen Habits]