Time Management

Do you ever wish you had more time? Do you ever think you could be more productive if there were just a few hours more in your day? Do the things that are important to you keep getting shuffled to the next day and then the next day because of small tasks that consume your schedule? Let’s take a minute and talk about a way to maximize your twenty-four hours. 

That’s it - twenty-four hours, we all have the same number of hours in our day. How are some people super productive while others become a victim of busyness? The secret I have learned to take my life from ordinary (barely surviving day to day tasks) to extra-ordinary (finding time to achieve goals and maximize productivity) lies in the word extra. 

Did you know there are extra hours in your day? Extra as in hours that you aren’t using or maybe just not being intentional about. Being intentional is huge in time management. You can either tell your day how it’s going to be used or it will tell you. So, let’s take a minute and look at some tips to be more intentional in telling our day its schedule.

Wake up earlier - I know. I know. We all love to hit snooze, but your morning is your gold. You are most creative and sharp the first couple of hours after being awake. Plus, this is the first fruit of your day. You are fresh and the day is blank. Most likely, this is also the time of day that will hold the least distractions. Start by waking up just 15 minutes earlier. Gradually add 15-minute increments to your morning wake-up routine as you get adjusted to waking up earlier.

Avoid your phone/email first thing in the morning - Electronics in the morning are simply time vacuums.

Buy a planner - Maybe you like electronic planners, I prefer writing things down. A planner will help you navigate the big picture monthly activities and goals along with the day-to-day ones. I use my planner to write down appointments and activities, but I also use my planner to direct my day. This is where things get fun. Make a list of goals for the week. Then, intentionally block time daily to accomplish these goals. In addition to assigning my goals a time, I create a checkbox list that allows me to see what I have actually accomplished that day. My planner allows me to assign my time rather than my time dictating me. I find that if my time isn’t assigned, it’s wasted.

Time block - What is time blocking? It is just that, blocking your time. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by all the demands on you, you can assign those tasks to a time slot in your day. For example, if some of my goals were to write a book, read more, exercise, keep my house tidy, and clean out my closets I would time block something like this:

6:30am-7:00am - Read a book

7:00am-7:30am - Write a chapter 

7:30am-8:00am - Exercise (Run a mile) 

8:00am-8:45am - Shower while listening to an audiobook

9:00am-10:00am - Clean Closet

10:00am-11:00am - Tidy up first floor of house

Remember, if you don’t plan, you plan to fail. Plan and divide your goals for the day into sections to make them more achievable. You will be surprised how much more productive you will be when assigning your time. This also allows you to be flexible. If you don’t finish your task in that time slot you can assign it more time the following day. It’s like eating an elephant- you do it one bite at a time. 

Recognize your rhythm - Everyone’s life has a rhythm that it already runs by. What works for someone else’s schedule may not work for you. As much as you can, create your schedule around that rhythm. If your husband gets home from work at 5pm, plan to start making dinner at 4pm. If you love watching your favorite tv show, time slot it in your schedule. If your kids have soccer on Monday nights, keep late Monday afternoon light. Try to stay in some sort of rhythm to keep yourself from feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

Use dead time - This is a great life hack that I learned. Recognize the time in your schedule that you can multitask. For example, try listening to a podcast while driving or getting ready in the morning. Turn on an audio book while you are putting away laundry or waiting in the car to pick up your kids from sport. There are so many ways to maximize the time that just seems wasted in your day.