5 Simple Ways To Save Time Everyday

You can't increase the length of your day, but you sure can create some spaces in your day by changing some of your habits.

Do you ever feel like 24 hours are not enough? If you are like me then maybe you do. At least occasionally.

The older you get, the shorter the days seem because there's always an increase in responsibility requiring you to devote more time.

The work never ends! And so balancing personal and professional life becomes a great challenge because of lack of time.

You want to build some healthy habits like exercising, reading or preparing your own meals, but you're always running late, leaving no time for any extra-curriculum.

But here's what I believe: life should be more than just our work. When you wake up every morning you should not think only about what you're going to do at work. You should also think about how you can be a little better than you were yesterday, in every aspect of your life. But again, who has time, right?

Wrong!

The truth is you can make small tweaks in your habits and create a lot of time within your day.

Certain things that surround us and certain habits that we have affect our productivity, and this post discusses exactly that.

Following are the 5 things that helped me manage my time a little bit better. Read on to know what they are.

1. Quit Social Media:

It's a trap! It's a trap!

Are you surprised to see this point as the #1 in this post?

If so, then you do need a digital detoxification.

Okay, not quit maybe because it is a great source of information as well. But at least reduce the time you spend online.

I can list many things stating why too much of social media is a bad thing for you, but for today's post let's just stick to "time-wastage".

Social media is where most people are wasting their time in the 21st century. I was never into social media too much, and yet I remember how much time I used to spend online, checking out my feed. I can only imagine how much time people addicted to social media might be spending online.

The fact that social media can turn a 5-minute break into 1 hour of pointless scrolling is the reason why I don't spend a lot of time on various social media platforms a lot, even though I'm a blogger. I like to post my updates, and I do interact with other bloggers and read their posts, but I have a set time for that. And so should you.

Here's how to take control:

⦿ Do not, at any cost, look at social media first thing in the morning or the last thing at the end of the day. Check your emails at a set time as well.

⦿ Turn off the internet/wifi on your phone. Ask your friends and family to call you in case of an emergency.

⦿ Practice self-control. Think about what you’re trying to achieve by not checking Instagram every 15 minutes. Do you want to be controlled by an app? I didn’t think so.

2. Pre-Plan Everything

But don't go crazy!

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.

- Alan Lakein

We all have certain things that we want to accomplish in various areas of our lives. Every day we have something to do, even if that “something” is only relaxing.

But here the catch: no matter how motivated you are, you can’t do everything every day. And that is why it’s important that you make a rough schedule.

It doesn’t have to be a complex one. You don’t have to make an hourly to-do list. Just a mental note of the tasks you have to do will work as well. All you need is a rough idea.

Planning things out gives you an idea of how your day is supposed to go. It helps your mind to prepare for the next day. So when you get up the next morning you know exactly where to start. You don’t have to waste a lot of time thinking about what to do, and how much of the work you need to finish to meet your goals.

I personally don’t write it down. I make mental notes of the things that I have to do the next day.

A few things to help you get started with pre-planning things:

⦿ Think about deadlines. This will help you prioritize your tasks.

⦿  Set a limit for each task. For example, if you are reading a book then make a mental note of, say, you will read for an hour or that you will read 50 pages of that book. So you don’t have to finish the whole book the next day, but setting a limit will bring you closer to finishing that book.

⦿ Don’t attempt to do bazillion things in a single day. From personal experience, I can tell you will end up getting anxious and feeling like a failure. Give yourself a break. You are a human being and not a machine. There’s only so much you can do in 24 hours. You can do a lot in 24 hours, but there’s a limit. And try to understand that limit. I never put more than 3 major tasks per day, and sometimes even just 1, if it's a big one. Once they are done, I move on to extra-curriculum.

⦿ Start with the most difficult task first. It’s best to have the biggest chunk of work out of the way first thing. You are energized when you wake up and so you can act quickly and effectively on the most important task.

3. Start Your Day Early:

Hey! Don't smash it. It's only doing its job.

Answer this question: at what time do you wake up?

People who wake up early never complain of not having enough time in a day because they always have a few extra hours in their hands before their daily hustle starts. That extra time they utilize to either to prepare themselves for the day, do some of the work in advance, or for personal health care. By the time they start their day most of the thinking is already done; things that you start wondering about when you reach the office. This helps them work smoothly and finish their work quickly and efficiently.

It also helps them mentally prepare for the day, so when they actually start their work their focus-mode is on.

People who get up early always have some extra time left in the evening as well.

So instead of waking up at 9 and crying that you have to start the work and you are already late (I know, I’ve been there), start waking up at 6 so you can have the extra 3 hours in your day, which you can spend however you like. You’ll have time to exercise, to prepare your meals, to prepare for the presentation, and you’ll have free time for yourself before your kids wake up.

You gotta learn how to manage your own time. Sacrifices have to be made if you want to see a better self.

P.S. Mornings are really beautiful and peaceful. It’s so much better to get up in the quiet of the morning. It’s almost like you woke up in a meditative state.

4. Stop Multitasking:

Eating and working together? Well, this is how you look when you multitask.

Are you an expert at multi-tasking? Stop right there!

Multitasking is one of the major things that is wasting your time big time.

I totally get it that you are busy. I am busy. Modern life is busy! And so thinking that multitasking will help you get things done faster is logical. But this is so far from reality.

According to a study, multitasking actually reduces your productivity by 40%.

40%!

That’s a massive percentage!

What is the one thing that’s the most important component to finish a big task quickly?

Answer: Focus. And multitasking prevents this.

When you go back-and-forth between two tasks you don’t can’t focus very well on any task, and you end up wasting a lot of time.

Studies suggest that it’s best that you do only one task at a time. Doing one task alone makes you far more productive than attempting to do multiple things.

Not only it’s a big time-waster but multitasking is actually really bad for your brain’s health as well. You can read about it here:10 Habits That Will Improve Your Brain Health And Function

5. Take Proper Breaks:

You see how happy this chick is? She's taking a coffee break after a half-an-hour session of hard work. Okay maybe not, but you get the idea.

Yes, by taking breaks in between your work you’ll actually increase your productivity and focus to a great level.

You can have a solid attention span for only a short period of time. And the curve goes down as the duration you spend on that task increases.

The maximum period you can have sustained attention is around 20 minutes, and it’s even lesser in children of different age group. But we do have the ability to re-focus on the same thing again after a short break. This is the reason why the Pomodoro technique is so effective.

Make sure you take 5 minutes to break after every 25 minutes of productive work. This will make you way more productive than you are right now.

Avoid social media for your 5-minutes break though.

Conclusion:

24 hours are actually not that long, but they're certainly not less either. You can achieve a lot in 24 hours if you learn how to manage time. You can't increase the length of your day, but you sure can create some spaces within your day by altering some of your habits.

Let's revise the points, shall we?

⦿  Limit social media use. Set a time when you will check your emails and social media.
⦿  Pre-plan everything. A mental note will do as well.
⦿  Start your day early. Early risers do enjoy a more peaceful start of the day.
⦿ Stop multitasking, it's making you dumb.
⦿  Take proper breaks. You gotta reward yourself!

Apply these points in your daily life and I can guarantee you'll see significant changes. I know I have.

I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment or get in touch on my social media:

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There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants and a burning desire to achieve it.

- Napoleon Hill

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