5 Eye-Opening Time Management And Productivity TED-Talks you must watch!

My Time management history

You are willing to learn time management but not sure where to approach and whom to follow since Internet is flooded with information?

Lucky you! You are in the right place……

“ It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change”

Truly said by Charles Darwin, English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, who is best known for his contributions to the science of evolution

Many a time, we think about what would have happened if only we could have more hours in our day.

We know for sure that In our current world and earth which we live it, it is only wishful thinking. But we can definitely change ourselves to make the best use of the available time to us.

Just like everyone else, I used to binge-watch on Netflix or any dramas worth watching with a good storyline.

I thought I am learning new by watching different types of genres, stories, and people’s struggles and lessons.

But Boy oh boy! Such a stupid person I was at that time.

Maybe we might learn a little but if you analyze deeply and think a little, you will realize that you are being trapped in a web of binge-watching addiction. Only Enjoyment and not action destroys our life purpose, blurs our path, and puts us in a spot where we are not sure if it is something which we are liking or something which is liking our presence.

Sharing Rides and Stories

Once I was traveling on a Uber ride which was shared actually ( just at the time, when sharing rides were a cool and conservable thing to do, a proud feeling to show off). One of the riders was continuously watching YouTube and was smiling, nodding, and even spitting some words of excitement..wow…agreed kind of. I was curious and asked him what he was watching. He said he was watching Ted Talks.

I was surprised and thought why he is watching Ted Talks which are so boring and have no story to remember ( ya I know I know at that time, I never indulged in Ted Talks, I only heard that Ted Talks are conferencing recorded videos, only for boring peoples. He was so excited and told me that he is now able to work more, be motivated, and take actions that are daily improving his skills and mentality. Thanks to these videos. He even asked me to watch the Ted Talk videos for a week and see the difference.

I first hesitated as I am a Netflix nerd but thought to try once since I already was going nowhere at that moment. I followed Ted Talks for a week. Initially, I was bored and unable to understand their level of conversation. I just couldn’t hold to hear them. Even I thought to quit. It seemed to me as if it is a waste of time and that too boring. If you are thinking I did not quit you are wrong. I actually quit and re-started binge-watching my fav shows.

Stuck with Solution

Some days later, someone said that I am not efficient as I used to be. I find myself juggling between deadlines, not because I was being handed over more work but because I was spending my time watching movies which I am absolutely addicted to.

To find a solution to my problem Somehow I stuck with some videos which were talking about time management and one video pop pot from ted talk. I opened it and to my amazement, I really liked that video. Maybe because I like the way the speaker was speaking, maybe the information is something I can relate to, maybe just the video was better than others. But whatever the reason was, I lovedddddddddd it!

Back at home in the evening, I started watching more videos on time management and productivity by ted talk, and literally, my brain flooded. Where was this amazingly free information? Why people were not watching them? Why I was so foolish to discard them earlier and shift my time & likeness to those crappy and unuseful stories of movies and dramas which most of the time are not even real and are just an imaginary world.

At that time, I did not have a place to write to or share my thought and opinions. And so, it remained just a story of my discovery to these Ted Talks to myself.

Oh! and of course, after writing copies for such a long tenure, I realized that not much aspiring copywriters know about the basics of copywriting. There is also very few blogs where copywriting is explained from scratch.

If you are looking for a career in copywriting or just wondering what are the basics and wet your feet a little more into the knowledge before going deep, we recommend to read this blog post.

We are sure it will be helpful to you and you will only gain by reading more. Here you go! Click here to dive into!

Kill Time

A few days ago, one of my close friend asked me a question on which movie or drama he should watch this weekend to kill time, and just like that uber share rider guy I told him to watch those Ted Talks. He came back to me saying it was the best advice he had received from any fellow friends.

I was really happy to see him and thought why not share with you all guys as well.

As a copywriter, content strategist and a writing professional in general you need a lot of skills and one of them is time management. Managing time should be a learnable skill just like managing finance and it is an important one to know, apply and accept just like our personal finance journey. It is a long journey but will be worth it.

Enough talks, stories, and my views.

Should you dive into?

Let’s dive right into the Ted Talks which I would definitely recommend to any close friend of mine to help them succeed and manage time in the best possible ways. The tips, tricks, and solutions shared in these videos or talks can be applied anywhere by anyone.

So even if you are just a person looking for a time management solution or productivity guide or just someone unable to complete any work on time, feel free to look out at these talks and indulge yourself in this amazing world of knowledge, practical applications, theories, and psychology behind time and its management.

Here you go:

1- Tim Urban: “Inside the mind of the master procrastinator.”

The worst part of being a procrastinator is the guilt you endure every day

Tim Urban knows that procrastination doesn’t make sense, but he’s never been able to shake his habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. In this hilarious and insightful talk, Urban takes us on a journey through YouTube binges, Wikipedia rabbit holes, and bouts of staring out the window — and encourages us to think harder about what we’re really procrastinating on, before we run out of time.

The struggle against procrastination is real, and it’s time management’s greatest foe. But, why do we do this to ourselves? Well, that was a question Tim Urban, founder of the site Wait But Why, wanted to answer.

To better understand his own behavior, Tim went to an MRI Lab. His goal was to study the differences between the minds of a procrastinator and a non-procrastinator.

“Both brains have a rational decision-maker in them,” Urban explains. But, “the procrastinator’s brain also has an instant gratification monkey.” That means even if you planned to be productive, “the monkey doesn’t like that plan” and will take the wheel. As a result, you end up doing things that are either fun or easy — especially when there aren’t deadlines.

But, what if you do set realistic deadlines? Well, as that deadline approaches, the Panic Monsters creeps in. Because this bad boy terrifies the Grafirication Monkey, it can force you to stay on track. On the flip side, it can also cause unnecessary pressure. For instance, you have a project to complete in 2-weeks and only can crank it out when there is a couple of days left.

What can we do about this? Tim suggests thinking harder about what we’re procrastinating on.

If it’s something that’s pushing you closer to your goals or dreams, then make a move today and not tomorrow.

You can watch his Ted Talk here.

2- How to gain control of your free time | Laura Vanderkam

The line in her talk which I can never forget is:

“Even when we are busy, we have time for what matters the most to us—we can build the life we want in the time we have got!”

This was the biggest lesson I learned from her Ted Talk.

There are 168 hours each week. How do we find time for what matters most? Time management expert Laura Vanderkam studies how busy people spend their lives, and she’s discovered that many of us drastically overestimate our commitments each week, while underestimating the time we have to ourselves. She offers a few practical strategies to help find more time for what matters to us, so we can “build the lives we want in the time we’ve got.”

She also speaks that “Every minute I spend is my choice”

Curious?

Watch her full ted talk here

3- The Philosophy of Time Management | Brad Aeon

His words are: “ Time is not money. We should ask meaningful and philosophical questions to truly understand the importance of time and its meaning for us”

Ask the right questions!

You are going to die eventually. Will you fill whatever lifetime you have left with so-called time management techniques and shortcuts? Or will you see time management as a way to infuse your life with meaning and purpose?

Brad Aeon studies time. Aeon is a Ph.D. researcher at the John Molson School of Business focused on time management, temporality, and work-life balance. He focuses on the improvement of our temporal decision-making as a solution to achieving more success by leading a less busy life.

I’m impressed with the approach he took. When we talk about time management there are usually the ‘tips to be more efficient’. But that’s not the point of time management. It’s not about being more efficient and productive, which will lead to stress and overworking, but embracing our freedom to choose what we want to do with our time, being able to understand that it is limited and that it is up to our own to judge where we want to spend it.

I am truly impressed. Never knew the time had so much to do with philosophy. Well, philosophy is always there to question whether what we are doing is really what’s good for us.

To view his TED talk click here

4- How to Achieve Your Most Ambitious Goals | Stephen Duneier

“A tiny little adjustment to my daily routine makes my goals come true”

It is his mantra and a secret sauce to his success recipe shown and talked about throughout his Ted talk video.

How you define Stephen Duneier depends on how you came to know him. Some define him as an expert institutional investor, while others know him as a large-scale installation artist, avid outdoorsman, professor, decision strategist, coach, business leader, mindfulness extremist, author, speaker, daredevil, or Guinness world record holder. In his talk, Stephen explains that what truly defines him aren’t titles, but an approach to decision making that transformed him from someone who struggled with simple tasks to a guy who is continuously achieving even his most ambitious dreams.

For thirty years, he has applied cognitive science to investing, business and life. The result has been the turnaround of numerous institutional businesses, career best returns for managers who have adopted his methods, the development of a $1.25 billion dollar hedge fund, and a rapidly shrinking bucket list.

Through Bija Advisors, he helps business leaders improve performance by applying proven, proprietary decision-making methods to their own processes.

His artwork has been featured around the world and is represented by the Sullivan Goss Gallery. As Commissioner of the League of Professional Educators, Duneier is using cognitive science to alter the landscape of American education. He is the former Head of Currency Option Trading at Bank of America and Emerging Markets at AIG International.

He said in his talk that he is not a special child nor has any special talent. He only takes big and very big goals, breaks them down into simple steps, and then makes marginal adjustments to the daily routine to achieve them.

Watch his inspiring and humor-filled video here

5- David Allen: “Getting in control and creating space.”

For more than 20 years, David Allen has been a management consultant and executive coach. Allen’s first book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, published in 2001, became a National Bestseller. Allen has been called a personal productivity guru whose work has been featured in Fast Company, Fortune, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other publications.

Ever since the publication of his bestselling book, Getting Things Done, in 2001, David Allen has been a great source for improving personal productivity. During his TED Talk, however, Allen argues that if you want to achieve something, you need to plan for it. If not, you end up waiting until the last minute. And, that leads to feeling rushed, stressed, and letting less essential activities usurp your priorities.

In short, he suggests the Natural planning model

1. what is the purpose of this project?

2. what is your vision of a successful project?

3. Brainstorm Ideas to plug the gap between here and there

4. Structure your ideas – sequence them in time. Pick the 3 most important things to do

5. Identify the VERY NEXT ACTION that needs to happen

You can watch his Ted Talk here

These all are the videos that I personally watch, believe in their words, and apply myself. Trust me these works wonders. If not magical. Learn a lesson from my story and never give up on day 1 of watching Ted Talk videos. Make sure you are giving any 1 method enough share of time to see the desired results.  

Don’t forget to share our post with others who are in need and might thank you later for providing such a valuable bunch of information. If you feel like we should have added others or any interesting ones which you can remember which have affected your life as well, we would love to hear from you.

We ask you to Comment for any improvement and share your improvement journey with us. We are glad that we can hear your share of time struggles and management stories too.