How can I make better use of my time?
Try
one or all of these 10 tips on making the
best use of your time:
Create
a perfect workspace.
Don’t
wait until the last minute to get everything ready for the work you'll need to
complete. Gather all materials the night before so that you don't waste time in
the morning looking for them. This applies to reference materials (bookmark
them in your browser or write notes that you'll have handy on your desk), a
plan for the day (checklist of tasks you need to complete), a bottle of water
at your desk, an energy snack (a power bar or a fruit and nut mix). Some more
tips to consider:
·
Too much noise from family or
roommates? Pack it all up and go to the library, then find
a desk in the back so you don't get distracted by anyone walking by.
·
Coworkers chatting non-stop? Invest
in a good pair of noise-cancelling headphones, and if possible get away from
your desk for an hour and find a table in the cafeteria or an empty conference
room so that you can concentrate on an important deadline.
Always
have a goal to aspire to.
When
you have specific goals you want to achieve, you are less likely to waste time
on things that are not related to those goals. The bonus: everything you do
starts feeling that it has purpose. To help you focus better on your goals, try
this technique:
·
Start each day with the question: What is the ONE THING I am committed to completing
today? This question forces you
to prioritize, helps your brain focus better, and streamlines the work you need
to do on that particular day, so that you don't feel stressed and overwhelmed
with having to make too many choices.
Find
out how your brain works.
There
is a way to work smarter (in less time) rather than harder (in more time):
optimize your brain performance. For one week, keep a log of all mental
activities you perform in the morning, midday, afternoon and evening. You will
notice a pattern in how your brain works at a certain time of day. Then, adjust
your schedule to accommodate the activities depending on what's right for your
brain and when. For example:
·
Mornings can be great for doing deep work,
i.e. work that requires a lot of your concentration. Some scientists call this
the brain’s peak performance time, and it's roughly 2-4 hours after we wake up.
So, for example, if you wake up at 6, your peak times are between 8 and 10 a.m.
Block this time off for your analytical brain to perform the most complex tasks
that require a lot of focus.
·
Early afternoons are great for collaborating. This
covers the 12-4 p.m. time range, when you take a lunch break and the few hours
after, when you are more likely to socialize. It's a good time of day to
schedule meetings, brainstorm ideas with others, and work together on projects
where you can provide feedback and get recommendations on your work.
·
Evenings,
usually around 5-9 p.m., can be scheduled for strategic thinking. This is
when the brain eases into a different tempo when it can be more creative. If
you're setting goals and strategizing where you want to be in 6 months' time or
a year with your personal development or career, this is when you can outline
your next steps. It's a great time for creating and contemplating the big
picture.
Become
a pro at time management.
Why
would you waste hours at your desk working but not really being as productive
as you could be? Try a different approach to your work:
·
When you're ready to start studying, use a timer to divide up your time into manageable increments that will allow your
brain to focus in a more targeted and effective way. Set the timer to 30 or 60
minute increments to maximize concentration.
·
For even shorter periods of concentration, try
the Pomodoro technique which consists of 25 minute blocks of time, followed by 5 minute breaks.
When you're done with one segment, step away from your desk and do something
completely unrelated to work to give your brain a chance to rest: take a
5-minute walk to get some fresh air, stretch your body for a few minutes, grab
a cup of coffee or tea.
Ignore
distractions successfully.
Distractions
can easily make you slip from the work you are focusing on, and can waste time
without you even noticing. Reading email and constantly checking your
Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter feed prevents you from focusing and can make
you feel overwhelmed. Even worse: studies have shown that this multitasking can lower
your IQ by 10
points!
Make
a conscious effort to avoid distractions as much as possible. Here’s how:
·
Set your phone to Airplane mode when you need
to focus without any disturbances.
·
Set expectations with others by letting them
know you won't be available in the next few hours, so they don’t interrupt you
with their requests, questions or comments.
·
Check your email and social media apps only 2–3
times a day (around lunchtime, later in the afternoon, and evening).
·
Avoid browsing the Internet or reading the
daily news; leave these activities for later after you've completed all the
items you’ve listed in your daily plan.
Answer
phone calls only from people who are on your Favorites list.
Why
would you waste time picking up the phone whenever it rings? That's what
voicemail is for. Consider this: every time you pick up the phone, the person
calling you gets ownership of your time. Try this instead:
·
Get smarter with your phone: screen your calls,
call back if something is urgent, and for the rest, follow up when the time is
right for you.
Watch
your daily TV intake.
Watching
a TV show you like to follow is one thing. But often that hour goes by, and you
find yourself channel surfing, finding another show, then another, then maybe a
movie. Next thing you know, it’s 3, 4, or 5 hours later and you realize you
should already be asleep.
Try
a different source of entertainment that doubles up as a learning experience:
·
Finding Joe: It's
a documentary about the professor and writer of mythology, Joseph Campbell, and
the concept of the hero's journey: why the myth of the hero is still important to us,
how we can discover what excites us and gives us greater purpose, and what we
can do to apply these ideas to the personal journeys in our lives.
·
YouTube FightMediocrity channel. It
is a channel dedicated to fighting mediocrity through big ideas, using
self-improvement books and animated important concepts that are in short video
format.
·
BBC documentary series The Ancient Worlds. British
historian Bettany Hughes shares her passion for ancient societies and talks
about everyday life in ancient Alexandria, Rome, and Athens. She gives an
in-depth look into the way society was organized among Minoans, Spartans, and
the Moors.
·
BBC travelogue in 3 parts Ibn Battuta: The
Man Who Walked Across the World. This show is about a 14th Century scholar who covered
75,000 miles, 40 countries and three continents in a 30-year odyssey.
Be
smart with your commute.
Whether
you are walking, taking the bus or train, or driving to school or work every
day, all that time adds up. Why not plan ahead so that you can maximize your
commute to learn new things and get strategic about how to achieve goals that
are important to you?
Podcasts
can make your commute time much more interesting by feeding your brain, keeping
you alert and focused, and by boosting your curiosity. Here are some ideas:
·
Optimize with Brian
Johnson (my top pick: More wisdom in less time to help you live your
greatest life. Condensed big ideas from the best books on optimal living and
micro classes on how to apply these ideas.)
·
The Inquiry (a debate on a controversial topic in the news and 4
experts challenging each other with 2 views, for and against the topic)
·
Intelligence Squared (the world’s leading forum for debate and intelligent
discussion, led by great orators and sharp minds)
·
Achieve Your Goals with
Hal Elrod (creator of The Miracle Morning, provides ideas to cultivate a morning routine and boost productivity)
·
This Is Your Life with
Michael Hyatt (a podcast dedicated to
intentional leadership, with the goal to help you live with more passion, work
with greater focus, and lead with extraordinary influence)
·
Happier With Gretchen
Rubin (a fun show led by
bestselling author of The
Happiness Project, with small
ideas you can apply to your life to exercise your happiness muscle)
·
Radio Headspace (a podcast to give you inspiration for a healthier,
happier life, with topics such as mindfulness, being happier, and changing the
world)
Don’t
dwell on your mistakes.
It’s
a secret time waster. There’s a big difference between learning from and
dwelling on mistakes. Consider this: you either learn to fail or fail to learn.
Making mistakes is a normal part of life. It’s how you approach them that matters. For example:
·
Try a different strategy of viewing your past
by forgiving yourself for mistakes that you made. Reflect on them, learn from
them, but don't hold on to them. This applies to your relationships, career,
education, and other areas of your life in which you feel you didn’t achieve
what you wanted or underperformed in some way. By changing how you relate to
mistakes, you will give yourself more freedom to manage your future more
successfully.
Don’t
waste time talking to toxic people and obsessing over social media updates your
friends (or complete strangers) make.
·
Toxic people may claim they are your
friends, but they are not. Why?
Because they don’t support you, they don’t listen to you, and chances are they
won’t change just because you want them to. Be very selective who you spend
your free time with, and next time a toxic person wants to monopolize your
time, just say no. Tell them you’re busy. Don’t engage in negative banter.
You're better off spending free time on your own doing something that makes you
relaxed and happy.
·
It’s easy to get sucked into the latest
Facebook or Instagram updates. Try to take everything you see and hear with a
grain of salt. Chances are that the pictures and updates are not your friends’
reality; it’s the version of
their reality they want you to see.
Instead, focus on what you have going for you in your life. Practice gratitude
for the little things, stay true to your goals, and don’t let others sway you
from accomplishing what you have set out to do. Why? Because you made a
commitment to yourself when you set your own personal goals. And because they
should be what matters most to
you.
Nela Canovic,
https://www.quora.com/How-can-I-make-better-use-of-my-time/answer/Nela-Canovic
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