Have you ever thought to yourself, Man, I wish I just had more time. I have so many things to do. I am so busy.
I think we all want more time in our lives. I'm going to share with you three tricks that you can use to do more with less time, ultimately putting more time in your life.
#1 Build a Schedule
Now that may seem like a preschool concept, but here's what we need to do. Take our tasks that are harder, that demand more attention, and flip them to the beginning of the day. The reason is that we have more energy in the morning, or at least I do, compared to in the afternoon, I'm like a bird in the morning; I'm ready to go. So if we can focus on those harder tasks in the morning and knock them out, we feel good about ourselves. Then we can do the less demanding things that require less focus after lunch or even after 3:00 PM.
Now here’s the deal. If you want to do this, you have to take out distractions in the morning. If you’re immersed in an important project and in the zone, an interruption can totally derail you. Next thing you know, you’re picking up the pieces and you’ve wasted major time. To avoid this, block off part of your schedule and let people or colleagues know you will be unavailable until after lunch or whenever.
And yes, those connections with others are important, but at the end of the day they are so much easier to address, and if it’s a personal relationship, it can even help you unwind. Unwinding and reflecting should part of the end of your day. Ask yourself what worked, what did not work and what you’re going to do differently to be on your A-game the next morning.
#2 Chunk Your Time in Smaller Pieces
Here's the deal. Sometimes we underestimate how much we can get done in a small chunk of time. We just look at the big picture and get overwhelmed with how many changes we want to make.
So start thinking smaller than a year. Then start thinking even smaller than a month, a week even a day. Instead, look at an hour of your time and see how you spend it. You'll probably start noticing wasted time, maybe surfing the internet or on Facebook or just doing whatever. If you can get things done in those small amounts of time, it's more fulfilling.
Here’s an example. Let’s say you are at a meeting and the person you’re meeting with is 15 minutes late. Instead of scrolling through your phone mindlessly, make use of the time. Answer emails. Reach out to a contact. Read up on trends in your industry or check out an article you’ve been wanting to look at. I keep a small list in my phone of things that aren’t urgent -- items just for whenever I have time. And when I have a 15 minute window, I pull the list up and work on it.
#3 Track Your Time With an App
My third tip is to track your time with the help of an app. You'll start noticing these hidden time sucking culprits. You'll start developing a strategic plan of attack to wipe those out.
Then you’ll think of the next two weeks and figure out a different way to get things done. You might even find yourself with more spare time to spend with loved ones or on other hobbies.
Do you want to discover more tricks to manage your time and be a more productive person? Then go to smartagents.com/productivity where you'll find an assortment of practical advice and tips that can help you yield huge results.
