Time Tools! 3 Ways To Get More Out Of Your Day...

Life as a full time college student with three jobs, a lively and active group of friends and various outside responsibilities takes discipline and planning. But even with all the discipline in the world, things happen, plans are changed and I often find myself at the end of the day wishing I had just a few more hours. Life today is in constant movement for most people. Whether it is a business owner trying to manage daily activities, meetings, networking and still make it to his kids play or a mom responsible for all the details that make their house function properly, people are constantly looking for more time. The truth is, unless you find a magic genie we all have the same 24 hours in a day. So how is it some seem to pull more time out of those 24 hours than others?

Here are 3 quick and easy ways to free up more time for productivity:

Smallest In, First OutMost people that move minute to minute have a pretty detailed schedule, one that is full of small 10-15 minute tasks that very quickly take up a large chunk of the day. The problem is, most people focus on the bigger issues of the day and put off the smaller things until later. This causes the person to worry and think on the small things throughout the day, not giving their full focus to the most important things. At the beginning of each day, make a list of all the tasks that need to be accomplished and categorize them by time and importance. Anything that NEEDS to be done that day that is under 15 minutes, go ahead and knock it out first thing in the morning. Having the smallest tasks marked off your list first will free up time while also clearing your mind for the more important tasks of the day.

Schedule Self Meetings and Quitting TimesOne of the biggest time fills throughout the day is getting caught up doing something for longer than needed. Often people rewrite lists with the same tasks for weeks because they never have time to accomplish them. One of the greatest time management lessons I learned was from Dr. Steve Greene, who advised to literally schedule time in the day in order to accomplish specific tasks. Just like one would set an appointment with a client, set appointments with yourself in order to accomplish large projects and important tasks and weigh the importance of “showing up” to those self meetings as important as it would be to show up for a client meeting. This ensures a specific time in the day that those tasks will be done, allowing for more production. Setting a quitting time is equally important, putting in the forefront of your mind exactly how much time you have to work on a project before moving on will strengthen your focus during the allotted time you have given.

Balance Weaknesses with StrengthsTime management is a hard topic for most and is constantly being perfected in some form or another. People vary on weaknesses and strengths, but allowing one to balance out the other will ensure more productivity in the day. Take a week out of your month to keep track of what you are doing with your time. Write down what you did everyday and how long it took you to do; this will allow you to see your flaws and strengths. For example, I have found one of my greatest weaknesses is the tendency to procrastinate; yet I also tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to completion of tasks. Also, knowing I work my best late at night- I plan focus time on large projects to align with my best hours of focus to increase production and balance out my weaknesses.

Incorporating these three factors will help you gain control over your day and open up time not only get more done, but allow you to accomplish the things YOU want to accomplish.
There are several other ways one can squeeze more time out of their day and people are constantly looking for ways to perfect time management, what works best for you?