How to Get More Hours in the Day
Think you need more time in the day? Well, twenty four hours is all we ever get, however, with a bit of skill you may be able to squeeze out a couple more hours. Check out these great tips to get more out of your day…
Get organised
This is the first thing that absolutely needs to be done to improve your time management. Think about all of the time that is wasted looking for things such as papers, phone numbers, and supplies. Spend the first 15 minutes of your morning to organize your work area, then go over your “To Do” list and organize the things needed to accomplish them.
Internet
Try going on an internet diet, set a timer for the addictive practices that include internet surfing and social media. These are all great things, when used in moderation, but can become very habit forming, you can seriously lose hours and hours of your day with all of them.
It’s easy to get lured into checking your inbox, just one more time, if you are checking it every half hour, it can waste more time than it’s worth, aim for two or three times per day.
Reading. Learn to change your pace from a knowledge absorbing crawl up to speed reading for information and important details, focusing on the ideas that are crucial to understand. Practice makes perfect.
Meetings
A great way to speed up a meeting is to conduct it standing up.
Make a “To Do” list for tomorrow the before you leave
Know what you want to accomplish the next day. That way, you start out with a goal in mind first thing in the morning.
Handle things once
When it comes to e-mail, voice mail, or paperwork, take instant action, i.e., read, answer, delete, file, this way you don’t have to come back to it.
Don’t listen to the news first thing in the morning
Depressing reports can distract you from your a.m. routine like getting ready for work and mentally preparing for a good day,
Turn off technology during your high-energy time
Pinpoint the time of day when you are at your freshest, and remove all distractions, route all calls to voice mail and avoid your e-mail in-box. You’ll be much more productive.
Be decisive
Time spent waffling will slow down your ability to take action. Rather than spending three hours researching the best airfare deal for a trip, and only saving £25, give yourself 45 minutes to comparison shop, then make a decision.
Work
Cutting time from work isn’t always easy. It might seem a bit drastic but if you really are up against it, it might be worth considering outsourcing to people with the skills, and time, to handle tasks you can’t, or don’t want to do. This will help you maintain productivity and service or even increase them, but more importantly reclaiming valuable hours for yourself.
