Foreword

Why we offer this course

Effective time management is more crucial than ever in today’s fast-paced world. We recognize the challenges of balancing work, personal life, and everything in between.

That’s why we’ve developed this free online Time Management course—to provide you with the tools and techniques to navigate your daily tasks more efficiently.

Our goal is to empower you to make the most of your time, ensuring productivity isn’t just a buzzword but a reality in your life.

Who was this course designed for?

This course is designed for anyone eager to elevate their productivity and efficiently manage their workload.

Whether you’re a professional looking to refine your workday, a freelancer aiming to juggle multiple projects efficiently, a student seeking a balance between studies and leisure, or simply someone aspiring to optimize their daily routine, this course offers valuable insights and strategies.

It’s perfect for those who are not just looking to keep up but to excel in managing their diverse set of tasks and commitments. If you’re motivated to enhance your time management skills and boost your productivity, you’ve found the right course.

What do we solve with this course?

This comprehensive course tackles some of the most common head-on time management challenges. It is structured around five key pillars:

• Goal Settings and SMART Goals: Learn how to set clear, achievable objectives using the SMART framework, ensuring your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
• Prioritization: We’ll help you identify what’s truly important and urgent, focusing on tasks that align with your goals and values.
• Using To-Do Lists: Discover the art of creating effective to-do lists that remind you of your tasks and serve as a powerful tool for prioritization and organization.
• Time Scheduling: Gain insights into planning your day to maximize productivity while leaving room for rest and leisure. We’ll explore the SWDH time-blocking method.
• Time Tracking: Learn how to keep a record of how you spend your time, providing you with valuable insights into your productivity patterns and areas for improvement.

By the end of this course, you’ll have a solid foundation in time management principles, equipped with practical strategies to apply in your daily life. Join us on this journey to reclaim your time and transform the way you work and live.

Study tips

To take full advantage of the information presented, we suggest that you allocate only 20 minutes a day for seven days to this course.

There are two reasons why:

1. Easy scheduling
   If you have decided to take this course, we assume that you have a very busy schedule. That is precisely why we believe it would be difficult for you to “break” a larger block of time at once. By trying to proceed like this, you might mess up your schedule too much and give up. However, when it comes to spending 20 minutes on a course that will help you have enough time for everything you have to do, I’m sure you can include that in your daily schedule. We were counting on it!
2. Quickly learning
   Our course focuses on mastering the basics of time management. Assuming that you have never studied time management, some of the concepts will likely be new. That is why it would be more efficient to assimilate these concepts one at a time and then have time to let them settle in. If you overload yourself with a lot of new information at once, you risk not retaining it properly, and you will most likely have to come back later for clarification.

Our dear student, we wish for you to have a pleasant experience throughout this course and to enjoy outstanding results!

Course schedule (proposal)

To ensure that you fully benefit from the information it offers, we recommend dedicating 20 minutes daily for seven days. Here are the reasons why we suggest this approach:

Easy to fit into your schedule

It is much more advantageous in terms of time allocation. Including 20 minutes of study in your daily schedule is more manageable than allocating a longer period of time in a single day. In this way, you will minimize the impact on your schedule.

Efficiently process and assimilate information

The gradual approach to new concepts is beneficial from the point of view of information processing and assimilation. You easily familiarize yourself with all the concepts presented and retain the information naturally, without effort. This is one of the most effective methods of learning. From one study session to another (that is, from one day to another), the subconscious will process the information accumulated in the previous session. Thus, you will quickly assimilate what is presented in the next session.

Apply what you have studied in your daily practice

The third reason why we recommend this way of studying is the practical applicability of this course. We present not only theory but also a practical way of working for time management. Therefore, until the next training session, you have the opportunity to put what you have learned into practice.

This is how we propose you complete this practical time management course:

• Day 1.
  This is the day you “get to know” time management. To begin, we suggest that you deal with Chapter 1 – Introduction and its three sections: Foreword, Course Presentation, and Workload Estimator. You will familiarize yourself with the notions that you will deepen in the following days, and you will have the opportunity to evaluate your workload.
• Day 2.
  The next day, you will study from Chapter II (Basic Time Management Concepts) through only the Introductory Notes and the first two modules – Goal Setting and Prioritization. Here are elements that form the basis of effective time management. It is very useful to assimilate them clearly, correctly, and completely. Because this influences the entire time management process, you will have worksheets on which to apply the new concepts learned.
• Day 3.
  Continue with Module 3 of Chapter II, namely, Basic Planning. This is the key element that makes the time management process more efficient, and therefore it deserves special attention. The exercises in this module will be carried out in exactly the same way in which you will make your plans for the future.
• Day 4.
  On this day, you will deal with Module 4 of Chapter II (Basic Time Management Concepts), more precisely, Advanced Planning Techniques. The exercises for this day of study will be carried out directly on the plans you made the day before. In this way, all the information will have continuity, and this way of working will settle in your memory in the most natural way.
• Day 5.
  Modules 5 and 6, namely, Time Tracking and Time Accountability, are introduced in this stage, after you have done your planning. This is also the perfect time to check on how things are going and take the necessary measures if you think you could improve something in your schedule based on what you’ve learned so far.
• Day 6.
  Module 7, Tips and Tricks, concludes Chapter II, Basic Time Management Concepts. Here, we reveal some of the elements that support the skills learned during this course to help you achieve genuinely efficiently effective time management. Of course, knowing all the previous notions, it will be very easy for you to juggle them as necessary to get the desired results.
• Day 7.
  The learning process of this practical time management course concludes with Chapter III, Learning Reinforcement and Wrap-Up. We offer a quick Recapitulation of what was presented and a Self-Assessment form to help you draw your own conclusions regarding your time management skills.

Workload Estimator

Before delving into the basic concepts of time management, we suggest that you try the Workload Estimator.

It is a valuable tool for objectively assessing your daily workload and will help you gain a clear understanding of the tasks and activities to complete in a given time frame. One of its key advantages is that, by offering a structured approach to time management, it dispels the feeling of being overwhelmed.

By accurately estimating the time required for each task, you can get a realistic perspective on your workload, identifying areas of potential overcommitment or, conversely, areas in which you have extra time.

By allocating the right amount of time to each task, you can create a more balanced schedule, ensuring your work gets done while perhaps leaving room for free time. In essence, this tool transforms the perception of being swamped with work into a structured, manageable, and potentially liberating daily routine.

Daily Worksheet

The Daily Worksheet is your dedicated space to reflect, consolidate your learning, and plan for action.

It’s a simple yet powerful resource that encourages you to record your daily takeaways, set intentions for application, and seek clarification on any points that still elude you.

By using it daily, you’ll not only solidify your understanding of the course material but also take meaningful steps toward mastering the basic concepts of time management.

Note: You can always share your notes or questions with us at course@planarty.com. We’ll be delighted to assist you with any inquiries related to your learning.

• To-do list (planning document / schedule form)
• Workload estimator
• Daily worksheet
• SMART Goals&Objectives analysis table (2 sheets)
• SMART Goals with related SMART Objectives (and possible issues)
• Decision Matrix template
• Daily time blocking template
• Weekly time blocking template
• SWDH template as Google Sheet and Microsoft Excel workbook