If you were asked to write a 20,000 word dissertation, a 50-page report, or even a practical book of instructions as part of the job you do, unless you're superhuman and supremely confident, you're going to think that it's an awful lot of work, and an awful lot of time. Sometimes we're handed mammoth tasks that we can't plan for properly because of the sheer dedication of time. Here's how you can do it, and it only requires 30 minutes of effort per day.

Psychology plays a large part in time-management. If you think "oh no, that's a lot of time and work", you're going to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, and worse, it de-motivates you in one fell swoop. This is where the 30 minute trick comes in. Many of us can spare 30 minutes to something, as we psychologically don't perceive it as a very long time - we get two of them in our lunch break, after all! However people have been using this trick for decades in order to improve time management. You'd recognise it in the guide of "bite size" learning, or "drip feeding" information.

Here's how it works - you have a huge task, let's say, designing a corporate website and getting a project team together to do it. First, take 30 minutes to break down the task into the staff, deadlines, and so on - it might help to use software such as MS Project to do this, as you can physically view the 30 min time slots in there, or you can program them in yourself. Then wait until the next day. It's hard to get stressed in 30 minutes so call it a day after the first slot and go on to the next.

The trick is mainly psychological in that it makes sure you dedicate part of every working day to your big project - 30 minutes - but you'll end up doing more. If you tell yourself you "only" have to do 30 mines on that task, it makes it easier, even perhaps enjoyable. Then, once you're "into" it, you might go on for more than 30 minutes. The trick is to get started. There are only so many times you can either procrastinate, or distract yourself by doing something else. Thinking "ah, it's only 30 minutes" gets your bum in the seat and your computer fired up, and the project in your brain.

You'll often find yourself going over 30 minutes and into the hours! That's fine, so long as you don't make yourself do that every time. Just tell yourself - 30 mins, it's all it will take, and indeed if you're having a bad or busy day, 30 minutes may be all you can spare, but let's face it - most of us can stay 30 mins longer, come to work earlier or cut our lunch breaks in half without our health suffering. It's a quick, easy psychological trick to use, and it also motivates you - you're doing a bit every day, you're not avoiding or putting off the task in hand, you're tackling it head on. Remember the 30 minute trick next time you're faced with a mountain, and you can break it up into daily molehills that you can certainly cope with. Try it!