Time is the great leveler.

Regardless of where you live, what job you have, how much money you have, or what culture you live in, you have 24 hours in a day. We have a responsibility to cultivate our resources. At the very top of this list is our time.

We live in an age when our time is more limited than ever. From big companies (Instagram, Twitter, etc.) to our friends (messaging us all day), every aspect of our culture nibbles away at any minute of spare time that we have.

Managing our time well is more important than ever and is a crucial aspect of being a wholesome and effective person.

Here’s what we want to accomplish by managing our time well:

• Integrity. We want to do what we say we will do without being reminded.
• Clear Priorities. Focusing on the right things in the right order and avoiding spending our time on what doesn’t matter. Getting caught up with what’s urgent but not important can destroy your ability to execute on what matters most. In other words we don’t want to get a lot done while heading in the wrong direction.
• Magnanimity. This is a belief that we are capable of great things and have a set of talents to cultivate to achieve our personal mission.
• Respect of Others. How we use our time impacts the community in which we live. If we don’t do an important task or chore, someone else will need to do it instead.

How can we achieve these goals in a simple way? That’s the goal of this document.

Capture

Capture every thought, task, or responsibility into a trusted system, like a todo list app (my favorite is Todoist) or a simple notes app (Apple Notes is a great place to start).

Be disciplined about this process—if you say you’ll do something, make sure it’s recorded. If something pops into your mind, don’t get distracted and start working on it; write it down instead.

Get used to treating your todo system as your "second brain" that can remember everything that needs to be done.

Use your mind for execution and creativity, not as a todo list.

Prioritize

Every week, and possibly every day, depending on how many distinct tasks you are responsible for, sit down and prioritize the tasks in your "trusted system" that has been capturing your tasks throughout the week.

This means:

• Review all tasks and ensure due dates and priorities (1-4) are properly set
• Delegate tasks that are better handled by someone else
• Delete tasks that are not important
• Reduce the size of your weekly/daily todo list to a pragmatic size
• Identify similar tasks and batch them together

People-less Delegation

A common objection to delegation is "it’s just me! Who can I delegate to?!"

You can delegate to a system or service. For instance, delegate delivery to Amazon, delegate grocery shopping to Instacart. Delegate house cleaning to a housemate or kid.

With AI this gets even more interesting. Delegate a task to a trained AI agent. Think of how to compile a clear process that AI can follow, enabling you to outsource various tasks to an LLM.

Execute

Now, since your todo list is both comprehensive and prioritized you can simply look at your todo list in the morning and pick the top-priority items that need to be done.

Below are some additional tips & strategies to help you utilize your time more effectively.

Batch Similar Tasks

Group similar activities together, like responding to emails or running errands, so you minimize distractions and stay focused. This helps protect your “maker’s time”—uninterrupted periods where you can focus deeply on important work or personal projects.

Automate

Look for repetitive tasks that can be simplified or automated. This could be setting up auto-payments, using templates for common emails, or leveraging apps to handle routine chores. If you can outsource something to save time and energy, do it. Your goal is to focus on what you do best, not on tasks that can be done better, cheaper, or faster by someone else.

Eliminate Notifications

Notifications are one of the biggest distractions that can erode our focus and productivity. Each ping, buzz, or banner draws our attention away from what we are doing, making it harder to concentrate on meaningful tasks.

Turn off notifications for all apps and instead review any messages in batch once a day.

Do Small Things Quickly

With notifications disabled, you won’t be pulled in directions all day long. With this in place, when you do run into a task you can complete right away in a minute or two, don’t write it down, just get it done.

What you don’t want is to be doing this all day long.

Do The Hardest Task First

Did you identify critical tasks that you really don’t want to do?

Something like purchasing a life insurance policy? Or handling a medical bill?

Good work—now you know what you need to do first before you do anything else for the day. Execute the most personally painful task first.

Incremental Improvement

Don’t aim for perfection—focus on making small, consistent improvements. Each week, identify areas where you can streamline or refine your process. Whether it’s reducing the time spent on certain tasks, learning from mistakes, or finding new ways to automate, commit to continuous improvement.

It’s amazing how much you can get done and how effective you can be if you just improve a little at a time.