6 Ways To Create More Time In Your Day
The start of a new school year is a great time for a clean slate (second best time behind New Years!) – and if there is one thing we could all do with, it’s more time. Let’s dive in and create more time in your day!
Now I don’t mean extra hours to clean the house or ticking off our to-dos at work. I mean time with family and friends, or even a few hours to enjoy a hobby. You know….. enjoying life!
In a Study from OnePoll, 46% of us say we never get a chance to relax – now I think that is pretty high don’t you?
The single best way to gain more time is to be more productive with the time that we do have. Just think of what you could get done if you weren’t procrastinating!
It’s about doing what needs to be done, in as little time as possible, so you have more time to do the things you love.
Let’s be honest, most of us have more to do than there is time in the day. I could probably just focus on my emails all day and not achieve anything!
It’s all about choosing meaningful & important tasks and finishing them without distractions and being intentional with your time.
Let’s dive into some top tips on how to create more time in your day!
1. The Rule of Three
At the start of every day, think about the end of the day and what you want to have accomplished. Ask yourself, “What three main things do I need or want to have accomplished? Write them down as your main intentions to tick off throughout the day. They can be work or personal but they have to be the 3 MOST important things you want completed before the day is done.
When you come to the end of the day and they are ticked off you will feel hugely satisfied! And let’s be honest it is more realistic than chipping away at a massive to do list.
EXTRA TIP: try setting weekly, monthly or yearly intentions also!
2. Disconnect Yourself
One of the main reasons we cannot complete tasks is down to distractions. Email, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest – these are all more interesting than folding your laundry or renewing the car insurance right? But the problem with these distractions is that they side track us from what we should be doing and it takes us a good 25 minutes to get back where we were!
So try turning off your phone, removing notifications from your computer or going onto ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode to keep you distraction free. You can even download distraction blocking apps!
3. Repeat Something
When we are focusing our minds on something repetitive like sewing, colouring or even riding a bike, our minds ‘unfocus’. Do you find that you normally have your best ideas when you are on a walk or in the shower? That is because you have allowed your mind to relax, wander and do something habitual.
4. Set a schedule
Give yourself a schedule for the mundane tasks that need to be done, such as the grocery shopping, laundry and banking. Knowing which days and times they are scheduled will (a) not allow you to forget to do them but (b) allow you to be more efficient by scattering them throughout the week sporadically. Compile a list of what needs doing, schedule them in your calendar and tick them off as you go! I use a wipeable whiteboard at home and the whole family get involved which speeds things up (try assigning tasks to family members!)
5. Reduce the Unimportant
According to some reports, we check our email every 15 minutes (!) and then we focus on that for 40 seconds before moving on to something else. The same could be said for social media & internet browsing. When you add that up in one day – that is a LOT of time! Try shrinking those low return tasks, such as email, social media, meetings that interrupt your day, to a few dedicated time slots per day.
This makes a huge positive impact and you can control your time much easier. As an example, I check my email once in the morning, once just after lunch and once before I stop working for the day. When I started doing this it made quite a time difference on my day as I was able to focus on my tasks and get them completed much quicker and much better!
6. Clear your Head
Always write things down on a notepad or in a digital notepad if better for you. This allows you to have more headspace knowing it is recorded somewhere and you don’t need to remember it!
What are you favourite productivity tips? Let’s help each other create more time in our day!
