10 Time Management Tips: Add an Hour to Your Day!

Don’t think it’s possible? Try these 10 Time Management Tips to get more productive and give yourself back some precious time.

10 Time Management Tips To Add An Hour To Your Day:

1. Make a list the night before of MAXIMUM 3 Top Priority items. They don’t need to be earth-shatteringly important, just important to YOU – these are the things you will be disappointed, annoyed or frustrated that you didn’t get done. It could be anything from posting a birthday card to renewing your car insurance to making that phonecall or picking up milk. Plan exactly when you will do them and if possible, do them first.
   WHY? 3 is a manageable, feel-good number. Not only will you get what’s important to YOU done but you’ll remove those avoiding and time-wasting behaviours.
2. Get to all your appointments 10 minutes early. OK, so this time management tip is definitely counter-intuitive – but try it for a week and see the difference to how you feel!
   WHY? Much of our LACK of productivity comes from feeling stressed, overwhelmed or having a busy mind. We achieve so much more when we’re calm and have a mind clear of self-judgement. Use those 10 minutes to meditate, stare at the clouds or flowers, to reconnect with yourself or even to write your ‘3 Things To Do’ for the next day. And – bonus – if you do hit roadworks you’ll be on time!
3. Pick ONE TV show to watch. Watch it purposefully, enjoy, and then switch the TV off. All too often we watch one show after another without thinking and go to bed late, our brain buzzing from the adverts or show content and then have no energy the next day. It’s SO easy to use television to avoid ourselves AND the things that need doing. Reclaim yourself and your precious energy – you’ll be much more productive.
4. Get intimate with YOUR personal time-wasters? Keep a notepad by your side for one day and note down how long you spend on what. Even better, watch your time over a week-long period with our *FREE* Time Management Tool – Where Does All My Time Go?.
   WHY? Once you total up HOW MUCH TIME you’re wasting, you may get a shock – and choose to spend that time differently.
5. Set a timer when using Facebook/Twitter/Browsing the internet for social or pleasure purposes. It’s easy to get drawn into things – fun pictures, interesting links, updates from friends and before we know it an hour has passed and we end up rushing to our appointment or don’t get something finished that we wanted to. Sometimes these ‘time-wasters’ energise or give us the opportunity to play – the trick is to do it CONSCIOUSLY and set a time limit. This way we enjoy guilt-free, social play time. Why not use an online stopwatch to help?
6. Challenge the interruptions. This time management tip is possibly the best time management tip out there. We tend to assume interruptions are important and drop what we’re working on to help someone else. We can’t stop people interrupting us but we can change how we respond. So, PAUSE before taking any action and 1) Ask the interrupter, “How important is this?” (You may be surprised by their response) and then 2) Ask yourself, “Is this interruption more important than what I’m currently doing?”
7. Identify “Filler Tasks” on your To-Do list. A filler task takes less than 15 minutes to do and is perfect for the gaps in your day or to give yourself a break from bigger tasks. Often we fill short gaps in our day (less than 30 minutes) with time-wasting or distractions. Why not give yourself a boost by completing something instead! Extra Time Management Tip: Filler tasks are also a great way to keep productive when you’re feeling tired or low energy…
8. Let Go (or) Change Your Mind (or) Say No to ONE thing EVERY day. It’s that simple. Try it.
9. Find one new thing to delegate. Do YOU really need to do everything on your plate? Or could someone else – a child, partner, friend or co-worker – benefit, learn from or even enjoy doing one of your tasks? Give someone else the opportunity to learn something new or do you a favour.
10. Practice FIERCE Kindness. You may prefer to chat with your friend on Facebook or your colleague at the water cooler but is this best for you? Are you going to end up rushed, late, stressed or annoyed because you didn’t leave enough time or forgot something? Real kindness is not just being sweet and nice – it’s also being fierce and strong when you need to be. Fierce Kindness asks, “What is REALLY best for me right now?” and looks at the big picture…

If you liked these Time Management Tips, you may also like:

• Increase Your Productivity – Do Less and Be Happier With These 3 Simple Steps!
• How to Reclaim Your Life with This One Simple Skill, Saying No!