How to Get More Done With the Time we Have
We sometimes lose sight of what is important to us.
A man came home from work late to find his young son in pyjamas waiting for him.
“How much do you make an hour Dad?” his son asked.
Somewhat angry and taken aback the man thought how much he earned should be of no interest to his son. He worked long and hard to provide for his family. Reluctantly he told his son his hourly rate.
On hearing the amount his son pulled out all his savings, handed them to his father and said “I’d like to book an hour of your time tomorrow for dinner”.
Are you spending your time in the right areas?
We work hard to provide for our family, to put a roof over their heads and food on the table. However, it is easy to forget to nurture the very reason we work so hard.
The circle of life consists of the spokes of, professional and financial, family, social, spiritual, mental and physical. On a scale of 1 to 10 where 1 is absolutely none and 10 is excessive how much time are you spending in each area of your life? Plot the wheel and see if you are falling short in any area of your life.
I’m often told, “I’m just so busy I can’t find the time.”
Well, the reality is nobody can “find time”.
Each and every one of us is given the same amount each day. How we use that time is up to us.
9 Tips to help manage the time we are given and be more productive:
1. At the start of the week use a dairy, either electronic or paper, to write down your appointments and tasks for the week. Block out the time in your calendar. Don’t forget to allow time for the unexpected so allow gaps.
2. You have your goals sorted, or you should have, so make sure your tasks are in alignment with your goals. Will the task take you towards your goal?
3. Prioritise tasks by ranking as A, B, or C depending on their importance to achieving your goals.
4. Make sure the ‘A’s get done before even looking at the ‘B’s and ‘C’s. Prioritise time-critical activities to allow time to complete the task. If an ‘A’ is a big task break it down into manageable chunks, even if you can only complete a set amount each day. Make progress so that you are taken to task completion. Work on the important and urgent not just the urgent.
5. Spend five minutes at the start of each day to review your tasks for the day. Oh, and don’t use the start of the day to review emails otherwise you will find your day destroyed.
6. Set a time to review and respond to email and return phone calls. If it is that urgent they will phone you.
7. At the end of the day tick off tasks completed and carry priority tasks over to the next day. Reviewing tasks completed at the end of the day and what is planned for the rest of the week will work wonders on your mind. Your subconscious will know that you have everything under control and will not cause sleepless nights.
8. Delegate – especially the things you hate or are not good at. The spinoff is that you give fresh challenges to your staff as well as give them the opportunity for development.
9. Do those tasks you hate first thing. We all have them. It may be holding a difficult conversation, disciplining or letting go of a staff member. If you don’t deal with it first thing it will plague your mind all day so best to purge it and get it out of the way first thing.in the morning.
Build the habits to manage time better and get more done so that you have time for the reason you work so hard – time for you and your family.
Bonus tips.
If you are not sure how you are currently spending your time then run a time log for a week and see the reality.
Set yourself personal development time. What books are you reading, courses lined up to attend? In today’s rapidly changing world those who learn, relearn and learn again will be the winners.
Can you get up half an hour earlier? Perhaps use that time to do a little exercise or read that development book you’ve been putting off.
I found that when I put these tips into practice my productivity increased dramatically and I had better balance in my life. Give it a try for 30 days and see how you go.
