Last Updated on November 18, 2020 by Jessica Adams
We live in a fast paced world where time constantly feels like it’s in short supply. It also feels like the world’s pace has “picked up” in recent years, due to advancements in technology. As a result of our constantly being ON, we’re more time starved than ever before. On another note, our generation has become more mindful and aware. We’re a lot more conscious about how our bodies and our lives in general, are effected by our surroundings.
Time is an incredibly valuable resource. Let’s take a look at some time-saving tips to help you squeeze the most productivity out of each day!
How to Squeeze the Most
Productivity Out of Each Day
Outsource Business & Personal Tasks
The first thing you can do to squeeze the most productivity out of each day, is to outsource some of your more mundane tasks. For example, you can outsource cleaning your house to a housekeeper. You’re probably thinking “I already have a housekeeper, doesn’t everyone?” Sure, but guess what? You and everyone else are already considered seasoned outsourcers!
There’s actually a very effective way to look at outsourcing as far as money goes. Let’s say you charge your clients $50 an hour for your work services. This means that any task that can be done for much less than $50/hour, almost should be outsourced! If you pay a housekeeper $20 an hour to clean your house while you’re making $50 during that hour, working from home, you essential made $30 while getting your house cleaned. It literally makes financial sense to outsource this task.
Similarly, doctors will outsource their calls to a medical answering service rather than answer calls from patients throughout the night because they appreciate the financial value of their time. When you start to outsource tasks within both your business and your life, you will have a lot more time to focus on what matters.
Work Remotely
Work RemotelyIf possible, see if you can work from home in a way that enables you to work flexible hours. This way, your time becomes truly your own. Plus, this not only saves time in terms of commuting to and from work but also money. There is a considerable cost associated with most people’s daily commute to and from work! Similarly, if you’re taking educational courses, online courses are often cheaper than traditional. Also, you don’t need to travel to the class, pay for parking and so on. This means you’ll save some money that could be better spent too!
Organize Your Time
The convenience of online working and online studying means you have much more time to enjoy life. In reality, we often spend far too much time living in reaction to work. We try to fit our lives in and around our work commitments when it doesn’t have to be that way. The amount of time you can save by having a good planning system in place is absolutely phenomenal. Indeed, a lot of “time management” comes down to planning your tasks before starting them, so that you can keep on top of things and make progress where it really counts.
Have a Strong Support System & Maybe Some Technology
Most people feel like they need to do everything on their own and the concept of delegating important tasks can be a scary prospect. If you have a small business or even a medium to large sized family, it can be good to assemble a team of people to support you. These people could be specialists in certain areas; such as a Nutritionist for the family, a Life Coach for your employees, a Housekeeper or Nanny, etc.
There are also so many apps available to assist you with your personal life and/or business. When you think of how much time you could save if you were to order your groceries online and have them delivered to your door? You can even set up regular items to repeat each week, so that you’re never without essentials such as milk, bread & eggs!
The Pareto Principle
The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, suggests that 20% of our activities account for 80% of the final outcome. This means that 20% of the tasks you have on your to-do list will create 80% of the intended positive outcome. In simple terms, you want to focus on tasks that are going to have the greatest impact and get these done first.
The first step is to work out what these priority tasks are. The best way to go about this is to write a list of all your tasks for the day, week or month. Then you’ll decide which tasks are going to create the greatest impact. Be sure to make these tasks a priority! Often times, your highest priority tasks will be a pain in the a**. But it’s not about doing the tasks you find most enjoyable or effortless first. It’s about getting through the tasks that are going to make the biggest positive impact.
Work When You Work
Brian Tracy is a pre-eminent time management expert who wrote the book “Eat That Frog”. He advocates the idea that you work when you work and you rest when you rest. This means, if you are sitting down to work – make sure you have a singular focus on the task at hand in a distraction free environment. Similarly, if you’re going to rest then make sure you make this time a time of proper rest and relaxation.
Today, particularly when working from home, people multitask by working with their laptop on their lap whilst having the TV on in the background. Some will even pop in and out of a conversation with their spouse. By fully working when you work, you can drastically reduce the amount of time you need to spend working. You’ll also get the added benefit of being able to fully rest when you rest. This is much easier to do, not having one foot in both camps, half working and half resting.
Make Lists
The world’s most successful people have one thing in common; they all write lists for everything. Whether it’s their long-term goals, short-term goals or just their daily tasks, it’s always written down. Today, there are a number of apps such as Wunderlist that help people keep track of their to-do lists. The great thing with an app like this, is that several categories can be created in addition to a high priority section.
And the best thing about lists in general, is that there’s power in progress. Indeed, each time you tick something off your list, you will receive a physiological boost in the form of an endorphin release which will catapult you forward, making more and more progress. Because positive progress can be addictive (in the best possible way).
I’d love to hear some of the ways that of you squeeze the most productivity out of each day! Please take a moment to share something with us in the comments section below 🙂
Jessica Rose Adams
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