Time Management Jeopardy

A ready-made time management training board. Copy it free, put it on the screen, and run it as a team session with phone buzzers.

6 categories · 30 clues · Final Jeopardy · everyone buzzes in from their phone

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Prioritization Frameworks

$200
This principle holds that roughly 80 percent of results come from 20 percent of efforts.
What is the Pareto principle?
$400
Brian Tracy's book tells readers to eat this creature, meaning to tackle the hardest task first.
What is a frog?
$600
The MoSCoW method sorts items into must have, should have, could have and this.
What is won't have?
$800
Stephen Covey's jar analogy says to put these in first, meaning your most important priorities.
What are big rocks?
$1,000
This scoring method multiplies reach, impact and confidence, then divides by effort.
What is RICE?

Meeting Habits

$200
This list of topics, shared before a meeting, keeps discussion on track.
What is an agenda?
$400
This short daily team meeting gets its name from participants not sitting down.
What is a stand-up?
$600
Every meeting should end with these tasks, each with a clear owner and due date.
What are action items?
$800
The person given this role in a meeting watches the clock and keeps each topic on schedule.
What is the timekeeper?
$1,000
Replacing a status meeting with written updates people read on their own schedule is this kind of communication.
What is asynchronous communication?

Procrastination

$200
David Allen's rule says that if a task takes less than this long, do it right away.
What is two minutes?
$400
Setting this specific date and time for finishing a task helps curb putting it off.
What is a deadline?
$600
Holding work to unrealistically high standards, this trait is a common root of delay.
What is perfectionism?
$800
Named for a Soviet psychologist, this effect says unfinished tasks stick in memory, which is why just starting helps.
What is the Zeigarnik effect?
$1,000
This ancient Greek word names acting against one's own better judgment.
What is akrasia?

Email and Notifications

$200
Merlin Mann popularized this goal of regularly processing email down to an empty mailbox.
What is inbox zero?
$400
This technique groups similar tasks, like answering email, into set blocks rather than doing them all day.
What is batching?
$600
These automatic rules sort incoming messages into folders as they arrive.
What are filters?
$800
This phone setting silences calls and alerts during chosen hours.
What is Do Not Disturb?
$1,000
This term names the lost focus that comes from repeatedly jumping between tasks, like email and a report.
What is context switching?

Goal Setting

$200
This acronym says goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
What are SMART goals?
$400
These checkpoints mark progress along the way to a larger goal.
What are milestones?
$600
Popularized at Intel by Andy Grove, this framework pairs an objective with measurable results.
What are OKRs?
$800
Jim Collins and Jerry Porras coined this four-letter acronym for a bold, long-term goal.
What is a BHAG?
$1,000
This is Peter Gollwitzer's term for if-then plans that spell out when, where and how you will act.
What are implementation intentions?

Productivity Terms

$200
This technique alternates 25-minute focused work sessions with short breaks.
What is the Pomodoro Technique?
$400
Research shows this habit of juggling several tasks at once usually lowers the quality of each.
What is multitasking?
$600
This practice reserves specific chunks of the calendar for specific tasks.
What is time blocking?
$800
This law says work expands to fill the time available for its completion.
What is Parkinson's law?
$1,000
This is Cal Newport's term for focused, distraction-free work on demanding tasks.
What is deep work?

Final Jeopardy — Frameworks

This four-quadrant framework sorts tasks by urgency and importance to decide what to do now, schedule, delegate, or drop.

What is the Eisenhower Matrix?

How to run this board

Six categories cover the frameworks a time management training usually names - the Eisenhower Matrix, time blocking, the Pomodoro Technique - alongside the everyday habits that actually cost a team the most time: bad meetings, procrastination, and email.

Meeting Habits tends to generate the liveliest discussion of any category here, since almost everyone has a specific meeting in mind while answering.

Run this near the start of a training rather than the end - the vocabulary it reviews is what the rest of the session will build on.

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