My top 10 time saving tips for you!
Time will be tight this week. We’ve trained one of our clients over the last 2 days and are finally ready to kick of that project. My client is moving at the end of this week and there are many last minute things popping up. There are a number of networking events which I’ll attend. It’s all hustle and bustle this week!
To not go crazy and to keep my cool, I’ll need to be careful about how I’ll spend my time this week. Extra puffers need to be included and like you, I don’t have many of those! I can’t plan my time like a military operation, but there are some time saving tips which I’ll use!
You can benefit from these time saving tips, too! Get your cool back and feel like you’re back in the driver’s seat with these top 10 time saving tips:
- Review your calendar. Does everything shown on your calendar need to happen this week? Can anything be postponed? And do you need to do all these things or can they be done by someone else (e.g. cleaning your home)? Be ruthless and learn to say “No” to requests and events.
- Prioritise your activities. If you can’t drop any or only some of the activities scheduled for this week, prioritise according to urgency and importance. Start with the task which has the highest urgency and importance factor, then move to urgent only task before tackling the important activities. Anything that’s neither urgent nor important doesn’t need to be done!
- Choose your outfit for each day (and evening) for the upcoming week. Include also your accessories, shoes and handbags when putting your outfits together. Don’t forget to set aside your gym gear.
- Simplify cooking. Which nights will you be out this week? There won’t be a need to cook – great! For the other nights, decide on a menu in advance and check that you have the ingredients at home. If you do meal planning, can you already predict a stressful day or a day with a late finish where you can simply pop a casserole into the oven?
- Just like preparing for your week ahead, prepare for your next day before it has even started. Use the last 15-30 minutes of your time in the office and decide on what needs to be done the next day. Review your appointments and prepare the relevant documents. You’ll have your prioritised to-do list ready when you’ll start in the morning and can get cracking immediately. You can do the same at home for your children. Check what they have going on the next day and pack their school bag accordingly. Do they need to bring any approval forms in? Sign them the night before and place them in the school bag.
- Batch your errands. With traffic as mad as it can be, don’t waste your time driving from one end of town to another. Arrange your errands by location and sort according to opening times. Having found a fabulous parking spot, you don’t want to stand in front of closed shop doors.
- Use one afternoon or evening to get all gifts for that month. First, check your calendar and write down the occasions (e.g. birthday, wedding, anniversary, thank you). Do you need just a card? Head to your favourite card shop or a large one which caters for all tastes. For presents, can you find them in the same location? For recipients abroad, shopping online can ensure the post delivers it safely and with a reduced shipping fee.
- Set a timer.Setting a timer helps you to focus. You know you can’t take forever which gets you into the productive mood. If you’re stretched for time and still have to call a friend, make them aware of your time constrains and offer to spend more time with them another day.
- Don’t check your emails every other minute. Emails can be distractive. You may think you’re only reading it and immediately afterwards, you can continue working on your previous task. These distractions, however, have stolen some time from you and it tasks a couple of minutes to get back into your previous task. This doesn’t sound bad if you do it once. If this sounds like one of your habits, start by turning off the notification sound of the new email. As a step further, also turn off the little pop up window with the pre-view pane for the incoming email. Check your emails in 15 minute intervals and then lengthen the periods between checking for new emails until you’ll check only once in the morning, around lunch time and evening. You’d be surprised how much more you are actually getting done.
- Take a 5 minute break. Have a drink, ideally decaffeinated, and just breathe. You may want to do a quick meditation, close your eyes or listen to your favourite song. While this break may not save you time directly, it will re-charge your energies for what’s ahead and give you the focus to tackle that. This energy will allow you to concentrate, having less time to spend for each task and not having to rework these tasks either.
One extra tip is to treat your body well while you’re experiencing a pressured period. Whether this is a jam packed agenda in the office or gazillion things to do at home, eating right and getting enough sleep will give you the power to go through this period. With that being said, it’s time for me to go to bed.
While I’m sleeping, let me know what your favourite time saving tip is. I’m looking forward to hearing from you when I get up.
Until next time,
Agni