Do you wish you could manage your time more effectively and be more productive? Yep, we all do. If wishing for something, I’m sure we’d all wish we had 26 hours in the day. So let’s see what we can do to manage our time better and why it’s crucial to nail down a few principles.
Manage Your Time with Prioritising
Time is literally your most precious asset. It is fleeting, you’ll never get more time and what’s gone will never come back. Talk about joyful thoughts.
So what can we do about it?
First, let’s understand what you want to do with your time. Do you know what your top priorities are? Have you ever thought about what you want to accomplish before anything else? Or is your day just passing by while you try to cross every item off your to-do list?
Do this exercise regularly, once a week is probably a good place to start. Among all the things you need to do: laundry, pick up the kids, cook healthy meals, spend time with your partner, call your best friend, check up on your dad, prepare the presentation for work, create an ebook, do the food shopping for the week, get the bike fixed, pay the bills, etc.
Sit down, and make a list. Trust me, it always brings peace of mind. Rather than having the list on repeat in your head, wondering if you’ve remembered everything, it’s clear in front of you.
Then sort them in order of priority. What is the top 3 that needs to be done NOW / this week, what are the tasks that can be done later?
Having a clear idea of what needs be done now, and what can be done once things have calmed up a bit, brings clarity and focus.
How Much Time Do You Actually Need?
When you have the list of things you need to do, you need to understand how long each task is going to take you. It can be approximate, it doesn’t have to be exact, but you need to know roughly.
When I do a big food shop, my partner always tells me we can be in and out of our giant Tesco in 15 minutes. Let’s say I’m a bit more realistic than him, and I plan for longer.
Once you have the allotted time, when can you do it? Create your schedule. It’s very well to think that you can get started on your book after you’ve been working all day. But if you also need to pick up the kids, shop and cook, and your sibling needs a pep-talk, maybe a quieter evening will be better suited.
Set yourself some deadlines. Most of the time, knowing when an activity needs to be done by will confer a sense of urgency and press you to act accordingly.
Planning your activities might seem counterintuitive for some, but it’s the beginning of freedom. Once you know when certain things have to be done, you get more mental and calendar space for creative activities.
You gain a feeling of duty well done, and you’ll want to accomplish more.
Track your progress is always one of my recommendations. You are able to reflect on everything that is done – and do a mini-dance in appreciation of how awesome you are. And then you see how much you still need to do. It’s rewarding and useful.
How Do You Manage Your Time Sustainably
When you think of the things you want to add in your day or week, can you also check in on what you could take out?
Delegate where you can. If you can outsource some tasks that don’t bring you enough value or joy, do it. I’m thinking cleaning your flat or doing your taxes, anyone?
We also have so much opportunity for distractions nowadays, mainly from our phone where literally everything is accessible. Are you aware of how much time you spend on it, mindlessly scrolling? I’ve written a blog post about digital wellbeing that you can find here, so I won’t expand more on this.
Manage your stress, remove the anxiety that comes with the productivity frenzy. Take some time for yourself and meditate or do yoga. Go for walks outside so you can be more present when you get back at it.
Make sure you make your tasks more fun so you don’t dread them, and take breaks. Listen to music or podcasts while at the gym. Why not call a friend when you do the laundry or the dishes, or involve the kids when cooking.
More Planning, More Freedom
When you start reorganising your days and weeks to be more productive or do more than you normally do, don’t forget to be kind to yourself. Nowadays it’s expected of us to be on multiple fronts at all times, but don’t hesitate to say no to things that do not serve you.
Manage your time, manage expectations (yours and others’), and manage the stress it can bring. Track your progress. Make it fun. Review and redo when needed.
I’d like to conclude with this: if you had more time, what would you do with it?
