Do you feel like you never have enough time? You’re not alone.
In today’s fast-paced world, it can be hard to find the time to do everything we want to do. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up on your goals and dreams! There are plenty of ways to save yourself time and get more done in a day.
In this article, I’ll share 8 tips on how busy professionals can save themselves time.
1. Prioritize Important Tasks First
One of the best ways to save time is to prioritize your tasks. This gives you direction by focusing your time and energy on what’s most important.
Start by making a to-do list of everything you need to accomplish throughout the day. Then, rank those tasks in order of importance. Make sure to include deadlines for each task so you can plan accordingly.
Once you have your list, it’s time to start working! Start with the most important tasks and work your way down. You probably won’t finish everything on your to-do list, but that’s okay.
Prioritization allows you to let go of the need to complete every task on your list, ultimately saving yourself time.
2. Learn to Say “No”
One of the hardest things to do is say “no” to people, things, and opportunities. But if you want to save time, it’s a necessary skill to learn.
There will always be people who want to take up your time with their own agendas. There may be ideas that seem attractive to explore. Or perhaps there are opportunities that poke at your FOMO (fear of missing out).
Being successful and accomplishing your goals requires you to say no to decent people, ideas, or opportunities in order to make room for what’s truly important.
It’s okay to put yourself first! When you start saying no to things that don’t serve you-or your goals-you’ll have more time to focus on the right things that do.
3. Take Breaks
You might think that taking breaks will make you less productive, but the opposite is actually true.
When you take breaks, you’re giving your brain a chance to rest and recharge. This helps you come back to your work feeling refreshed and ready to tackle whatever comes your way.
So, don’t be afraid to take a few minutes and step away from your work. Take a walk, get some fresh air, or just take a few deep breaths. You’ll be surprised at how much better you feel and how much more productive you are.
4. Identify Areas Where You’re Getting Diminishing Returns
We’ve all been there. You’re trying to get ahead at work by putting in extra hours. But instead of getting ahead, you find yourself stuck in a rut. You’re working more, but you’re not getting any closer to your goals. In fact, you might even be falling behind.
When you’re in a situation like this, it’s important to take a step back and ask yourself if you’re experiencing diminishing returns.
Diminishing returns means that the benefits of taking action start to decrease as you put more effort into it.
There are certain activities that decrease in value when you add more time and effort to them. For example, if you’re working on a project, there may come a point where adding more time isn’t going to make the project any better. If this happens, then it’s a good idea to stop at “good enough.”
By identifying areas where you’re getting diminishing returns, you can save yourself time and focus on more productive activities.
5. Learn How to Focus
In today’s world, it’s more important than ever to learn how to focus. With so many distractions around us, it can be hard to stay on task. But if you want more control of your time, it’s important to learn how to focus and do deep work.
Deep work is the ability to focus without distractions on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to power through difficult tasks and achieve more in less time. And it’s a skill that successful people have mastered.
If you want to save yourself time, learn how to focus and do deep work.
6. Delegate and Automate
You can save yourself time by learning how to delegate and automate tasks.
Delegating involves assigning tasks to others. Spending energy on a bunch of small tasks that others can handle for you is not an efficient use of your time, whether you’re a business owner or simply a busy professional. Consider hiring a virtual assistant to take care of tasks like scheduling, email, and social media.
Automating involves using technology to automate tasks. This can be helpful when you have tasks that are repetitive or time-consuming. Let’s say, for example, that you’re spending a lot of time on social media. You could automate your social media posts using a tool like Buffer or Hootsuite
Both delegation and automation can save you a lot of time.
7. Get a Good Night’s Sleep
We all know how important it is to get a good night’s sleep. But sometimes, life gets in the way and we don’t always make time for it.
When we don’t get enough sleep, we’re not as productive the next day. We may have trouble focusing, become more irritable, and lack the energy to complete our work tasks.
One way to begin getting better sleep is to create a relaxing bedtime routine that will help you wind down before you turn off the lights. This might include taking a warm bath, reading a book, or stretching.
Try avoiding screens in the hours leading up to bedtime. The blue light emitted from screens can disrupt our natural sleep cycles and make it harder to fall asleep. If you absolutely can’t avoid screens, look into getting a pair of blue light blockers, as they’ll help reduce the effect of the blue light disrupting your sleep cycle.
By getting a good night’s sleep, you’ll be saving time by being more productive the next day.
8. Start a Morning Routine
If you don’t have a good morning routine, you’ll struggle all day.
Most people start their day by hitting snooze on their alarm clock a few times. Then, they rush to get ready for work, starting their day off in a rushed and stressed state.
This isn’t the ideal way to set yourself up for a productive day. And you’ll end up wasting time by not being as focused and productive as you could be.
A morning routine sets the tone for the rest of your day. It gives you momentum. And it provides you with the focus and motivation to be productive for the rest of the day.
Your morning routine doesn’t have to be long or complicated.
Aubrey Marcus, Founder and former CEO of Onnit, has a simple formula for his morning routine:
- Water. The first step is proper hydration. 60% of the average human body is made up of water. Every single system and process in our body requires water to function properly. He recommends 12 oz of filtered water, mixed with 1/4 squeezed lemon and 3 grams of sea salt.
- Sunlight. To wake up refreshed, expose yourself to sunlight for 5–10 minutes. This helps to regulate our circadian rhythm and increases our vitamin D levels, which is an essential component for regulating inflammation and immune function.
- Movement. Light movement in the morning helps set the body’s internal clock and increases alertness. Moving around will help you get rid of grogginess, providing you with more energy to start the day.
You don’t need a long or complicated morning routine for saving time. Even just a few simple steps can make a big difference in your productivity for the rest of the day.
Next Steps
We all want to save time. And while there’s no way to add more hours to the day, we can make better use of the time we have. By following the tips above, you can save time and be more productive.
If you’re looking for ways to save yourself time, we can help. Undock works like autocomplete to suggest meeting times based on your availability and preferences. This way, you take control of your calendar by setting preferred meeting times, daily limits & rules. Try it today, it’s free!
Originally published at https://phase.undock.com.
