6 practical ways to do more in less time
RelationshipI found this wonderful analogy in time while doing research for one of my events:
“Think of the airline industry. Their goal is to have a full cabin on every flight. They really don’t like empty seats. So prices are high and dynamic. As flight day approaches, prices continue Good luck to anyone on a tight budget, if you want a seat on a flight last minute!
But once the plane takes off, an empty seat is worthless. That’s a loss for the airline. There is no way they can get money for it. No matter how expensive the seat was, once it’s gone, it’s worthless.
The same can be said of ‘time’. A very expensive product indeed. As the clock ticks down, it becomes more and more precious. You would kill to save those precious moments right before something has to be done. Do anything to have a little more time at your disposal! Unfortunately, you can’t stop the clock.
And once it’s gone, it’s no longer expensive. Stop being anything!”
There is one very simple thing I like to say,
Time Passed = Time Failed
Let me give you some statistics. The average person gets 1 interruption every 8 minutes, or about 7 per hour, or 50-60 per day. The average interruption lasts 5 minutes, totaling about 4 hours or 50% of the average working day. 80% of those outages are typically classified as “low value” or “no value”, resulting in approximately 3 hours of lost time per day.
By taking 1 hour a day for independent study, 7 hours a week, 365 hours in a year, one can learn at the pace of a full-time student. In 3-5 years, the average person can become an expert on the subject of their choice, spending just one hour a day.
If only we had that one hour that we could take out of our crucial time (set aside to waste)
I know it’s hard. The habit of wasting time is hard to break, especially the blissful joy of doing nothing. And then running around in a mindless panic at 11 o’clock, although that’s not much fun. Here are a few things you could do that have proven to work well for me, if you’re looking to better manage your time:
1. Put a price on your time
Yes, make a rough estimate of the cost of your time. You may not make it comparable to some industry stalwarts, but consider yourself as someone who is quite successful when you do it.
Depending on how much you earn (or spend, if you’re a student) each year, you can count the number of productive days in a year and the number of work hours in a day. Get your own hourly rate ;)… If you don’t know the value of your time, who will? I do this exercise every time I review my compensation rates for clients.
Once you have that estimate, the next time you feel the need to waste your time on something, you can compare whether or not it’s worth it. The concept of value in marketing is defined as benefit/cost. (Some even consider it benefits minus costs.) Discover your own version of the benefits of the cost of your time, that is, the value of time.
Now, I am not saying that you do everything according to this method. But many of your trivial activities could pass this simple test before you decide to undertake them. This will simply give you an idea of how much valuable time you generally waste doing things you don’t really need to do.
2. SWOT Analysis
You must have heard of SWOT, right? It is an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It is usually done at the organizational level against competitors to understand the road traveled so far and what lies ahead.
But who said you couldn’t do it yourself?
SWOT can be helpful in prioritizing your time and to-dos. Among all the elements of your SWOT, I suggest you focus on your strengths. Spend more time on the things you’re good at and play to your strengths. This will ensure that you enjoy more of your productive hours. But it will also help you determine which of your weaknesses you can spend how much time on, so you can turn them into your opportunities, and later your strengths. It is very doable, if you put your heart into the pursuit of ‘the best’.
If you can’t imagine a long-term situation, don’t panic. Take one day at a time. I would say spend some time each day on your SWOT items. Some will be high priority and others low priority. But be sure to take some time. As mentioned at the beginning of the post, simply putting out 1 hour every day can make you gain experience in a particular field (condition applied: one hour dedicated). Just find time first for your priorities.
You’ll be amazed at how much spare time you’ll have each day to decide how much to spend on trivial, non-essential things. SWOT has always come to my rescue. It will do the same for you, I guarantee it!
3. Get up early
This doesn’t sound like time management advice, but trust me it is. When I started getting up early and trying to get 50% of my to-dos done before the rest of the world even woke up, it gave me a very beautiful illusion of having more than 24 hours in my day. I had more time for myself, my family, my job, everything. This habit works wonders.
The most important things are done from the beginning, leaving time for leisure and fun and, more importantly, doing more important things than you had planned! That’s a welcome delusion, I’d say. Here are some morning activities that can prepare your day.
4. Create To-Do Lists
Creating to-do lists is a classic time management tool. I have a whiteboard right above my workstation where all my to-dos go. It’s the easiest way to tackle your never-ending to-do list. Keep crossing out what was done and keep writing what needs to be done more.
Strategically place it in a position where your eyes will move from time to time. If you’re a more organized person, you can even color-code your to-do whiteboard. The essence is to make you feel embarrassed if the list of crossed out items is smaller.
And don’t be embarrassed to write down the pending tasks. Once you have an exhaustive list, you can do your SWOT and prioritize too! Find out what is most important and what needs to be done immediately.
5. Right here Right now
If it takes you 2 minutes to do something, do it now. Do not procrastinate even for very small things. Often the 2-minute tasks, when stacked, look like an Everest that you have to conquer. It is this pile of 2-minute noodles that is often perceived as a crisis. And believe me, an important part of crisis management is dealing with these simple things efficiently. It is not a big thing. We just make it one.
It would also be advisable to do the things you fear the most first. But he hates. That inertia of having made a good effort is carried forward for the rest of the day (or sitting). It may not be successful initially. But little by little, you will get into the habit of facing your fears and doing things on time, those are two wise things!
6. Kill your Distractors
Have you heard of the Pareto principle? Pareto’s 80-20 rule, when applied to time management, says: Halfway 80% of your time generates only 20% of the results.
And it’s not rocket science that 80% of your unfocused time is the result of too much distraction. Kill those distractors. Free high-speed internet, buffer-free YouTube streaming, endless social media and its apps, so many relationship problems to worry about, numerous trivial things to think about, useless people problems to get involved in – lots of work, one life modern it is!
It is possible to keep these distractions at bay. A little willpower is all you need. And what starts out as willpower soon becomes a habit. Gradually eliminate your distractions if you want to get somewhere in life. Because what doesn’t take you towards your goals, takes you away from them!
There are many more ways to better manage your time. But the first step for all of them is: their absolute and unerring determination to make use of these very important non-renewable resources, in a better and more judicious way.
Remember,
The difference between a Steve Jobs and a normal job is: how 24 hours are used!