Have you ever thought about how time is both your enemy and your friend?
Time is your friend because as it keeps marching on, allowing you to reach the goals that you’ve set for yourself. But it’s also your enemy because there often aren’t enough hours in the day.
So, what are you supposed to do?
You can learn how to better manage your time. Having enough time each day to get done all of the things that you need to do is one way of managing your stress before your stress manages you because you don’t have unfinished tasks looming over your head every day.
People who can manage their time are able to do things such as running a company, spending time with family, exercising every day and somehow manage to write a book or two as well. You know the kind of person I’m talking about because there are tons of successful people in the world.
You have it in you as well!
Read on for six time management hacks that will have you being productive in no time.
Develop a Daily Routine
Before you get into the nitty gritty of your day, it’s a good idea to have some level of structure. A morning routine can provide that structure which will prepare you to take on whatever comes your way throughout the rest of your day.
While you can choose to have any variety of activities for your morning routine, its best to stick with activities that will help you be productive as the day goes on. Activities such as:
Creating/Finalizing Your Daily To-Do List
Reading books, magazines or articles related to your field
Engage in deep breathing
Stretching
Stop Wasting Time
This sounds like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how much time is wasted unnecessarily. For example, if you’re waiting on a line, check off some of your to-do items. Or when you’re driving, listen to a podcast or audiobook that will teach you something new to implement into your life.
Engaging in productive work throughout the day, helps your mind to remain active. You could also do things such as:
Concentrating fully on one task at a time from your to-do list
Using the Pomodoro Method for getting tasks done
Getting up ½ hour earlier than your usual time
Making time to regularly review your goals and the steps necessary to achieve them.
Make To-Do Lists That You Actually Do
Do you have loose papers with untouched to-do items all over the place? Try doing yourself a favor and use one specific journal or app to create your to-do list so you can have it in one place.
When you create your list, the key is to not make it too overwhelming. You may have 20 things to do, but they don’t all have to be on your list at once. Just have 3 – 5 items on your list.
Once you create your list, make sure that you take care of the most dreaded item first. It’s what Brian Tracy calls “eating the frog.” If you take care of the task that you’re dreading the most first, then the rest of your list will be a piece of cake!
Reinvent Meetings
Plenty of successful people avoid meetings like the plague. Why? They’re almost always a waste of time.
If you really need to schedule a meeting, make sure that you have a streamlined agenda (that you give to all participants in advance and stick to) and a strict time limit. Otherwise, consider having your “meetings” take place on a work chat platform like Slack or Zoom.
Reduce The Number Of Decisions You Have To Make
Steve Jobs wore the same outfit every day so that he didn’t have to mull over a bunch of wardrobe options every morning. Barack Obama primarily limits his outfits to gray or blue suits.
President Barack Obama sticks with dark formal wear. He told Vanity Fair in 2012: "You'll see I wear only gray or blue suits. I'm trying to pare down decisions. I don't want to make decisions about what I'm eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make."
You may think of these as trivial decisions that only take up seconds of your time, but those are seconds you’ll never get back. And they add up. The time that you don’t have to spend making decisions about trivial matters is time that you have to use towards more productive matters.
Turn Your Tasks Into Games
Gamification is all the rage. Get competitive with yourself – it’ll add a bit of spice to your day. Instead of thinking, “Ugh, I have to get this done by noon,” say, “I bet I can get this done before noon!” If you want to ratchet it up a notch, try using a gamifying to-do list app. You could also consider rewarding yourself with something simple and fun when you complete your tasks.
One way of doing this would be to use a habit tracker to monitor the days that you complete your tasks or complete your tasks by a certain time. When you reach a certain amount of days checked off, then it’s celebration time!
So, there you have it – six ways that you can use to increase your productivity and take full advantage of the time that you have each day to achieve your dreams. It’s all about making time.
Let’s talk, what methods do you use to increase your productivity? Let me know in the comments section.
Cassandra Martin-Himmons is a trainer, wellness coach and consultant who believes in empowering her clients and providing the tools that they need to make positive changes in their lives to manage their stress and increase their self-care. In her spare time, she enjoys papercrafting, volunteering and travel. Connect with her on Instagram or Linked/In