{"id":5070,"date":"2025-05-13T18:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T18:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aomtodayprod.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=5070"},"modified":"2025-07-09T15:46:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T15:46:22","slug":"why-time-management-hacks-dont-work-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aom.org\/today\/why-time-management-hacks-dont-work-for-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Time-Management Hacks Don\u2019t Work for Everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Daniel Butcher<\/a><\/p>\r\n

When it comes to time-management tips, people respond to work schedules and deadlines differently, and what works for an early bird might not be useful for a night owl.<\/p>\r\n

Academy of Management Scholar Abbie Shipp<\/a> of Texas Christian University said that time management is a common headache for many workers.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThere\u2019s still a really big push to better manage your time, and even right now, I\u2019m still seeing elements of post-pandemic burnout,\u201d Shipp said. \u201cMy theory is that many people struggle with time management because leaders have never gotten down to the meaning of people\u2019s time at work and an individual perspective of how workers are currently managing\u2014or would prefer to manage\u2014their time.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cTime-management hacks that are so commonly prescribed might work for some people but not for others\u2014for some people, it might make it worse,\u201d she said. \u201cFor example, it is widely prescribed to block your workday to work on certain things at certain times\u2014but that overlooks how some people work better in a state of flow, working based on events, not time.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a couple of time-management issues that have been around for a long time, but we\u2019re looking at them too simplistically, without understanding how people experience and view time individually.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

Instead, experts and influencers are touting life hacks, including time-management strategies, that resonate with a percentage of the population but might not work for everybody.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really comparable right now to the research on nutrition\u2014they\u2019re finding customized diets that are optimized for different metabolisms and making individual prescriptions for workouts and what to eat,\u201d Shipp said.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cWe used to think of this as \u2018calories in, calories out,\u2019 but now we realize, \u2018Wow, it isn\u2019t that simple, because you could eat the same things as me, but we have different outcomes because we have different biological makeups,\u2019\u201d she said<\/p>\r\n

The same thing goes for individuals\u2019 cognitive makeup and their chronological perceptions of time.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cFor example, are you an early-morning person or are you a late-night person?\u201d Shipp said. \u201cThat can affect your performance as your time management and task prioritization needs to be shared to your energy level.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cSimilarly, rigid work schedules of certain hours in the office may work for some employees but not others,\u201d she said.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cThere are so many things that we don\u2019t yet incorporate into workforce discussions that that would help us to get away from these blanket hacks and one-size-fits-all recommendations.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n

A sample of Shipp\u2019s AOM research findings:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n