Key Takeaways (TLDR)
Topic: Six time management and productivity methods tested in real business conditions, with honest assessments of who each one works best for and who it doesn’t.
What you’ll learn: There is no universal productivity system. The best time management approach depends entirely on your personality, your work style, and the task at hand. This post covers six methods tested firsthand over the course of three weeks in business: Eat the Frog (tackling your hardest task first), the Eisenhower Matrix (prioritizing by urgency and importance), Time Blocking (giving every task a designated time slot), Intuitive Flow Time (working when inspiration hits), Task Batching (grouping similar work together), and the Pomodoro Method (25-minute focused sprints with short breaks). Each method includes who it works best for, who it doesn’t work best for, and practical notes from real experimentation.
Who this is for: Entrepreneurs, coaches, service providers, and small business owners who feel overwhelmed by their to-do lists, struggle with focus or procrastination, or simply want to find a productivity approach that actually fits the way they work rather than the way productivity gurus say they should work.
Written by: Emily Aborn, Small Business Copywriter and Podcast Host of the Small Business Casual Podcast, based in NH.
Ready for productivity tips for every task and personality?
Maybe you feel like you’re over-scheduling every minute of every day…
Or perhaps you’re the type to wing it and just hope for the best…
Whether you’ve shown TIME whose boss or let it run the show and bowl you over, this article and podcast episode are for YOU.
This is a live, from-the-field report after I conducted a number of time management experiments all in the name of helping you figure out which one is best for YOU, your personality, and the tasks at hand!
People often ask me how I stay so organized, manage my time, and get so much done.
The truth is, I was born this way. #NotMaybelline
I’m a bit of an overplanner and always have been. In addition to this being my natural tendency, I’ve also read TONS of books on this stuff and have been obsessed with organization and planning from a young age.
Where no plan has existed before, I can implement one.
If I turn my head right, chaos becomes organized magically.
I’m not bragging here. Believe me, being organized and needing to know the plan all the time has MAJOR drawbacks (reason #3,458 that I’m in therapy).
And despite being the planner of all planners, my answer when people ask me about organization or time management 100% of the time is that it depends… it depends on YOU.
I know, I know, not what you wanted to hear. You wanted a magic pill, didn’t you?
But helping you find what WORKS is exactly what I set out to do in my recent time management and productivity experiments.
I conducted six productivity experiments during three extremely busy weeks in my business and lived to share about it.
The experiments are:
- Eat the Frog
- The Eisenhower Matrix
- Time Blocking
- Intuitive Flow Time
- Task Batching
- Pomodoro Method
Experiment 1) Eat the Frog
Horrible expression, I know. It comes from Mark Twain’s quote:
“Eat a live toad the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
Eating the frog is a method in which you tackle the hardest task right away.
Best for: Overthinkers and task delayers. Especially those who procrastinate when tasks are HARD or unfun. Eating the frog helps you clear your mind of cobwebs, clutter, and background stress so you can focus on all the other activities of your day.
NOT ideal for: Those who work better or solely at night (for obvious reasons) or those who do need a hefty warm-up period to get into their tasks.
Frogs you might eat:
- Writing a sales page
- Making a social post
- Creating a Reel
- Recording a video
- Sending a podcast pitch
- Cleaning out your inbox
- [insert your gloomy task of choice here]
Experiment 2) The Eisenhower Matrix
The Eisenhower Matrix was used by President Eisenhower to organize tasks. Fun fact: Eisenhower was known for his exceptional productivity.
Essentially, you break down your tasks into Urgent and Important, Not Urgent but still important, Urgent and not important, Not urgent and not important.
Best for: Overthinkers, people who are drowning in to-do lists and can’t see a way out, people who get distracted easily by shiny object syndrome, and those focusing on things they enjoy while ignoring the rest.
NOT ideal for: People who can’t be honest with themselves when cutting their to-do list. Less analytical, structured folks who need more flow.
Experiment 3) Time-Blocking
I’ve loved time-blocking since I first found it over a decade ago. It’s essentially giving every job on your list a designated “time slot”.
Whenever I feel a day is slipping away from me, time blocking is my go-to because I can work backwards.
Example breakdown:
11:45-12:45 Copy for a landing page, bios for the landing page, and replying to emails
12:45-1:45 Putting together a Voice of Brand for a client’s Brand Messaging Guide
1:45-2:00 Free time, stretch break, laundry in the dryer, and boiling more water for tea
2:00-3:00 Write outline for a Content with Character episode
3:00-4:00 Start creating an outline for my upcoming workshop on content creation
4:00-4:15 Wrap up: social media post, empty trash and desktop, etc.
Keys to success when time-blocking:
- Close all your nonessential tabs!
- Put on music to cue your brain or set up your workspace for focus
- Buffer in time at the beginning or end to handle anything that comes up
Best for: The productive planners who love structure and hate the chaos of a loose schedule. Big projects that require long chunks of focused time.
NOT ideal for: People who don’t want to feel restricted. Individuals who have unpredictable lives that throw off any plan you set. Those who struggle with attention or focus due to neurodiversity, nature of your work, etc.
Experiment 4) Intuitive Flow Time
Working when inspiration hits and resting when it doesn’t. Asking yourself, “What do I FEEL like doing now?”
Best for: Those who work well when following their motivation and creative energy. It can allow for organic creativity and motivation, and then FLOW once you get into a deep focus.
NOT ideal for: Those who tend towards procrastination (and use energy or motivation as an excuse already!). Individuals with tight deadlines or urgent tasks.
One way to set yourself up for success if you decide to go this route is to do work that HAS to get done on specific days to make room for days that are intuitive and flowing. Then you can feel more free without having a rigid plan.
For content creation and marketing specifically: I think this is a great way if you can swing it to brainstorm new ideas, create, write, and just be free.
Experiment 5) Task Batching
Also known as “batch-working”, this is grouping similar tasks together and working on those and only those in a given time.
Similar to time blocking (they could go hand in hand quite nicely) but is task-focused vs. time slot-focused.
Examples of what to batch:
- Content outlining or planning
- Content writing or recording
- Back-end computer tasks
- Posting or scheduling content
Best for: The person who wants efficiency but doesn’t like micromanaging their day. It helps minimize context-switching and builds momentum.
NOT ideal for: People who get bored easily while doing just one thing, people who don’t have long chunks of uninterrupted time, those who get exhausted doing tasks that may be painstaking or unpleasant. Those who NEED to complete things from A-Z and can’t piecemeal the steps.
Experiment 6) Pomodoro Method
Fun Fact: Pomodoro means “tomato” in Italian. 
The technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. It involves working in focused 25-minute intervals (called “Pomodoros”), followed by a short 5-minute break. After four Pomodoros, you take a longer break (15–30 minutes). Cirillo named it after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used as a student.
For each Pomodoro, you:
- Select a specific task
- Set a timer for 25 minutes,
- Focus SOLELY on that task for 25 minutes
- Take a 5-minute break
- Repeat for 3 more Pomodoros
- Take a longer break of 15-30 minutes.
Best for: Someone who thrives on momentum and short, focused sprints. People who procrastinate or feel overwhelmed -it’s kind of just like a ready, set GO button. Great for those who work well under time pressure.
NOT ideal for: Those who need to get into deep flow states. Those trying to accomplish focused tasks that take longer than 25 minutes. Those who cannot stand leaving things half-finished (hand raised) or feeling rushed.
Inspired to try one? Let me know which one you experiment with!
I welcome you to listen to the entirety of my experiment with time management and productivity HERE
In the episode:
- The first place to start when getting reorganized
- How Chat GPT helped me get a grip on my overly busy schedule
- Pros, cons, ins, and outs on six time management techniques: Eating the Frog 🐸, Pomodoro 🍅, Time Blocking ⏰, The Eisenhower Matrix ⚛️, Batching 🍪, and Intuitive Flow 🧘🏻♀️
- Learnings, takeaways, recommendations from personal experience, and more!
Resources & Links Mentioned
FAQ: Time Management & Productivity Methods
What is the best time management method for small business owners?
It depends entirely on you, which is both the most honest and the most useful answer. Your personality, work style, neurodiversity, the nature of your tasks, and how predictable your days are all factor into which method will actually stick. Someone who procrastinates on hard tasks will benefit from Eat the Frog. Someone drowning in a chaotic to-do list needs the Eisenhower Matrix. A creative who works best in flow states will resist Time Blocking but thrive with Intuitive Flow Time. The goal isn’t to find the objectively best system. It’s to find the one that works for how you’re actually wired.
What is the Pomodoro Method, and is it effective?
The Pomodoro Method was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and named after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer he used as a student. It involves working in focused 25-minute intervals followed by a 5-minute break, with a longer 15 to 30-minute break after every four rounds. It works especially well for people who feel overwhelmed by large tasks, thrive under time pressure, or struggle to get started. It’s less ideal for people who need long, uninterrupted deep focus sessions or who can’t stand leaving something half-finished when the timer goes off.
What is Eat the Frog, and when should I use it?
Eat the Frog comes from a Mark Twain quote and means tackling your hardest or most dreaded task first thing in the morning so everything else feels easier by comparison. It’s particularly effective for overthinkers and procrastinators who let difficult tasks loom over the rest of their day, creating background stress that kills focus and momentum. It’s less useful for night owls or people who genuinely need a warm-up period before they can tackle anything mentally demanding.
What is the Eisenhower Matrix, and how do I use it?
The Eisenhower Matrix is a prioritization tool that sorts your tasks into four categories: urgent and important (do it now), important but not urgent (schedule it), urgent but not important (delegate it if possible), and neither urgent nor important (eliminate it). It’s most helpful for people who are overwhelmed by endless to-do lists and can’t figure out where to start, or who tend to stay busy doing low-priority tasks while avoiding the ones that actually matter. It requires a certain amount of ruthless honesty with yourself about what’s actually important versus what just feels urgent.
What is task batching, and how is it different from time blocking?
Task batching means grouping similar tasks together and working on only those tasks in a given period, minimizing the mental friction of context-switching. Time blocking assigns specific time slots to specific tasks in your calendar. The two methods complement each other well: you might time-block a two-hour window and use it to batch all your content writing for the week. Batching tends to appeal to people who want efficiency without micromanaging every minute of their day, while time blocking suits those who need more structure and accountability in how their hours are spent.
