Thank you for listening and supporting This Might Help.

In this week's episode, we discuss the psychology of time management and why so many of us feel like there is never enough time. We cover why our brains are wired to make time management hard, and what the research says actually helps.

In this episode, we covered:

• The planning fallacy and why we consistently underestimate how long things take

• Task completion bias and why we gravitate toward easy tasks over important ones

• Why procrastination is an emotion regulation problem

• How skipping rest actually reduces our productivity

• Evidence-based strategies, including if-then planning, time-blocking, and building in realistic buffers

• Why self-compassion beats self-criticism for getting back on track

You can find us on socials @thismighthelppodcast - ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok

The full video version of this episode is available on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@thismighthelppodcast

Some of the key research we chat about can be found below:

Amabile, Teresa M., and Steve J. Kramer. The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work. Harvard Business Review Press, 2011.

Buehler, R., Griffin, D., & Ross, M. (1994). Exploring the "planning fallacy": Why people underestimate their task completion times. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67(3), 366–381. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.67.3.366

Roxburgh, S. (2004). “There Just Aren’t Enough Hours in the Day’: The Mental Health Consequences of Time Pressure. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 45(2), 115-131.

Some additional resources can be found here:

Brian Christian — "How to manage your time more effectively (according to machines)" (TED-Ed): https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-manage-your-time-more-effectively-according-to-machines-brian-christian

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/mindful-professional-development/202309/the-psychology-of-time-management-and-5-strategies

Additional support can be found through:

Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au 1300 22 4636 

LifeLine - https://988lifeline.org/get-help/ 13 11 14 

Headspace - https://headspace.org.au 1800 650 890 (for those aged 25 or under)