5+1 ways to create more time –that work for me; they might work for you too

by | Dec 22, 2017

Try these tips to cut down on stress. You can make your days more productive and less stressful by managing your time just a little better. Why 5+1? Well, there are 5 time management tips I use. And there is one more I am aware of but somehow I could not make it part of my daily routine.

  1. I reduce interruptions – Telephone and email are massive time thieves. Actually, email is a major interruption; every time my focus gets interrupted it takes several minutes to get back to what I was doing. When answering email, I don’t answer them as they come in; rather I bundle them all together and I do them at the same time. I do all my similar tasks at the same time rather than doing a little bit now and a little bit later. I check my messages once, or twice a day and return those that are urgent. This way I can give myself extended periods of uninterrupted work.
  2. I try to consistently get better sleep – depriving myself of a good night’s rest to get something done is counterproductive. The time I saved the night before is actually robbing me the next day. I try to make 7 hours of quality sleep a regular part of my life by scheduling it.
  3. I get organized – I cannot work efficiently in a cluttered office. Sometimes I realize that I am wasting time looking for stuff and moving the same piece of paper two-three times, and I know I need to tidy up and organize things. Usually, I put all of my documents away in the appropriate files, both physical and online making sure that there isn’t too much on my screen.
  4. I make my “To Do” list the night before – I can be more productive if my daily tasks are clearly set out for me, and if I can review often according to how my day is going and cross them off. At the end of each day, I make notes where I left my work and what I need to continue with, I think about the next day, what I need to achieve, I make a list and plan how I will execute what I need to do. I use note papers with different colors, the same colors for similar tasks, and put them on my agenda on the day they need to be done. When I open on the next day’s page, I can already see what needs to be done. For example, if I see a green paper I know there is a payroll to be done. Yellow papers call for GST remittances and oranges for WCB.
  5.  Avoid the big “day wasters”. – Facebook, TV, surfing the web, and talking on the telephone are all huge “day waters” if not used properly. These are all great things, when used in moderation, but can become very addicting and I can seriously lose hours and hours of my day with all of them. I limit my “day wasters” to the evening hour of my day.

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  1. Don’t procrastinate – procrastination isn’t always logical. I know that I am going to have to do that thing I don’t want to do, and putting it off isn’t going to make it go away. I know the old sayings, “procrastination is not only the thief of time; it is the thief of life” and “don’t put off to tomorrow, what you can do today”? So I try to develop the time management habit of moving quickly when something needs to be done. As a general rule, I do small tasks immediately, as soon as they appear. However, some tasks appear on my daily list over and over again, and I need to find a way to get rid of procrastination.

By following a few of these simple time management suggestions, you should have another hour or two of time in your day to run your business.  And please, let me know if you have any suggestion on how to “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning …” – Mark Twain