Time Constraints Explained: How to Keep Your Projects on Track

Ethan Kim

Content Specialist

March 14, 2025

12 min read

When working on a project, it is important to have time boundaries set in place. They can have a huge impact not only when you’re managing the project but also when you need to make decisions or when you’re setting workload priorities.

Time boundaries can be established in one of two ways: internally, by the team in charge, or externally, by other parties that don’t include the team. The way they are set depends on the type of resources used as well as on workload management.

It’s essential to note that time bounds don’t always need to be rigid or fixed. Often, they may need to be somewhat flexible.

Definition of Time Constraints

The definition of time restraints is not very easy to explain, as it may seem a bit vague since it involves many factors. One way to look at the meaning of constraints is to acknowledge that when you’re managing a project, you need to make decisions quickly based on the time you have, the resources allocated, and how the task is prioritized. When defining constraints, you need to consider these three aspects.

It’s also vital to note that when you’re scheduling a project, you need to consider both internal and external constraints. Doing so allows room to handle potential delays before the deadline is missed.

What Are Time Constraints?

So, what does "time constraints" mean? Simply put, a time constraint is a deadline set either for the entire project to be completed or for a specific assignment to be finished. This is an external time restriction. However, there may also be an internal restriction, such as the workload management timeline.

7 Elements of Time Constraints

When you’re looking for the meaning of constraints, you may try to define time restraint as a set of the following components:

#1: Service Time

This is the time needed to complete a job.

#2: Time Windows

This is the timeframe when deliveries and pickups can be made.

#3: Operating Hours

This can be defined as the period within which deliveries and pickups can be made for some businesses.

#4: Travel Time

This is the time it takes to go from one place to another. As you can easily understand, it needs to take into consideration factors such as traffic conditions, weather conditions, speed limits, street work, distance, and more.

#5: Transit Time

This is the time spent on port handling, customs clearance, and long-haul flights.

#6: Driver Hours

This is the total time the driver needs not only for transport but also for loading, unloading, and breaks.

#7: Congestion

This is the time when the plan needs to be executed during peak traffic hours.

Managing Time Constraints

Here are three best practices you should use to ensure you effectively comply with project execution timelines, produce a high volume of deliverables, and work more efficiently:

#1: Use Good Time Management Techniques

Time management is crucial, and there are many ways you can improve yours. For example, you may use productivity tools, break tasks into smaller ones, or set clearer targets.

Using a task management tool like Flowlu can streamline this process by allowing you to schedule activities, track progress, and manage deadlines in one place. With automated reminders and live collaboration, coworkers can stay on top of constraints without constant manual follow-ups.

#2: Learn to Delegate and Collaborate

When working with teams, it’s crucial to maximize the strengths of each member. Use everyone’s potential from the start. This approach allows you to leverage the experience and skills of all members, making scheduling easier and providing flexibility throughout the process. Learning to communicate effectively, improve responsibility, and enhance coordination is key to making collaboration work and simplifying project completion.

#3: Prioritize & Schedule

As you probably already know, prioritizing activities is essential for effective scheduling. To ensure proper prioritization, you may set milestones for certain activities to help guide the process. Make sure to continuously monitor progress as projects move forward.

How to Overcome Time Constraints – 7 Different Ways

As a successful project manager, you know you must deliver your projects within the deadline. So, even though you may be great at solving problems as they arise, it’s even better if you can prevent them. As you can easily understand, this is only possible if you use proactive strategies to overcome constraints. These include:

#1: Detail the Project Timeline

Each project you manage needs to have its own timeline, and it’s vital that this is the first thing you do when starting a new initiative. Simply put, you should not only create different stages for the project but also estimate a deadline for each one. With this kind of tool, you can easily track progress and determine whether the project is likely to meet its deadline. Whenever in doubt about a deadline, it’s always best to set an earlier one. Adaptability should be a priority.

#2: Assign Each Task With Time Constraints

It’s critical to estimate how much time a task will take. As the PM, you may have a good idea, but the employee responsible for the task will certainly provide valuable input. So, don’t forget to ask them. As you can see, this preventive measure helps keep duties from getting stuck along the way.

#3: Get an Agreement With Stakeholders on Time Constraints

Before the project begins, it’s crucial that all parties involved are well aware of the factors that can influence this initiative to reduce misunderstandings. This is why all stakeholders—shareholders, clients, PMs, the management board, and others—must be fully informed about the project’s cost, scope, and timeline.

#4: Consider the Availability of Your Team

While some team members may be ready to dedicate 100% of their schedule to your new project, others may already have tasks that need to be completed simultaneously. So, before committing to any deadlines, it’s important to understand the availability of your members.

#5: Keep Track of Time

While estimations provide a good idea of how long a task should take, actually tracking time is a much better approach. You should ask each employee to log their schedule but clarify that this is to ensure the entire team stays on schedule, not to monitor individual performance.

If you notice discrepancies between the estimated and the actual time an assignment takes, you can replan the rest of the project accordingly. Proper planning helps prevent unforeseen delays and keeps the workflow smooth.

With tools like Flowlu, businesses can log time spent on tasks, compare estimated vs. actual time, and make adjustments as needed. This visibility helps prevent delays before they become critical issues.

#6: Be Ready to Delegate

As a project manager, you need to know how to delegate. After all, your schedule should be focused on decision-making and duties that require your expertise. Delegating not only saves you time now but also helps your coworkers develop skills that can be valuable in the future. Additionally, it boosts team morale by showing that you trust them, while also improving collaboration.

#7: Learn to Say “No”

Some project managers find it hard to say “no.” They believe that if they say no to a client, they are not doing their best as PMs. However, this is exactly the opposite.

Overall speaking, when you are discussing an initiative with a client and trying to reach an agreement about the deadlines and other factors, it’s crucial that you express your real opinion—what you really think. It’s not what the client wants to hear but what he needs to hear because it is the truth. And when it comes to managing projects, you have a better understanding of the requirements, timelines, schedules, and challenges than clients.

So, even when the client tries to force a deadline that you believe isn’t possible, don’t agree with him. Politely disagree and explain why. Use efficient communication and focus your speech on the importance of complying with goals and objectives. Then, think and set the deadline yourself. Even though changes can always occur, you need to make all the details, including each one’s role, clear in the plans. This has huge significance.

Bottom Line

In this article, we started by telling you what a time constraint is. Even though constraints are present in many aspects of our lives, they are extremely important in relation to PM, efficiency, decision-making, and productivity. This is why we took a while to give you a time constriction meaning. We believe it’s a key concept to retain and one that can make a lot of difference.

There’s no question that constraints have a huge effect on projects and the way they are managed. It’s incredibly important to follow time constraints even before the project starts, at the stage when you are discussing the initiative with the client and other stakeholders.

One of the best ways to manage time constraints effectively is by using a project management platform that centralizes task tracking, scheduling, and collaboration. Flowlu helps teams stay organized, meet deadlines, and adjust priorities with ease—so time constraints don’t become roadblocks.