Does time management actually make you more successful?

We’ve all seen them, the books, TedTalks and LinkedIn posts extolling the virtues of time management. They usually come accompanied by images of regimented diaries or walls of post-it notes, and by phrases telling you to be proactive and cut out distractions if you want to get more done. 

There is an obvious logic to it; being fastidious with your time allows you to focus on the truly important tasks, which will help you get ahead. But others have questioned the practice, arguing that in some cases it can take an emotional toll and increase stress by encouraging people to view time as money or to set unrealistic expectations. Does it actually work?

Academics from John Molson University in Montreal and Quebec City’s Laval University wanted to analyse whether time management actually leads to more academic and professional success.