Like the most of us, I have a set of goals in mind for my future and for reaching them I use my own methods and techniques. In this article, I will share these methods and the motifs behind them.

Looking for methods

I was watching every YouTube video, reading online articles and listening to podcasts about time management and goal tracking; Downloading every calendar app (yes, I’m an app-guy!) and, thinking hard about how should one be on-board and on-time and not miss deadlines (either self-set goals’ or projects’ deadlines) and still live like a normal (or just) human being!

Why Google Calendar is the best but not enough?

As I mentioned early, I have literally tried out more than 10 types of calendar apps and Google Calendar is the best and here is why:

It’s pretty straightforward and clean UI

Completely free without ads (no hidden fees)

You can drag and drop a task if you have set to do it now but something came up and you need to postpone it for an hour

Has plenty of other features like integrating with your inbox

But it’s not enough for pushing you and stopping you from procrastination. Notifications are good but you can just silent your phone and not hear them or even if you do hear them you might not get stressed enough to stand up and do your tasks (GYST). You’ve got to see the big picture so you’d know how fast the time is passing. What I mean is that (it sounds silly, I know, but) you should use 3 other calendars. We’ll go through them one by one and I’ll explain why this is important in time management, tracking your goals, achieving them faster and, procrastinating less.

Second calendar: near my bed

I have pinned a monthly calendar near my bed, where it’s completely obvious so I can’t ignore it. A monthly calendar is essential to have because you see:

The big picture

How fast the time is passing

How close the deadlines

How far you’re from your goals

After a few weeks, you’ll notice how fast the time is passing

We’re very visual creatures and our stress hormones might get confused when they don’t have a visual tracker of time. Maybe you too have been in this situation that you “know” the deadline is close but you “feel” like there is a lot of time yet. That’s exactly where visual tracker will help. You should definitely pin a monthly calendar on somewhere near your bed or any area you mostly hang out when you’re procrastinating. You can also mark deadlines with sticky notes (cause then if it’s postponed you can easily move it to another date).

Third calendar: on my desk

I also have another type of monthly calendar on my desk where I work so I can… yea! You know the rest! (previous paragraph)

Forth calendar: a calendar to write on

The main reason I use a pocket calendar is different from others. I place my pocket calendar with a pencil near my bed so I can write a daily report in just 3-4 keywords. (e.g. worked 7h | watched tutorials 1h) I track the time with my phone’s native stopwatch and when I’m done working, I put the paper which I’ve written “WORK HOURS” on it on my laptop so the next time I’d remember to start the stopwatch. The reason I put a pencil there is that if a pencil is too far, I might skip writing and think that I’ll add it tomorrow! (Yea, I’m extra-lazy and, that’s why I’ve developed these methods!) I add every day’s report so I can look back at a glance and see how fast/slow I’m improving and will the amount of time that I’m spending on task A get me there in long run or not.

Disclaimer

It’s human nature to “get used to” stuff, to get unmotivated and, to lose enthusiasm, but here is when your problem-solving abilities will help you. These methods (or basically any other time management method) won't work on long haul unless you make your own version of them. What are your own methods of time management? What are weird behaviors that distract you or stop you from working or studying efficiently?

Credits