How to Improve Time Management: Why Most Advice is Rubbish (And What Actually Works)

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Here's something that'll get your knickers in a twist: I reckon 90% of time management advice floating around Australian workplaces is complete bollocks.

After 18 years training everyone from mining executives in Perth to café managers in Carlton, I've watched countless professionals fall for the same productivity myths that keep them spinning their wheels. The worst part? Most of this advice comes from people who've never actually managed a team through a proper crisis.

Last month, I had a client – let's call her Sarah from a major logistics company – who showed me her colour-coded calendar system. Beautiful spreadsheets, perfectly planned 15-minute blocks, even had alerts for when to take toilet breaks. She was working 65-hour weeks and still couldn't keep up. Know what her real problem was? She spent two hours every Sunday planning her week and another 30 minutes each morning "optimising" her schedule.

That's the first myth we need to destroy: time management isn't about managing time at all. It's about managing energy, priorities, and most importantly, saying no to the right things.

The Energy Audit Nobody Talks About

Here's where most time management gurus get it wrong. They treat human beings like machines that can maintain consistent output from 9am to 5pm. Absolute rubbish.

Your brain has natural cycles. Some people are absolute weapons before 10am, others don't properly function until after lunch. I learned this the hard way back in 2009 when I was trying to force myself into early morning strategic planning sessions. Turns out my brain doesn't properly engage until around 11am. Once I stopped fighting this and rescheduled my most demanding work to align with my natural energy peaks, my productivity doubled.

Track your energy for two weeks. Not your time – your energy. Notice when you feel sharp, when you're dragging, when creative ideas flow. Most people discover they've been doing their hardest work during their lowest energy periods. No wonder they're exhausted.

The 80/20 Rule Applied Properly (Not How Everyone Else Does It)

Everyone bangs on about Pareto's Principle, but they apply it backwards. They think it means "focus on the 20% of tasks that matter most." Wrong.

The real insight is this: 80% of your workplace stress comes from 20% of your commitments. Find that toxic 20% and eliminate it ruthlessly. For most managers, it's unnecessary meetings, reports nobody reads, and projects that should've been killed months ago.

I had a client in Brisbane who was drowning in weekly status meetings. Twelve different meetings where people reported on work they were already doing. We cancelled eight of them. Nothing changed except everyone got six hours back per week. The resistance was fierce initially – middle management loves their meetings – but productivity metrics improved across the board.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is... nothing. Let that deadline pass. Skip that "urgent" request. The world won't end.

Why Multitasking is Killing Your Career

This one's going to upset people, but multitasking is a myth. What you're actually doing is task-switching, and it's making you demonstrably worse at everything.

Studies from Melbourne University show it takes an average of 23 minutes to fully refocus after an interruption. That means checking your phone during a complex task doesn't just waste 30 seconds – it costs you nearly half an hour of peak cognitive performance.

Yet I walk into offices where people are proud of juggling six different projects simultaneously. They wear busyness like a badge of honour. These are the same people who wonder why they never seem to finish anything properly.

Single-tasking is a superpower in today's distracted world. Close your email. Turn off Slack notifications. Give your full attention to one thing at a time. You'll accomplish more in three focused hours than most people do in eight scattered ones.

The Myth of Work-Life Balance

Here's an unpopular opinion: work-life balance is impossible if you're trying to excel at anything meaningful.

I know this goes against everything HR departments preach, but the most successful people I know don't balance their work and life – they integrate them. They find work that energises rather than drains them, then they pour themselves into it completely during defined periods.

The real trick isn't balance, it's boundaries. When you're working, work intensely. When you're not working, completely disconnect. Half-arsed effort in both areas helps nobody.

This doesn't mean becoming a workaholic. It means being intentional about when you're "on" and when you're "off." I take my phone calls while walking my dog. I do my deep thinking while driving between client sites. I answer emails in batches rather than constantly throughout the day.

Find ways to make your necessary activities serve multiple purposes. It's not about cramming more in – it's about making what you already do work harder.

Technology: Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy

Smart technology can save you hours. Stupid technology will steal your life.

I see people using seventeen different apps to manage their time, then spending time managing the apps. Classic example: productivity software that requires daily updates, weekly reviews, and monthly configuration changes. You're not being productive, you're playing with expensive toys.

My rule is simple: if a tool doesn't save you at least ten minutes for every minute you spend learning it, dump it.

That said, automation done right is brilliant. I've got systems that handle my invoicing, appointment scheduling, and basic client communications without any input from me. But I chose three tools that do everything I need rather than dozens that do specific things.

The best productivity tool is often the delete button. Delete apps you don't use daily. Delete emails that don't require action. Delete meetings that could be phone calls. Delete phone calls that could be emails.

Real-World Application (Because Theory is Useless)

Want something practical you can implement tomorrow? Try the "Good Enough" approach.

Most professionals waste enormous amounts of time perfecting things that nobody notices. That presentation deck doesn't need 47 slides with custom animations. That report doesn't need to be formatted like a magazine article. That email doesn't need to be rewritten four times.

Set a "good enough" threshold and stick to it. Ask yourself: "Will spending another hour on this change the outcome?" Usually the answer is no.

I learned this from a former Telstra executive who told me, "Perfect is the enemy of done, and done is better than perfect." She was right. In most business contexts, a good solution implemented quickly beats a perfect solution delivered late.

There's obviously a balance here – you can't half-arse everything – but most people err too far toward perfectionism rather than pragmatism.

The Uncomfortable Truth About Urgency

Everything feels urgent in the moment. Very little actually is.

Before responding to any "urgent" request, ask these three questions:

1. What happens if this waits until tomorrow?
2. Who actually set this deadline and why?
3. Am I being urgent or just reactive?

Most workplace urgency is manufactured drama. Someone poor planning doesn't constitute an emergency on your part. Yes, this attitude will ruffle feathers initially. But people quickly learn to respect your time when you stop dropping everything for their every whim.

The executives I know who seem calmest under pressure aren't superhuman – they've just gotten very good at distinguishing real emergencies from artificial ones.

Making Time Management Stick

Here's the bit where most people fail: they try to change everything at once.

Pick one thing from this article. Just one. Implement it for two weeks before adding anything else. Sustainable change happens slowly, then suddenly.

Maybe start with the energy audit. Or eliminating one recurring meeting. Or setting specific times for checking email instead of constantly monitoring it.

The goal isn't to become a time management robot. It's to create space for the work that actually matters, the relationships that energise you, and the projects that move your career forward.

Time management isn't really about time at all. It's about choosing what deserves your attention and protecting that choice from everything else trying to steal it.

Most people are drowning in shallow work while starving for deep work. Fix that, and everything else becomes easier.

Bottom line: Stop managing your time and start managing your priorities. The time will sort itself out.