6 Time Management Tips | My Secrets to Achieve More with Less

Hello everyone, welcome back to my channel. The year is coming to an end and in today's video I would like to share a few top tips on time management with you. Before I start, a short reminder. On my YouTube channel I tell everything about OOPS, KIE and tips for career development. So if you are interested in such content, subscribe to my channel so that you don't miss any of my future content. The year is coming to an end. I can hardly believe that 2024 is almost over. Do you know, when we are approaching the end of the year and there is still so much going on, it's just nice to drink a cup of hot chocolate and to feel that the holidays are just around the corner? A question that I am often asked is, how do you manage to be a YouTuber, to have a full-time job and to be the mother of two little children? That's a lot of work, but I think in the end it all comes down to time management. In today's video I just wanted to chat with you and do a kind of final reflection to share a few tips with you that I have learned in the past and that can help you to improve your time management. First, set clear goals for yourself. I think goals are extremely important if you try to find out how you want to spend your time and energy. Sometimes it can be really hard to think about, okay, what are my resolutions for the new year? Maybe you have ten things you want to do in the new year. Some of them may sound very abstract, such as, I want to become better at visual design or I want to train more often. How do you set clear goals that can be implemented in concrete measures? I wanted to bring you closer to the OKR concept. If you work in the technology industry, you may already be familiar with the OKR concept. OKR stands for Objective and Key Results. It is basically a target model that many large technology companies have introduced to support the organization, to stay on course, to create a consensus and to promote activities based on measurable goals. There are, for example, annual OKRs that should help the team and the organization to understand the most important goals for the year. There are also quarterly OKRs with which the OKRs are planned for the first quarter of next year. There will be discussions in the middle of the quarter to check the progress and to evaluate it at the end of the quarter. This way, the progress can be adapted and transferred to the next quarter. That's what I wanted to talk about. Let's take a look at this diagram first. I think this graph explains it quite well. The goal is, so to speak, the goal on which you should set the most important results that you have to achieve in order to achieve them. If you are interested in the history of OKRs, there are many articles that you can read online. This method was originally developed by Andy Groob at Intel and passed on to John Doerr. Since then, many companies have adopted it, including Google, Airbnb, Netflix and many more. Here is an example for operators. Let's assume the goal is to leave the lowest Q2 footprint in the industry. The first KR supply chain and the shipping in the infrastructure are 100% waste-free. The second KR pays 100% Q2 compensation for calculated carbon dioxide emissions. And the third 25% of the material should be compostable. And the last 75% of the material is biologically degradable. Why do I want to talk about OKR? I think this is actually a great model that you should adopt for your private life. For example, for next year, I set myself the goal of learning QI and becoming a QI expert as a UX designer. How do I achieve this? There are some KRs that I can convert into this goal. For example, take part in an online program to dive deep into the topic of QI. Another KR could be that I dedicate four hours a week to self-study. The third KR could be participating in an industry event. Concentrate on QI to learn more about the latest developments in the industry. The last KR could be to join a learning group to learn from other interested parties and stay in touch. No matter if you like OKRs at work or not or if this concept is new to you, just try it out. Think about what your most important goals are. Write down which goals you pursue and how you combine them with the most important results. Second, turn your goals into time blocks in your calendar. In the past, I have tried many different methods to keep an overview of my to-do list. But I still have difficulties keeping things up to date and getting them done. I have learned that you forget the to-do list and instead turn it into concrete blocks in your calendar. If, for example, you intend to write down ten things you want to do today, it is often not really helpful if you do not spend the actual time for it. Regardless of which tool you prefer, I would strongly recommend that you pack the most important things you want to do into a calendar block instead of creating a to-do list. This way you can plan the right time for it. If you have set yourself a goal and included it in your timetable or time block, it is always a dynamic progress. So you should spend some time checking and adapting it. It could be helpful to plan a little time for a quick check-up every week. A check-up is a way of checking and summarizing what you have achieved. My next tip for you is to learn to say no. There are often urgent things at work. If you are constantly distracted by urgent things or spontaneous requests, you may run out of time to work on the things that are really important to you. So we have to spend our time and energy on the things that are most important to us. Nowadays there may be endless meetings and you may receive a lot of last-minute requests, but you do not have to feel obliged to take them all into account. Learning to say no is crucial so that you can focus on the most important things for you. Instead of writing down, for example, ten things that you should do every day, ask yourself what you want to do today. This is another strategy that can help you. Once you have found out what this thing is, it is easier to find out what you should say no to. There is a model, the Eisenhower matrix, that can help you to set priorities. As you can see from this trick, it basically has two axes. One is important or unimportant, the other is urgent or not urgent. What should we focus our energy on? The green area. What about the important but not urgent things? We should work on the timetable. Try to get more clarity about the timetable and find out the steps that you have to take to contribute to actual long-term success. What about the unimportant but urgent things that we all get a lot of every day? Delegate tasks that are urgent but not quite important to you. Is there anyone else who can do that? Finally, the red zone. Not urgent, not important. Delete. Don't waste your energy, because it only distracts you. Another tip is to delegate tasks whenever possible. Life can sometimes get really stressful if you have to do all the things as a parent or as an employee. It's okay to ask for help or delegate tasks. My daughter loves drawing, for example. I like to do art or do handicrafts and paint with her when I have time. But on weekends it can sometimes get really stressful. I thought of a simple alternative. Why don't I register her for an online course? She can learn to draw while I have some free time. That's just an example, but I hope you understand what I mean. No matter what job or what kind of work you do, I'm 99% sure that there are already key tools that can help you increase your productivity. These are the results I found on Google when I entered the most popular key tools. Tools in the year 2024. And as you can see, there are a whole range of tools from iChatbox, like ChatGPT, and also tools that could be more valuable for designers like MeJourney, Canva, Adobe Firefly. Think about it next time you have an open problem. Ask yourself if there are key tools that you can use to maximize efficiency. My last tip for you is to take care of yourself. As designers, we all tend to spend a lot of time in front of our laptop, which is not good for our health or productivity. So make a few memories so that you can take a break every hour, walk around and get some fresh air. Everything that helps you relax can also help you recharge your batteries and focus. I think many of us tend to prioritize our tasks over the things that are really important to us. It may sound a little selfish, but I think it is extremely important to take some time for yourself, whether it is to read or exercise. You know, one thing I like to do outside of work is Pilates. I've been doing it for almost two years now. It's just something I feel like a different person after an hour of Pilates, no matter how crazy or stressful a working day may be. I think we all need this time to switch off from work and the kids. This way we can actually refuel our batteries and become a better version of ourselves That's all I have for today. If you have any thoughts or questions, please leave me a comment. I would be happy to hear from you. Finally, I would like to thank you for your support to accompany me on this journey as a YouTuber, as a mother and as an ox designer. I really appreciate that I have the opportunity to share my life in this video format with you all. I am so grateful for your support and for being connected with you all in this community. I hope you all have wonderful holidays and I can't wait to see you all again in the new year. Bye!