Time management and productivity training

For any employee or self-employed professional: set clear priorities, plan realistic days, protect focus time and stop work from spilling into every evening.

For: Any employee, supervisor or self-employed professional who wants to manage workload, priorities and focus more effectively

  • 2 contact hours
  • 7 modules
  • 7 interactives
  • 4 job aids
  • Updated October 11, 2026

What you will be able to do

  • Identify your personal time stealers through a time audit and set SMART goals that link daily work to role priorities.
  • Prioritize tasks and requests using the urgent-important matrix, ABC ranking and MoSCoW, and resolve competing priorities with your manager.
  • Plan realistic weeks and days using a weekly review, time blocking, buffers and focus techniques suited to your role.
  • Manage email, notifications, meetings and digital tools to protect focused work time.
  • Delegate effectively, say no or not now assertively, and overcome procrastination.
  • Set boundaries that prevent burnout, apply basic FLSA work-hour rules for nonexempt employees, and build a personal action plan.

Learn a practical system for getting the right work done: audit where your time goes, set SMART goals, prioritize with the urgent-important matrix, ABC and MoSCoW methods, plan your week and day with time blocking, and tame email, notifications and meetings. You will also practice delegating, saying no and beating procrastination, and finish with a personal action plan.

Built for office staff, front-line and shift workers, supervisors and freelancers. Scenarios follow a construction coordinator in New Mexico, an extension educator in Wisconsin, an insurance accounts team in Texas and a freelance designer in Massachusetts, so you see how the tools adapt to very different jobs.

Unlike generic productivity tips, this course is honest about limits: time management cannot fix an unmanageable workload, and hourly employees should never trade unpaid time for productivity. You will learn the federal work-hour basics that protect nonexempt staff and how to raise workload problems constructively.

What you’ll be able to do Monday morning

  1. Write your big three for the week and block time for them before opening email.
  2. Sort your task list into the four urgent-important boxes.
  3. Turn off email pop-ups and check email at set times.
  4. Ask for an agenda, or decline with written input, for one unclear meeting.
  5. Use "Let me check and get back to you" before agreeing to a non-urgent request.
  6. If you are hourly, record any work done outside your shift or during breaks.

Curriculum

7 modules · 28 lessons · about 2 contact hours

01Why does time management matter, and where does your time actually go?Free preview14 min
  1. What is time management really about?
  2. How do you run a time audit?
  3. What are the most common time stealers?
  4. How do your energy, work setting and life outside work shape your plan?
  • Self-assessment: Time habits self-check

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

02How do you set goals that make priorities obvious?13 min
  1. Why do goals come before priorities?
  2. How do you write SMART goals?
  3. How do you connect goals to your weekly plan?
  4. How do you keep goals on track when plans change?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

03How do you decide what comes first?15 min
  1. How does the urgent-important matrix work?
  2. When should you use ABC or MoSCoW instead?
  3. How do you prioritize when everything is labeled urgent?
  4. How do teams prioritize together?
  • Sort activity: Sort Jarvis's tasks into the matrix
  • Decision tree: What should I do with this new request?

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

04How do you plan your week and day and protect time to focus?15 min
  1. What does a good weekly review look like?
  2. How do you plan a realistic day?
  3. How do time blocking and focus techniques work?
  4. How do you handle shift work, coverage roles and interruptions you can't avoid?
  • Spot the issue: Spot the problems in a weekly plan

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

05How do you tame email, notifications, meetings and digital tools?15 min
  1. How do you manage email without living in your inbox?
  2. How do you control notifications and chat?
  3. How do you make meetings worth the time?
  4. Which digital tools actually help?
  • Spot the issue: Spot the problems in a meeting invitation

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

06How do you delegate, say no and stop procrastinating?15 min
  1. What should you delegate, and how?
  2. How do you say no, or not now, without damaging relationships?
  3. Why do we procrastinate, and what helps?
  4. How do you manage your time when work is delegated to you?
  • Branching scenario: Maribel's Monday

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

07How do you set boundaries, avoid burnout and build your action plan?15 min
  1. Why do long hours and no breaks backfire?
  2. What are the work-hour rules hourly employees should know?
  3. How do you set and keep healthy boundaries?
  4. How do you build a personal action plan that sticks?
  • Ethics dilemma: "Just finish it at home tonight"

Diagram · In practice checklist · 2-question knowledge check

Final assessment: 23 questions, 75% to pass, then your certificate

Try it now, no account needed

Maribel's Monday

A branching scenario from this course. Your choices are not saved.

Free sample activity

Maribel's Monday

You are Maribel, a project coordinator. Your big three this week: the change-order log, subcontractor insurance certificates and Thursday's site meeting prep. It is 7:00 a.m. Monday.

Inside the course

Practice activities

  • Self-assessment1
  • Sort activity1
  • Decision tree1
  • Spot the issue2
  • Branching scenario1
  • Ethics dilemma1

Job aids you keep

  • Daily and Weekly Time Management ChecklistChecklist
  • Team Focus, Meeting and After-Hours Communication Norms (Starter)Policy starter
  • Personal Action Plan and Scenario WorksheetWorksheet
  • Work-Hours Quick Reference for Hourly EmployeesReference sheet

Credit and approval status

Certificate of completion

This course awards a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. It is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency, professional certifying body or continuing education accreditor. Your employer or professional body decides whether it counts toward any training or development requirement. Check with them before relying on it.

Pathways we may pursue include IACET-aligned continuing education units. Holders of Project Management Institute credentials may be able to self-report professional development under PMI's own continuing certification rules; check PMI's current requirements. No approval exists today, and the course page will show one only after it is granted.

Our full approvals list

Questions about this course

Does this course give professional development credit?

It awards a certificate of completion for 2 contact hours of instruction. It is not approved or accredited by IACET, PMI or any state agency. Some credential holders may be able to self-report learning under their certifying body's own rules, so check those rules before relying on this course. The course page will show any approval only after it is granted.

Who is this course for?

Any employee, supervisor or self-employed professional. It works for office jobs, front-desk and coverage roles, shift and field work, and freelancers, with examples for each. Supervisors will also find guidance on delegating and on helping their teams protect focus time.

Is this about working longer hours?

No. The course is about doing the most valuable work within reasonable hours. It covers federal work-hour basics for hourly employees, the risks of long hours and skipped breaks, and how to raise workload problems with your manager rather than absorbing them.

How long does it take?

About two hours: seven modules with interactive exercises and short knowledge checks, then a 23-question final assessment. You need 75 percent to pass and can review modules and retake the assessment. You can pause and resume at any time.

Do I need special software?

No. The techniques work with a paper list and calendar or any common email and calendar tool. The course explains how to choose digital tools carefully and to follow your employer's rules on approved software.

What do I receive?

A certificate of completion showing the course title, 2 contact hours and your completion date, plus job aids: a daily and weekly checklist, a team norms starter, a personal action plan worksheet and a work-hours quick reference. Three follow-up questions over the next month help the habits stick.

This course is general education and training awareness from CE Courses Hub on time management and productivity. It is not legal, medical or professional advice and does not replace your employer's policies or advice from HR or a qualified professional. Completing it earns a certificate of completion for the stated contact hours; it is not approved or accredited by any licensing board, state agency or accreditor unless an approval is shown on the course page. Check with your employer or professional body whether this course meets your specific requirement.