Time management is a critical factor in achieving success for personal or career goals. It is an essential skill for managing multiple priorities in a limited time frame. Building your time management skills will help you navigate your personal and professional responsibilities. You will learn the art of prioritization and how to become productive and efficient in your everyday life.
Generally, you can pick a few time management tips that have worked for you in the past. But when you want to get to the next level, often you need to do things differently. Expert advice can be valuable in your quest for greater productivity and build effective time management skills, be sure to tailor them to your individual needs. Top motivational speakers share their stories, research, practice and experience, around proven time management and prioritization techniques that can help you to relieve stress, look at things differently, avoid distractions and organize yourself more effectively. There is no doubt, these motivational speakers in time management can encourage, inspire, teach and guide you.
They help you learn things from a different perspective and share their life’s successes and hard life lessons to help you navigate the obstacles you meet on your life’s journey.
Some of these top motivational speakers do more than give out workshops and seminars; they also provide coaching and consulting services for personal and business environments. So, let’s talk about the world’s best motivational speakers in time management in no particular order.
Tim Ferris
Fortune’s “40 under 40” recognized Tim Ferris for his innovation and business excellence. He is an astute investor and adviser, known for his early-stage investment in notable companies such as Uber, Facebook, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and over forty others.
The Observer and other media have fondly referred to the icon as the “Oprah of audio” because of his podcast show’s repeated success and reach; it remains the first business/interview podcast to surpass the 200 million download mark. Time goes deep and is one of my favorites.
Tim Ferris is the author of four #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. The most notable of his books are The 4-Hour Workweek and Habits of Billionaires.
The 4 Hour work week especially talks about helping you see differently about navigating your personal and professional responsibilities. I dedicated one of my workshop exercises to the lesson I learned from Tim Ferris and his 4 hour work week. He helps you really look at things differently. You can find more insights about Tim Ferris and his bestselling books on this post.
Neen James
Neen James is an Australian attention guru and leadership speaker who helps leaders to focus more and be extra attentive. As a renowned female keynote speaker, she captivates her audience and unlocks significant milestones in the lives of leaders. Neen James is famous for her practical strategies and is highly sought after at various corporations.
Neen James has an excellent background in learning and development, alongside exceptional presentation skills. She combines to energize large teams as she takes them through implementing practical strategies to save time, rejuvenate focus and drive productivity. Her clientele is just an indication of her popularity among top global companies.
Her clients include Cisco, Pfizer, Virgin, FBI, and BMW. They all describe her as highly energetic, passionate, and full of innovative ideas.
Neen regularly consults on a one-on-one basis and offers a range of services for women in leadership and thought leadership.
She is a published author of eight books, most notably Attention Pays and Folding Time . Neen earned her MBA from Southern Cross University and has been certified by National Speakers Association. She is a recipient of several industry awards and sits on the board of several companies.
Greg Mckeown
Greg Mckeown is a 2X bestselling author of Effortless: Make it Easier to do What Matters Most and Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. Essentialism is a #1 Time management book on Amazon charts. The book demystifies achievement, core notions about success, and what drives success.
Greg Mckeown has spent a vast amount of time learning why some teams succeed and reach more remarkable milestones and others do not.
Greg Mckeown is the CEO of Mckeown Inc. clients include Apple, Google, Adobe, Facebook, Pixar, Twitter, and Yahoo. He is among the most revered bloggers for Havard Business Review and LinkedIn, averaging a million views a month.
Mckeown is a popular speaker. He has spoken to large teams across the globe, including in Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, India, Italy, and Japan. McKeown has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows, including NPR, NBC, FOX, and a regular guest on The Steve Harvey Show. He also has a podcast titled “ What is Essential.”
Penny Zenker
I would be remiss if I didn’t include myself in this list since I have interviewed and shared stages with many of my colleagues listed above. Each of us has a different view on time and performance management.
Penny Zenker is an international female keynote speaker known for her highly energetic and interactive workshops. She challenges you to become strategic and purposeful in everything you do.
She is best known for the bestselling book ‘The Productivity Zone: Stop the Tug of War with Time” and her TEDx entitled the Energy of Thought which has approximately 1 million views.
As a motivational speaker, business strategy and executive coach, master NLP practitioner, and neuro-strategies, she combines the elements of behavior, communication, and thought to develop strategies for remarkable results.
Penny Zenker focuses on leadership, productivity, strategy thinking, problem-solving, and communication.
She has worked with hundreds of successful entrepreneurs and business leaders in leadership roles, relationships, and building culture.
Laura Vanderkam
Laura Vanderkam is a renowned author of several, time management and productivity books, including 168 Hours, Off the Clock, I Know How She Does It, and What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.
In 2016, her TED Talk titled “How to Gain Control of Your Free Time” received over 5 million viewers.
She makes regular publications in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company. Laura Vanderkam also blogs at LauraVanderkam.com.
She is a co-host of Best of Both Worlds, a popular podcast, alongside Sarah Hart-Unger.
You can also gain more insights on a recent interview with her about off-the-clock time management on this blog, where Laura talks about facing your time-wasting activities and doing something more productive with every minute you have.
Stephen Covey
Stephen Covey was an author, educator, businessman, and keynote speaker during his remarkable years. His most popular book is The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It continues to be a bestseller because it focuses on ageless core principles of fairness, integrity, and honesty.
Eisenhower’s Time Management Matrix was made popular by Covey when he mentioned it in his book “The 7 habit of Highly Effective People”, he emphasized that we live in the 4th generation of time management, managing time is more effective when it’s not the sole aim but where we focus at any given time.
His other great works include First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, The 8th Habit, and The Leader In Me: How Schools and Parents Around the World Are Inspiring Greatness, One Child at a Time. A multi-award winner, Steve Covey’s timeless principles continue to aid thousands of businesses and entrepreneurs across the globe manage their time and productivity.
David Allen
David Allen is the President of The David Allen Company; he has over twenty years of experience as a consultant and executive coach for top-notch clients such as Microsoft, World Bank, the Ford Foundation, and L.L. Bean.
In his most recent book, titled “Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity,” the veteran consultant and executive coach shares life-changing secrets and breakthrough strategies for stress-free performance as proven and tested by his large audience across the country. This book has given rise to the productivity and time management method Getting Things Done or GTD.
It is a personal productivity method that redefines your approach to work and stress. The success of this book and method is highlighted by its recognition in Times Magazine as the self-help business book of its time. You can also check out a recent interview with Dave Allen on some crucial insights from his bestselling book.
Laura Stack
Laura Stack, MBA, CSP, CPAE, is popularly called “The Productivity Pro.” She is an award-winning female keynote speaker, bestselling author, blogger, educator, and a notable personality on sales, leadership, and team productivity.
She is CEO of The Productivity Pro, Inc., a consulting company that assists leaders in improving workplace productivity, especially in tasking environments.
After practicing for 30+ years in leadership development, Laura founded Leadership USA, Inc., a leadership development firm specializing in high-quality monthly training using highly trained facilitators across locations virtually.
She was a past president of the National Speakers Association and inducted into the Speakers Hall of Fame.
But, what makes this particular female motivational speaker unique? She is a powerhouse of ideas, action-packed techniques that will propel your team to maximize productivity.
Frank Buck
Frank Buck is the go-to expert for busy professionals aiming to achieve success through time management and organization. He has vast experience as a school administrator, public speaker, weekly column writer on renowned papers, and blogger. He is the author of three books.
As one of the top motivational speakers in time management, Dr. Frank Buck assists numerous professionals in navigating through life effortlessly. He has worked with leaders within the United States and globally, enriching them with his life-long learning secrets.
His clients and audiences are captivated by his rich content and humor. His newest book “Get Organized!: Time Management for School Leaders” contains timeless principles and practical strategies you can quickly implement in your daily activities.
This book provides tools and skills needed to bring order and control to every aspect of your life, especially using particular technological tools. Notably, this book talks about ensuring that you don’t have thousands of emails stuck in your inbox. You can check out this interview with Frank Buck to learn more about this book and organize your inbox.
Brian Tracy
Brian Tracy is a Canadian-American self-development author and keynote speaker. He is a famous author with over eight books in his collection. Brian Tracy is Chairman and CEO of Brian Tracy International, a firm specializing in training and developing individuals and organizations.
Brian has worked with over 1000 clients, addressed over 5million audiences at 5000 events and workshops throughout The United States, Canada, and 70 other countries across the globe.
His high-energy seminars and talks cut across public and corporate audiences on different subjects ranging from personal and professional development to self-esteem, goals, leadership, creativity, and success strategies.
Kevin Kruse
Kevin Kruse is a renowned time management expert and New York Times best-selling author of Great Leaders Have No Rules and Employee Engagement 2.0.
He demystifies time management, wholehearted leadership, and productivity with his relentless strategies.
These strategies have enabled him to build and sell multimillion-dollar technology companies and earned him recognition globally. He is a regular contributor for Forbes and Huffington Post and has published over nine books and 100 articles relating to leadership, time management, engagement, and productivity globally.
Recently, Kevin published a book, 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management; The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympics Athletes, 29 Straight A-students, and 239 Entrepreneurs.
You can find more about this book and Kevin’s famous lessons on efficient time management and productivity in this interview.
Rory Vaden
Rory Vaden founded The Center for the Study of Self-Discipline (CSSD) and is a co-founder of South-Western Consulting. He is the best-selling author and consults for several top businesses such as P&G.
He is a hall of fame speaker and a top 100 global leadership speaker. Rory Vaden is a recognized leadership and business strategy expert.
His works have been featured on CNN, Fast Company, Fortune, Fox News, Inc., The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. He regularly contributes to the Huffington Post and American Express Open Forum.
Rory Vaden is the New York Times bestselling author of “Take the Stairs: 7 Steps to Achieving True Success and Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply your Time.” Rory Vaden’s productivity strategy involves transforming our perspective of procrastination. The idea is to choose and prioritize your tasks differently, making procrastination intentional.
As a renowned speaker, his Ted Talk has been viewed over 3 million times, and he is a 2 times World Championship of Public Speaking Finalist.