6 Tips to creating more time in your day-to-day life
It’s the thing we all want more of and the thing we can never have enough of – time. Everyday you hear multiple people state that they don’t have enough time or they have no idea where their day has gone. Today, we are sharing with you 6 quick tips on how to create more time in your day-to-day life. Each tip can easily be incorporated into your daily routine and hopefully result in less stress for you and more time to focus on yourself and the things you love. Let’s get started!
Tip 1: Tick off the big items first:
We all have a to-do list we could turn into a novel, which often involves items that have been sitting on said list for months. It’s time to bite the bullet and tick off the most grueling items first. Oftentimes they may not even take long; it is the mere act of starting the task that is daunting. I had ‘create a blog’ on my to-do list for months until I finally took the leap and never looked back! Once you tick off a daunting task the rest of the list seems easy by comparison and you can get through it quickly and efficiently. You will no longer spend time thinking about the tasks on your to-do list and start enjoying the time you have free to enjoy life!
Tip 2: Schedule in less:
This may be an obvious one, but to most people it is something we never think of! We are constantly trying to keep up with everything in life by scheduling lunch with friends, dinner dates, errands, appointments and anything else you can fit into your calendar. You can start by simply saying ‘No’ to something or politely postponing. The moment you start scheduling less into your day you find yourself with so much more spare time to relax or get things done you’ve been meaning to.
Tip 3: Allow yourself to wait:
Think about the last time you were waiting. Waiting for a doctor’s appointment, waiting in the grocery line or waiting for your coffee to be made. Were you on your phone? Most likely. There are numerous studies being released stating that we no longer allow ourselves to get ‘bored’. The minute we find ourselves waiting, we are straight on our pones to check emails, message or social media. By allowing ourselves to wait in a line with nothing to do but think, stimulates the brain and gets creativity going. You’ll also notice that time slows down significantly if you are standing still with nothing to do but listen to your thoughts. Try it next time you find yourself in one of these situations!
Tip 4: Batch email and phone checking:
‘Batching’ has been floating around the Internet a lot recently and it is rightfully gaining momentum. Batching essentially means you dedicate a specific amount of time to a task and do not touch anything else during the allotted time. The most common form of batching, and the one I suggest you try is batching your emails, calls and texts. When you are working on a task, close down your email, put your phone on silent and put it in your bag. You can now focus on the task at hand without the need to glance down at your phone or check if someone replied to your email. Studies have shown that being distracted for even 2 seconds by a notification can ruin your workflow. Your brain automatically starts thinking about what was said in the email or text and you spend at least a few minutes mulling it over before getting back to the task at hand. Once you start batching, you will find that you achieve so much more in your day!
Tip 5: Actually commit to using less social media:
How many times have you read an article about reducing your social media and thought ‘I should do that’? Hove you actually reduced the amount of time you scroll through Instagram or are you spending more time on it than ever? Most people spend hours a day mindlessly scrolling through their social feeds without even realising how long they are doing it for. There are even apps to track it now! It’s time we committed to reducing the amount of thoughtless scrolling we do and actually set some timeframes. 20 minutes a day is a good starting point, so allocate this time and track it. You could allocate 10 minutes when you get home from work or 10 minutes on your commute etc etc. Find what works for you! Think of all the things you could be doing with the time you currently waste checking the various social feeds. And if you think you don’t spend much time on it – I challenge you to download an app to track it! I bet it is more than you expect.
Tip 6: Multitask the smart way:
We all know that doing too many things at once is detrimental and actually takes longer in the grand scheme of things. Now there is a smarter way to multitask that lets you learn, grow and achieve your goals all in one! The best way to multitask is to do one autonomous task while focusing on another. My favourite example is listening to podcasts while you cook, drive, clean or exercise. They are a great way to learn new things, increase your knowledge on a certain subject or just provide some light-hearted entertainment. You still manage to achieve the autonomous task but also squeeze in some ‘me-time’ by adding something beneficial to the mix.
