Time Management Games that Level Up Your Productivity

If you’re here, you’re not merely content with your time management skills, but you’re tired of the same old time management strategies. You want to learn in a fun way.

Happily, there is substantial scientific evidence supporting the idea that games help people acquire and refine skills.

I’ll expand on the research later on, but for now, let’s start exploring time management games.

Why would time management games work?

At first glance, it seems counterintuitive that playing games can improve your time management skills or, ultimately, productivity. That’s not to blame, as we all see games as a distraction from the real work we should be doing.

But as much as games are blamed for their addictive side, they have real cognitive benefits, such as sharpening our executive functions like planning, organization, and time management. A growing body of research suggests that certain games have the above-mentioned benefits. For example, a 2020 study published in Frontiers revealed that participants who played strategy-based video games improved their planning and problem-solving skills. Moreover, these newly acquired skills transferred to real-world tasks.

Researchers theorized that the games helped players practice setting goals, allocating resources, and adapting to changing circumstances. All these behaviors are key skills that contribute to effective time management. The twist is that playing games has little or no consequences, while experimenting with time management skills and behaviors in the office affects one’s next performance review.

Another study from 2015, published in the journal PLOS ONE, looked specifically at time management training through gamification. Researchers found that participants who used a gamified time management app reported feeling more in control of their time and less prone to procrastination than the control group.

So, while not all games will boost your productivity, those that involve strategic planning, resource allocation, and working towards goals under time pressure can act as a training ground for real-life time management.

Best time management games (examples)

Time management games can take various shapes and forms. As long as these develop your executive functions and contribute to time management skills, any type of game is welcome, whether online or offline. If these are engaging and enjoyable, you’re more prone to stick with them and benefit from better time management skills.

On that note… if you’re not aware of what a bad relationship with time looks like and its signs, I published an article on poor time management.

Offline time management games

Circadian rhythm

Though this is not a game in itself, it is important to learn how to work and create your schedule in accordance with your natural circadian rhythm and energy levels. By mapping out your typical day and identifying your peak performance times, you can learn to align your most difficult work with your body’s natural rhythms.

Potential ways of playing it in a team at work: Each player creates a 24-hour timeline of their typical day, from waking up to going to bed. For each time block, players assign an energy level label like “energized,” “focused,” “creative,” “slumping,” “sluggish,” or “drowsy.” Then, each player analyzes their timelines to identify patterns and discuss how to apply these insights to their work schedules.

Skills trained:

• Understanding in what timeframes of the day you are productive and at what times you are not to schedule as many blocks of demanding work in those time blocks.
• Learning to schedule work based on energy levels, times when you are more easily distracted, and times when you’re more prone to be in flow for efficient time management.
• Understanding at what times you should take a break, as you are depleted of energy and creativity.
• Learning about colleagues and their circadian rhythms to book strategy or brainstorming sessions together.

Let’s take a practical example:

In the picture below, you can see my work schedule for December 9th in Timeular, the app I use to track time, monitor my productivity, and learn about my progress on different projects. This productivity tracker helps me spot the time-wasting activities that make me slip through the cracks at times but don’t bring any value or contribute to my goals.

What’s important to note is that because I know my circadian rhythm, I start work later in the day, with lighter tasks helping to warm up (aka article research and outlining, as you can see in the screenshot), and then, later in the day, I do the harder work (in this case, writing).

These hourly blocks clearly show that I’m not a morning person and that my energy is better later in the day, so that’s when I’m generally scheduling my work. I do need some breaks from time to time, so that’s why you also get to see me scouting for some decorations on Zara Home. 😁

Time squared

Time Squared is one of the simple yet effective time management games that helps you visualize and analyze how you allocate your time in a typical day.

All you have to do is break your day into hourly blocks and color-code different types of activities to clearly see the balance (or imbalance) between productive work, necessary tasks, and time-wasting activities.

Potential ways of playing it in a team at work: Each player receives three worksheets, each with a grid of 24 squares representing the hours in a day. Players fill in the squares on the first sheet to represent their typical daily routine, such as sleep, meals, commute, and work hours. On the second sheet, they track non-productive time spent at work, such as breaks, personal calls, and social media.

On the third sheet, players combine the data from the first two sheets using different colors for each category. The remaining uncolored squares represent truly productive time.

Skills trained:

• Awareness of your real-time usage as you’re visually mapping out a typical day hour-by-hour, as opposed to your subjective belief of how you’ve used your time.
• Identifying and quantifying time wasters that silently eat away your workday and analyzing the balance between essential and non-productive tasks.
• Learning how to set realistic productivity expectations by understanding the actual proportion of your day available for focused work.

The Mayo Jar game

The Mayo Jar game can be a great visual demonstration of the importance of prioritizing tasks and managing time effectively. This offline game can help you and your team understand how focusing on high-impact tasks first optimizes the use of limited time and resources.

Potential ways of playing it in a team at work: The facilitator shows a large, empty jar along with several types of objects that represent different task categories: a few large rocks (critical, high-value tasks), several pebbles (important but less critical tasks), a cup of sand (small, low-value tasks), and a pitcher of water (time-wasting activities). Then, the facilitator fills the jar with the objects in different orders to demonstrate how starting with the big rocks gives space for more items to fit, while starting with the sand leaves little room for the rocks. Players then discuss how this metaphor applies to their own work and life priorities.

Skills trained:

• Prioritizing tasks based on importance and impact rather than urgency or ease, as the time management matrix also suggests.
• Learning to identify and protect time for critical, high-value work that aligns with key goals while also recognizing and minimizing low-value tasks and distractions that consume time without contributing to success.
• Grasping communication skills to express how to align priorities with team members to obtain collective focus on the “big rocks.”

Online games

Beat the Clock

In this simple but effective browser game, you have to do a series of timed tasks like typing a phrase or solving a math problem. The faster you complete each task, the more points you score.

As you race the clock, you sharpen your ability to work efficiently under time pressure and understand better how much you can realistically accomplish in a short burst of focused time, which contributes to your project management skills, too. You also

Rules: Each task has a short time limit. You must finalize efficiently these rapid-fire tasks under pressure to rack up a high score.

Skills trained:

• Gaining a visceral sense of how much you can accomplish in a short amount of time.
• Critical thinking, as you need to quickly assess what needs to be done, allocate time for that, work efficiently under time pressure, and finally adapt to changing circumstances.
• Communication skills if the game is played in a team.
• Achieving maximum focus, as you need to tune out all external distractions.
• Stress management, as there is a need to recognize your stress response early and see the big picture without thinking catastrophically.

SPENT

Developed by a team of university researchers, SPENT is a browser game designed to simulate the experience of living on a limited budget.

As you make difficult choices about allocating your money and time each week, which may seem like routine activities, SPENT is one of the best and simplest resource management games out there. You learn to prioritize tasks, plan them, and deal with the unexpected. Also, even if the context is personal finance, the time management principles are universally applicable.

Rules: You start with $1000 and have to make it through a month without running out of money. You’ll stumble upon unexpected events, and expenses can throw off your carefully laid plans.

Skills trained:

• Ruthless prioritization under the constraints of a very limited budget and managing a heavy workload with finite time and energy.
• Long-term thinking and planning for the unexpected, as you need savings for emergencies and the ability to identify and focus on the most critical tasks.
• Problem-solving skills, as you also need to anticipate potential setbacks before they happen but deal with shortages as they arise.

The Civilization Series

The beloved series of turn-based strategy video games, first released in 1991, Civilization is a great online game disguised as a time management game. In this game, you build an empire to stand the test of time. As you guide your civilization from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Civilization is the ultimate resource management game. You must carefully manage your resources, balance competing priorities, and adapt to changing circumstances on your path to victory.

Civilization is an incredible resource for business success and a great way of learning to complete tasks, develop teamwork skills, meet deadlines, and understand a big-picture challenge.

Rules: Start with a single settler unit, explore the map, and build your first city. Manage your cities, research technologies, engage in diplomacy, and work towards victory conditions like conquering the world or building a spaceship to reach Alpha Centauri.

Skills trained:

• As you’re managing your empire across stretches of time, from millennia in the early game to mere decades in the late game, you’re expanding your time management skills.
• Strategic planning for the long term as you need to set realistic goals, anticipate challenges, and adjust plans as needed.
• Management of limited resources like gold, production, and population so you can prioritize your investments and keep them within efficient limits.
• Agility and flexibility, as you’re always adapting to changing circumstances like new technologies and alliances by quickly reassessing strategies.

Game dev story

Developed by Kairosoft, Game Dev Story is a simulation game where you manage a game development studio. You’re responsible for every part of the business that ultimately should lead to business success. You need to hire each team member, manage projects, advertise your games, and keep your team happy.

Rules: Start your own game studio, develop games, hire and train staff, and rise to the top of the gaming industry. You have to carefully balance your resources, choose the right projects, and ride market trends to create hit games before your rivals do.

Skills trained:

• Project planning and scheduling by setting game development timelines, managing resources, and coordinating team efforts.
• Resource allocation of limited staff, budgets, and workspace to maximize efficiency and profitability.
• Adapting to changing market preferences and competitor releases by swiftly adjusting strategies and priorities.
• Managing deadlines and crunch times by focusing team efforts, making tough decisions, and delivering under pressure.

How to incorporate time management into your daily

While time management games and activities are fun and enlightening, they’re not a complete substitute for our daily grind. Ultimately, the goal is to use these games as a supplement to your productivity practice, not an escape from it.

To bridge the gap between game-based learning and daily practice, use a fun and easy-to-use time-management app alongside your favorite games.

The great news is that there are time trackers like Timeular that manage to emulate the fun experience of a game with a time-tracking physical gadget. This award-winning physical device makes time tracking an engaging, tactile experience. By assigning tasks to each side of the 8-sided dice and flipping it to log time, the Tracker helps you build a consistent tracking habit, stay focused, and capture up to 1000 different activities throughout your day.

Unlike standalone games, such a time-tracking tool integrates seamlessly into your actual workflow, allowing you to apply and refine your time management skills in the context of your real tasks and projects.

With Timeular, you can:

• Track time across platforms with AI-powered one-click automation;
• Generate clean, insightful reports to identify productivity patterns and bottlenecks;
• Stay on budget with smart notifications that alert you when nearing time limits;
• Manage team time tracking, project progress, and payroll in one centralized tool;
• Gain AI generated-personal productivity insights to continuously optimize your workflow;

Game time is on

Time management is a skill that can be learned in a fun way. If you manage to incorporate time management games and activities into your routine, you’re training your brain to handle real-world productivity challenges with ease. And worry not, there’s no average age for playing and experimenting.

But remember, free time management games are just the start. To truly level up your time management skills, you need to apply those skills you’ve learned to your actual work. That’s where tools like Timeular come in, bridging the gap between game-based learning and real-world practice.