How many times do we say to ourselves; “If only had more time”. Fact is, say many time management experts, we do have time, we just need to know where to find it.
Here are four ways you can help yourself find the time you need to get things done:
Time-blocking
Time-blocking is an easy time-management hack that takes just a minute but leads to so much clarity in your day. The night before, simply divide the coming day into 30-minute blocks and assign tasks to them. This system work because it eliminates the procrastination that comes from trying to decide “when” to start working. You might think that you’ll start working in 5 minutes — but those 5 minutes will turn into an hour without you realizing it, especially if you find yourself watching “just one more episode”, or you are checking out “just one more cute cat photo”. But if it’s already decided when you will start working the chances of procrastination are reduced.
Get the most difficult task out of the way first
While you are time-blocking it the night before, it’s best to schedule the most difficult and challenging tasks first thing in the morning, simply because this task usually induces the most procrastination. Hence, the later you schedule it, the more time you might waste time procrastinating because of the stress it induces. But if you do it first thing in the morning, it will be out of your hair, and you can focus on the easier tasks.
Micro-visualization
You’ve heard of visualization as a technique to improve your future. However, visualizing a bright future alone won’t help much if you can’t succeed in the small moments. Here’s where incorporating some mindfulness techniques can be useful. Try visualizing the day you time blocked the night before, go through the motions of what it will take to get that task done in the time you have allotted for it. Then while you are doing these tasks, stay in the moment for each one. Focus on what you are doing to accomplish the task. At the end of the day, realize your accomplishments and enjoy the time you have saved.
Start a timer
A timer anchors you to the task at hand. When your mind strays from the task, be it to get a cup of coffee or to check your email, pause the timer. Because your mind knows the timer is on, it’s going to stay focused because a timer creates a sense of accountability. So set that timer to whatever suits you, be it an hour or 30 minutes, or something in between. It’s not the time that matters, it’s the fact that you must stop the timer which will keep you focused.
