Time Management for Creative Designers

Time management skill. You know what, when it comes to time management, it is life management. I learned from my mentor, Brian Tracy, who's an expert and he has written a lot of books and articles and recorded YouTube videos. In that I am very, very poor manager of time. You know what, I took a lot of training, I took a lot of efforts to learn hours of content and application and then I'm able to master that. You know, I won't say I'm master, but I'm in the practice of doing it. But I'm much, much better than what I used to be before. I'm going to be sharing in this podcast five different ways how you can manage your time effectively and lead your life and you have a better control over others. Okay, let's dive into this podcast. Welcome, guys. Welcome, welcome. So thank you for staying tuning in with me in Design for Change podcast. One of the big pain points which my students asked is how you can manage time being a designer. See, when it comes to creative ideation process, we get lost in time. It's a major problem also which we face. Okay. The second big problem, what we have in the creative field is timeline of budget, timeline of constraint with the customer. Like let's say your client is putting a timeline and we have a time management pressure there. Okay. And internally your boss puts a pressure or your peers or your subordinates like based on the task and subtask, whatever. And also there is a time pressure from family. Hey, you need to earn this much of money, you need to get what you call car. You need to marry. Before this age. There is the time is always being a big, what do you call, kind of a pressure which keeps coming from all the directions. Right. It's actually a big issue also, which a lot of people get stressed but they don't know what is the problem. It's all because of time. See, the thing is the big psychology behind the time management is everybody knows we are going to die. So as much as possible, I need to accomplish in my life before I die. So that's also an inherent pressure which is being built on us so that we also keep spinning our wheels accordingly. So now in this podcast, you're going to unspin that wheel and you're going to go reverse and you're going to have a zero break. After that, you're going to apply this time management principles, what I'm going to teach you and then you're going to draw 1, 2, 3 in your life and then your time starts and then you will able to Have a better control over your life. Because without understanding this, you cannot manage the time effectively. Okay? So guys, the first thing what is there is time management means you need to be a master of priority first. Okay, so talk about priority. You need to know what exactly you need, okay? Like let's say if you're having a goal of reaching this much of salary, or maybe if you have a goal of getting this relationship success or if you wanted to have a goal of like let's say this kind of a project, you need to win with your client or something, your goal could be anything. Okay? First of all you need to have a goal. Then and only you can able to prioritize what is important. Then and only you'll be able to have more, more clarity in managing your time. People have time management issues. If you watch them very closely, they will not have goals. That is a big problem. So before going and understanding time management, first set your goal, what you exactly want in your life. Okay? So once you have that goal clarity, then you can have a priority. Okay, so what I have to exactly do now, what I have to exactly do tomorrow, what I have to exactly do one month after. So that kind of a clarity should be there and then you can able to prioritize it. Okay? So once if you're able to prioritize, which is important now, which is important later, then you follow sequencing, okay? There is something called secondary sequencing, See, So once like let's say, okay, desire if you have decided this is what you have to do now, okay? In that activity, like let's say if you want to prepare a report, okay, between 9:00am to 5:00pm, that's the timeline you got, okay? So how do you manage your time effectively? First of all you need to know exactly what is priority in that report which you made in the step one. Okay, I believe second thing is you need to sequence that, okay? So what I have to do, what others will do, what I can delegate and what I can get it from the management, okay? Something you have to prioritize it. So you calculate about which needs to be done first. Like let's say if any dependency is required from other people, you have to send the email, talk to them over the call or get that things properly so that you communicate them first. You're not doing your task first, okay? You're just communicating, you're just planning the things properly, okay? And then you're outsourcing it. Like let's say if you feel like you can't do it, that's out of your skill. Set, then you can delegate it. You have to find a person who can do it and then to tell them clearly, hey, this is what I expect. I needed it before 3 o' clock so that you can complete the work and submit it before 5 o'. Clock. Okay? So you need to reverse plan it. Have the end in the mind, five o'. Clock, okay? So reverse plan this activity and then know the sequencing which needs to come first, second, third, fourth, fifth. See guys, if you're not able to prioritize and sequence your priority of a day, you will not be able to exert any time management efficiency in your lifetime at all. Because time management is not seeing the clock and working fast or smart. That's not the point. Time management is all about knowing the priority and knowing the sequence, what to do. Lot of people don't know what is their priority. They sit in the design job, but they completely go and talk to engineering team. They go and talk with testing team, they go and talk with admin. They talk with the different, different people. They don't know exactly what priority they have to do. That is a big problem, right? So exactly, if you know what's your priority and how you can sequence them, you are in the right track of starting up with time management. See guys, before going into the third point, I'll tell you one golden tip. Time management is actually like a sun. Like, let's say if you are the sun and the planet is revolving around you, like let's say a lot of people think time is the center of the sun and they are revolving around that, okay? You can't change the thing, okay? You will have to go here and there. You will have to round around the sun. Whatever is the orbit, whatever is the planet, whatever is the natural, what you call solar system habit is there, right? So we can't change anything. No time. Time is like a fixed thing and we can't do anything. That's what people think, right? But I'll flip the thought for you. Guys, please listen very carefully. You are the sun. The priorities are the planets, okay? If you understand this in the reverse way, like you are the sun and you manage which planet needs to go in which orbit, which planet needs to go in which speed, which planet needs to come in the second orbit, third orbit, fourth orbit, and how it can revolve. Planets are your tasks. If you plan your tasks based on the priority and sequence, you get the control of your life. You exert a greater control of the time. See, time management, I am very poor in time management. All these things Are completely not the correct statement. Guys, priority management is the right word to do. If you're not able to prioritize in sequence, what happens? Automatically people will be giving you tasks. Automatically you will be driven by other people. Automatically you will be having the big problems of effectively managing your time. Then you call, I have no time. You, you ask anybody randomly. Yeah, I have no time. Hey, can you learn this additional information? No, I have no time. Hey, can you take me to a family outing? When your family ask, hey, I have no time, I'm busy. Right? So people don't know what is their priority. See guys, the important part, the third important part in time management is you should know which is emergency, which is not emergency. See, let's say if you're working in office, if you're working in a project, or if you're somewhere else, okay? Like, let's say if your family is calling you, or maybe if it is something really urgent or unimportant, you have to know how to prioritize that, okay? Because nobody is going to say anything. If something is really bothering you, you should not be telling like, I am busy, I cannot come to the hospital. Maybe if you're your wife or if your relatives or parents or somebody is really calling, you cannot use this. That's why you need to know what is really priority, what is really sequencing. A lot of people in the office stress nowadays really miss out this. Including me earlier I was also like that. But knowing the priorities clarified me what I have to focus on. Sometimes I'll be taking and thinking like, I have to complete this or else my job will be gone. No, it's not that. The priority is something else. If I'm able to communicate to my boss or my subordinate exactly that I'm having a personal emergency, they will take over tomorrow, you can come and do it. That is why having the priority and sequencing clearly done and communicating will clarify a lot of things. Okay? The third important thing is emergency management. You should know which is really emergency and you have to press that button accordingly. The fourth important element is learning to say no. See guys, this is the most underrated. And nobody talks about it, nobody knows it. Also, if you want to be a best time management time manager of your life, you should say 80% of the things. No, no, no. If your friend is calling me, can we go for a movie? No, I have an important priority to do on Saturday. Let me work on it. Let's say if your wife is asking to go and get in a shop, something like, hey, I needed you to go and get in a shop immediately, you have to say no. Check whether it is really important. And falling in emergency category. Let's say if she doesn't have anything to cook for the vegetable for the dinner, you cannot say no. You will have to definitely do or else everybody will be hungry. So you should know that clarity. And then you have to say yes or no based on that. Let's say if your boss is giving a task like hey, you're already busy in a task and your boss is already knows it. Okay. And your boss is suddenly telling hey Jagdish, you need to do it. Learn to say no. Boss, let me complete this. I'll come back to it. Go back to your work. Back to work. Back to work. Your. Your other boss is coming. Maybe your other colleagues is coming and coming up with the adult task. Maybe a quick task. Let's say. Hey Jagdish, can you immediately do it? Some emergency. No, sorry, I cannot do it right now. I'm in the busiest task. This is my priority one. This is the priority task which I've been given. I have to do it. Once I do it, I'll come back. Hey Jagdish. What? Yeah. You're putting unnecessary scene. A lot of people will tell that. Learn how to say no. See, you cannot tell sometimes in the face of the people. You should be also a little bit careful about how you are able to communicate that you have to tell. Hey, see, I understand it's urgent for you. But for me right now this is the biggest priority which my boss has given or my client has given or my investor has given. So I will have to complete it or else I'll be in a big problem. Can I do it tomorrow? Is it okay for you? Or if it is damn urgent, can I dedicate to some other friend? You should know how to say no. Learning to say no will save 80 percentage time of your life. Guys. When it comes for relatives, when it comes for parents, when it comes for family members, when it comes for boss, clients subordinate everything. Everybody. If you learn to say no, you will be the master. You will be the master of having lot of time. Lot of time. Lot of time which you will never be able to imagine. Guys, people take up lot of things because they don't know how to say no, right? Like let's say if your friend is calling you nicely. Hey. Hey Machi, come for this. What you call My aunt is having some function. Let's have a biryani. Please come. You'll be like okay. You know it's a. It's a urgent job. You have another project to be completed. Just because your friend is calling, you cannot say no. You should be nice in front of your friend. Or else he will mistake. He has done a lot of good things for you. He'll say, okay, I'll come, Machi. No problem. Fine, I'll be there. Yes, sir. I will be there. I'm with you. No problem, right? Why don't you just understand? Hey, Machi. I'm definitely understanding. It's an important function. Can you do one thing? Can we drop it off? Today's plan? Because I have something really urgent. Please do not mistake. We'll catch up tomorrow morning. We'll go for a coffee shop. Trade is mine. Can we go? I'm really sorry. Do not mistake me. See, your friend should also not get hurt, right? And you have to go back to work. Back to work. Back to work. Back to work. You should not waste any time. You should be clearly telling no. If you wanted to say something that you are importantly having the work. People don't know this. Guys. I've talked to more than 12,500 students. The one excuse what every student uses. Starting from the fresher to the experienced people. They don't have time to learn anything. They don't have time to learn design. They don't have time to improve their skill. They don't have time to do anything. But they want 2x3x salary. They want all the promotions. They want all the. What do you call? What do you call the design ideas in the world? The problem is people are not able to know the priority and sequence. And they are. They don't know how to say no for certain activities. That's why they are engaged. Because they want to be nice in front of others. So the fourth strategy is learning to say no. Okay, now let's go for the fifth and last element. See guys, when it comes to time management, you should be able to have a notepad pen with you, okay? Because when you're writing down something like let's say if your goal is to complete this audit today, okay? If you want to complete this audit or your project report, or if you want to conduct any research or ideation, first of all, have a clarity in what is your goal exactly. Write it down in a paper, okay? Pen and pencil is a beautiful method to manage your time, guys. See. Remember, if you're managing your time well, your life management will be taken care. If you're able to manage your life better priorities, you'll be able to success 10 times, 20 times more than anybody around you. This is the secret of winning this thing. Okay? So when you have the pen and paper, write it down the 10 tasks which you wanted to do. Okay, write it down 10 tasks. The fifth important task is very important here. Listen carefully. You have to Write it down 10 important things which you wanted to do it. So first, take a different color pen and then highlight which one task which if you have to do, if you're not doing that, you will be out of your job. Okay, ask that question. Okay, if this technique sometimes doesn't work, ask a question like let's say if you have a personal work, if you have office work, if you are doing some project or freelance or something, put all your priorities and ask one good question. If I'm out of town for one month tomorrow, what is the one task which I'll complete today? Right now, can you circle that with a different color? Put it down to a separate page. Okay, Take a pen, take another color and then think about. Okay, apart from this task, what is the other task which I have to do it if I'm going out for one month out of the city? You know, guys, lot of your unwanted tasks will go away if you approach this. If you're able to clearly use a color to do it. Just select two tasks. And now comes the important strategy. You will have to work on the task until you complete it. You should not waver here and there. You should not get distracted. You should not go to the second task. Second task. Or maybe like let's say if you're prioritizing 1, 2, 3, 4 categories. Okay, don't do the fourth category task now just because it is easy. Maybe sending an email would be a fourth task. Oh, email is a one minute job. Let me do it. Don't get that temptation. Resist that temptation and stick to the task one until it's completed. See guys, the most important skill is self discipline. If you're not able to do a self discipline activity for time management, you will slip away to your old habits and then you will never improve. Okay, I've seen with a lot of students, I've seen with myself itself. Why do you go for others 100 times? We make a mistake because we are very poor builders of habits, right? But if you're able to build this habit consistently for 21 days, taking a paper, writing 10 things, asking this question, one month, I'm out of time. What one thing I'll do, what second thing I'll do, what third thing I'll do and stick to that one thing until you complete. Even if somebody is coming and touching on your shoulder and asking you to come for coffee. No, you go and have a coffee. Let me come back. Sorry. Hey, I have to go for lunch. No, I'll have lunch separate time until I complete my task. Please go. Thank you. If you learn to say no to people like this and then you work hard on that one particular task which you highlighted, you will see 3x5x10x growth in your career. Guys, this is the big principle of time management. Particularly when you are in the creative zone, you should definitely follow these five steps very clearly. Okay? So one last sixth additional bonus tip I'll give you guys. See when you are in the design field, like when you are in the what you call working on a project or when you're able to discuss with your client, or when you're able to discuss with your management or friends or family or or anything, you have lot many priorities, right? You have lot many tasks. You have lot many. What you call, what you call some like which is very urgent. Task, which is not urgent, which is little urgent. Make sure you draw four quadrants, okay? Because you will get a clarity on what you have to do. The quadrant A is something very urgent and important which needs to be done. Now if you're not doing, your livelihood is affected. Okay, write that down the task and go for the B quadrant which is like okay, maybe I can do it little later but it needs to be done. But I got some time, one or two days time, maybe weekend report I have to send. Yeah, that will wait. Yeah, we can do it. And the third thing is which can be good, which can be done, it will sound like good. Like let's say if you go and shop something in the Amazon, you see some offer, you get some headphones or you get some products or right? And then D task which is like a D quadrant which need not have to be done at all, which has no value for your career. If you are able to prioritize this clearly as a quadrant, then your priority and sequencing will be very good. Okay? Remember the rule is A task needs to be done then and only you have to move to B. B task needs to be done then and only you have to go to C. C task needs to be done. Then automatically you will see D is getting eliminated. Can I tell you one thing guys? When you focus on A completely for the full day, your day will be 100% productive. You will be so happy because you have completed the main task. Sometimes the C task need not have to be done at all. Sometimes the B task is not urgent, which you will not focus. Lot of time people, what they do is just get to the resistance. Just. Just get out of the temptation and they go and work on the C task because it sounds very glamour. It's like reading an email. It's like going and watching a sale. It's like going and having a coffee with your friends. So that is like our most tempting habit for us. That is why we are very poor managers of time. And when a deadline comes, you make a poor performance. When a deadline comes in the five o', clock, you start work at four o'. Clock. In one hour you do something here and there and then you patch up the document and then you send it. You get a bad name, you don't get promotion, you don't get promoted, you don't get a good quality output. So automatically your career will go down. What I told you. Six steps is a very, very important strategy when it comes to time management. Okay. I'll record a separate deep podcast also like how you can manage your time whenever you are doing a project with respect to that. Okay. Which I'll teach you in another podcast. This is for general life management and priority management. If you're able to do this, then you will see a lot of difference. Guys. Okay, so let me quickly recap. The first is having a priority setting the goal. The second is having the sequence for that priority. What needs to come. 1, 2, 3, 4. And then you have to know what is emergency management and do it properly. And then you'll have to learn to say no. Like how you want to say no to the people. And the fifth one is how you can manage your priority by writing down the task in a paper 1 to 10. And the sixth one is drawing a quadrant and segregating ABCD quadrant. If you're able to do it, you will see a lot of changes in just three days. Guys, do it for one day. Do it for second day, third day. Definitely you will be able to communicate with me in this podcast. And there is a comment also. What do you think about this podcast? You can come and write me. Hey Jagdish. I found it useful. Definitely people who implement this, they will see an output. They will see some of the appreciations coming from your client or a boss. Some of you will itself feel good. More than anything you will go home very happily. Many times we go home unsatisfied and unhappy, right? Like as if something is still needs to be done. A lot of people work at 9 o' clock 10 o' clock they are very poor managers of priority. So when you are able to do it if you complete that one task you will go sleep very happily. You will wake up next morning very fresh and active. See your energy is saved, your longevity goes up. You will feel more happy, more clearer, more successful and more productive guys. Okay I hope this podcast would have given you value. If you find this is useful please give me a best rating in the Spotify and also Apple and you can give me Insights star rating if you find this valuable and also recommend it to your friends. If you need your support in terms of mentoring for design and product design and UI ux you can hit that email. I'll be more than happy to qualify you. If I sense that you are qualified and interested I'll be taking up you for my mentorship program to help you grow further. Okay thank you so much guys. Take care. All the best. Bye bye Sam.