Find More Time by Working Smarter
We all have enough time. Yes, we do. All of us are given the same number of finite hours in a day, the same finite days in a week, the same finite weeks in a month. Time is a limited resource, consumed as soon as it passes. It is in how we choose to spend this valuable resource that defines the productive person.
Although we are allotted the same amount of time just like everyone in this world is, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get things done. A million and one things need to be done pronto. Despite the demands of modern life, others seem to be able to manage their time successfully to achieve their goals while the rest flounder trying to stick to a coherent schedule.
What does a successful time manager know that most of us don’t?
If scurrying about multi-tasking is your idea of productivity, take real stock of what you really have accomplished. Did answering all those emails, text messages, and calls get you anywhere near your goal for the day or week? If not, consider simplifying the way you work.
Streamline your work process by:
Thinking of ways of how routine tasks can be done more efficiently.
Assessing your work habits. Can some of your tasks be delegated? Do you smuggle in a “10-minute” Facebook time thrice a day?
Looking into where certain tasks may be eliminated or modified to save time.
To work smarter and therefore work less, try incorporating these tips:
Yes, sleep tops the Work Smarter Advice list. Sleep time is valuable time. Your mind and body needs a good night’s rest to function optimally. Lack an hour or two and you will let productivity slide with an energy slump and cognitive functions at low mast. This is why the worst thing one can do is to work overnight and sacrifice some sleeping hours in the name of better productivity. A good 7-8 hours of fourty winks is the best way to start the day and get all the energy you need to do what has to be done. This cannot be emphasised enough: to remain sharp and on your feet, get enough sleep.
It’s a bad idea to plunge into a whole week’s work with the thought of just winging it. You’ll never get things done because you don’t have a set schedule where you can juggle important interruptions and priorities.
Assess where you spend your time by writing down what you do on work day and your weekend. You may just see a picture of how much time you can waste on unimportant stuff. For instance, you may just realise that time spent on walking your dog would be better suited to putting a green thumb to use, something you love to do. In this case, why not hire a dog walker so you can attend to cultivating a potential prize-winning bonsai, your personal goal? You get time for developing a personal achievement while keeping your canine friend happy.
Set Up a Realistic Schedule
Set up a whole week’s schedule based on ranking your priorities and assigning a time of completion. This way, you give yourself a deadline for finishing tasks so that you can go on to accomplish others. Just remember to factor in time for yourself because one just cannot be very productive if it’s all work and no breaks to shift focus away from work for awhile.
Social media, online shopping, and personal calls, are just examples of the various ways we can get distracted from focusing on our productivity. If these are non essential to your work, banish them from your work schedule and relegate them to your personal time allotment.
Prioritize the Most Important Tasks
When planning your week’s schedule, identify which tasks are most important to complete and assign those a deadline. Each day, know what two or three to-dos are essential so that you can accomplish these first. Once you have these down pat, you’ve more or less have been productive and can move on to the minor tasks or even leave these for the next day’s work.
Sometimes the present schedule does not permit activities or opportunities you would like to do. Sure, that martial arts training class is so tempting to take but its schedule may leave you too tired and exhausted to focus on your online side job everyday. If you need to pay attention to your online job, then you need to have the discipline to say no to enrolling in classes you do not have real time for and that which you deem less of a priority. Do not try to squeeze in something that would end up ruining a scheduled priority, unless that something is really more important. The opportunity for your interest may surface again at a time when you can actually do something about it.
There are a lot more tips to working smarter and cleaning up your schedule if you care to look for them. What we need to remember however is that organizing your life schedule is set around a goal, that of "...[arranging] your commitments in a way that you’re happy living out the details of your daily life, even while you’re working." (Jordan Bates of the Creativity Post).
http://www.businessknowhow.com/growth/timetips.htm
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/219553
http://www.creativitypost.com/create/work_smarter_not_harder_21_time_management_tips_to_hack_productivity
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