By Jamieson Lee Hill

We live such busy lives these days. With a glut of choices in everyday life including social media platforms and general information overload, it is important to take stock and consider ways of efficiently using our time in work and business. In this article, we examine some popular time-saving approaches.

1. Start Your Day Early

Writer Ernest Hemingway was a big advocate of waking up early and starting work. He said,

“In a 1958 interview with The Paris Review, Hemingway said, “When I am working on a story I write every morning as soon after first light as possible. There is no one to disturb you and it is cool and you come to your work and warm as you write…you may go on until noon or be through before that.”

Source: Medium.com, Craig Ballatyne, How to Save Two Hours a Day, 2016

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, starts his day at 4:30 AM to get ahead of his workload. During this quiet early-morning time he can check his emails, plan his day, and work on important tasks before the day starts with meetings and other interruptions.

The 5 am Club is a popular book by Robin Sharma in which he recommends getting up at 5 am and spending your first hour on yourself. In this hour, you can do reflection, exercise and self-growth. Sharma claims that spending the first hour of your waking day like this helps you to be far more productive throughout the day. Around the wall, a lot of people practise the 5 am Club approach to help them be more time efficient in their daily working lives. 

 2. Post-It Note Priority List

This second tip is nice, simple and old-school. Write down your top five priority tasks daily on a single Post-It. Only five, no more. Then aim to finish those 5 top tasks. If you have time left over, then you can work on other less urgent tasks. By limiting your daily task list to 5 items, it feels more manageable and less stressful. 

3. Task Management Tools

Many employees and freelancers now use project management tools like Trello, Click Up, Asana and others to prioritise their work. This type of project management tool is known as Kanban software. These tools help break down projects into smaller tasks, assign different roles to team members, and set deadlines. It saves time to have everything all in one place, with the ability to post comments and share updates. This is a much more efficient use of time than countless back-and-forths via email. It also improves team collaboration and keeps everyone in the loop.

4. Time Tracking Apps

Apps like Mem Time, a PC app, track how you spend your time on your computer. You can soon see if you are losing hours scrolling online and switching between tasks. Apps like Mem Time will help you make more disciplined use of your time. Monitoring how you're spending time on your computer, helps identify and eliminate distractions. These invaluable insights into your daily habits mean you can pinpoint areas to improve productivity and maintain a balanced workflow.

5. Tabata

Tabata is an exercise app which allows you to set a timer for four-minute high-intensity workouts between tasks. It is a time saver because it helps to keep your body & mind focused. This makes you time efficient because it keeps your brain in an alert state. Instead of feeling sluggish and distracted, the blood will be pumping through your veins and the happy chemicals from exercising will keep you task-focused and productive.

Physical activity is crucial for mental clarity, and Tabata can boost both energy and focus. Intense bursts of exercise like Tabata in your working day can help re-energise you and improve cognitive function, making it easier to stay on task. Time to get busy! You can use Tabata apps on Apple and Android. 

6. Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique involves working in focused 25-minute bursts followed by a short break. The idea is that in those 25-minute slots, you can really focus and make excellent use of your time. It also helps you to avoid burnout and maintain creativity over a long period. Of course, you can adjust it to longer like I did. I find that I work best in 45 to 60-minute periods. Give it a go! 

7. Learn to Say No

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway and investor, once advised that the secret to success is saying no to almost everything. In fact, Buffet says no to meetings and requests that don’t align with his primary focus of running his own business. That way he stays focused on running Berkshire Hathaway.

Okay, so let’s be honest, that is not practical if you are running a business and clients need help, or you are an employee with colleagues to support. However, the point is that if you can learn to be assertive and say no to things in work and social life that you don’t really need to do, you will save time. That way you can maximise your time for things that do matter. Think about 3 offers or requests you had this month. Do you really want to do them or should you say no? 

8. Eliminate Distractions & Time Blocking

Wealthy business people like Warren Buffer have mastered the art of saying no, but

another approach is to block out time where you just focus on one activity. In this time you should eliminate all other distractions. Athletes like Serena Williams have mastered the art of focusing without distractions during tennis practice. Sports professionals like Serena turn off their phones, limit social media use, and create a calm and focused environment to ensure their training sessions are entirely dedicated to improving their performance. 

What periods of your week can you ‘time block’ to eliminate distractions and focus on one activity or task at a time?

 9. Parkinson’s Law

Parkinson’s law basically means that whatever time we set for a task, we will use that amount of time. Even if we could achieve the task in a shorter amount of time…

“Parkinson's Law states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. In other words, tasks and projects often take longer than necessary because people tend to use up all the time allocated to them, regardless of the actual complexity or requirements of the work.”

Source: Lucidspark.com, 2024

Therefore, if you think of a task that you would normally spend 40 hours to complete, set a total task time of 15 hours. You will find a way to complete it and save all that extra wasted time. By setting yourself aside less time, the resulting effect is that you should focus more efficiently on completing the task in a fraction of the time.

A good example is the former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey. He would set limits on tasks to be more productive e.g. he would allocate no more than 30 minutes each day to checking emails. That way he kept on top of his correspondence but he didn’t let it take a big chunk of his working day.

 10. Automated Scheduling/Make an Appointment with Yourself!

As we have already seen, digital tools can be great timesavers. Use automated scheduling tools like Calendly to streamline interviews. Clients and colleagues can book available slots based on your schedule without constant back-and-forth communication. 

Also, you can leverage the power of digital tools such as Google Calendar. Use your digital calendar to set an appointment with yourself to do specific tasks. E.g. If you need to write an article for your company, set a day and time on your digital calendar with an email or notification reminder. 

11. Time Off, 4-Day Week, No-time

This final tip is probably more relevant for freelancers unless you have a flexible schedule in your company. If you are feeling tired, unfocused and unproductive, maybe you would benefit from a day off. Then come back to the fold fully rejuvenated and ready to go again. 

Increasingly popular are companies that operate on a four-day week basis. In most cases, these companies find productivity increases by having a four-day week instead of five. 

Lastly, the concept of ‘no-time’ is popular among some of the most successful minds in history and present times. No time is where you consciously choose to do nothing work-related and just relax e.g. go for a long walk etc. During this period of ‘no time’ you may have some of your most innovative ideas because you allow yourself time out from your busy schedule. Einstein, Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs all practised no time. Read more about it in this article I wrote in 2023.

Well, now you have 11 great tips which I hope you love. Choose your favourite ones and save time in your busy schedule! 

(A special mention to Time Management expert Victoria Lewis whose webinar inspired some of these tips and also to David Rahman, mind coach and author of ‘Let It Go’.) 

Sources

1. https://medium.com/@CraigBallantyne/how-to-save-2-hours-a-day-40a075a148f3
2. https://www.betterup.com/blog/the-5-am-club/
3. https://www.memtime.com/
4. https://apps.apple.com/us/app/tabata-timer-and-hiit-timer/id664563975
5. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evgeniysharafan.tabatatimer&hl=en
6. https://lucidspark.com/blog/parkinsons-law
7. https://4dayweek.io/case-studies
8. https://www.yourbusinessgroup.biz/the-no-time-approach-to-business-success

       https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorialewisbusinesssupport/

   9.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorialewisbusinesssupport/

   10. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rahmandavid/

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