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One of the most asked questions of the modern age must be “How do I get more time?” Time is the most finite resource out there. Unlike pretty much everything else you can’t actually “make” more. You can’t find any, create any or buy more. You just have to USE the time you have in a way that makes it FEEL like you have more time.
I know.
That sounds terrible. But the upside is that…
This should give us some reassurance, right? If they’ve been able to get all that stuff done surely we can too.
The key to making more time is to USE our time in the best ways we can and usually, that involves two key strategies. Cutting out things that don’t matter to us, and really focusing on the things that do.
In this post I’m going to give you 18 ways to get more time in your day.
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Get organized to get more time
Organization makes a MASSIVE difference in the amount of time you have. Being spontaneous might sounds fun but when you have a ton of things on the go, lacklustre organization skills cost you a ton of time.
1. Plan
The first step to getting organized is to plan. I know it’s hard but if you just start with something as simple as a to-do list you will be eons ahead of where you were before.
If you take it a step further and plan out your week you’ll be suprised at how quickly you can get hours back due to that small time investment.
Check out our Learn to Plan Challenge to start developing this skill.
2. Prioritize
By spending your time on the things that are truly important, you’ll be able to maximize your time while feeling so much more fulfilled. When you spend time on things that matter you’re more motivated, more productive and can make the most out of the time you have.
On the other side, it’s super draining to spend hours and hours on stuff you don’t like with people you don’t like. So minimize that as much as possible to be a happier, healthier you with more time on your hands to boot.
3. Always set a deadline on tasks
People function better with some urgency.
It’s just part of our nature, for better or for worse.
When we have solid deadlines to get something accomplished we “dilly dally” a lot less. And since we’re not wasting time we get that time back.
4. Stick to your schedule
After you make your plan, set your priorities and set time limits on getting your tasks done, STICK TO YOUR SCHEDULE!
I love the expression: Plan your work then work your plan.
This will help maintain your sense of urgency to stay on track and get more done. It will also make sure that you have time for all the things that are important to you.
Do you really need to do it?
I’m going to tell you a secret….
Most of the things that people do, they don’t need to.
It’s this busy, low impact work that makes us feel stressed, overworked.
If we just stopped being busy and started to spend time on things that make a difference we would have way less to do. But the things that we DO do would be of much higher quality.
5. Use tools
In order to combat the busy-ness use tools where you can.
Things like email autoresponders are AMAZING and can save you so much time by answering FAQs or routing people to other resources for help instead of you being at everyone’s beck and call.
Other tools you can use are things like Trello, Asana, a good planning system, Slack, Google Calendar, Monday.com…
There are so many apps and programs out there that will help you maximize your time by making things so much easier.
6. Delegate to get more time
Some times there are things that need to get done but they don’t need to get done by YOU.
By doing this you empower others and lighten your load at the same time. Win- Win.
You can do this in both your work and home life. I frequently get help with tasks around the house by way of my partner and children. We all have tasks to do and since I really started to enforce follow through, my house has been cleaner, I have been happier and I’ve had way more time in my week.
7. Automate as much as possible (emails, bills)
Right there with delegate is automate.
Sometimes there isn’t a person you can get to do something but there is a THING that can do it for you. As I mentioned earlier, tools can be a huge part of a great time management strategy.
Automate bill payments so that you never miss one and you don’t have to think about it. Automate investments, savings and pretty much all your financial needs.
You can automate email responses as we talked about as well as automating the brewing of your morning coffee.
The less you have to do the better!
8. Take control – stay out of Q3
Another massive way to get more time in your day is to avoid distractions.
Very often we get caught up in doing things that are not important but seem urgent. They demand our attention right now and because they’re so in our faces we think they need to be focused on.
By recognizing distractions and saying no to doing them I’d be willing to bet you’d get an hour or more back into EVERY day.
Read more about prioritizing the right way
Faster ways to hit your goals
It’s super important to maximize your time in hitting goals and this requires focused intention. By buckling down and getting it done you’ll get a ton of time back.
9. Work for you first
One thing that I learned then forgot and learned again is that I don’t have a ton of cognitive function at night. I’m just not at my best.
I used to save personal projects for after dinner but two things kept happening.
First, I didn’t have any time after dinner. Between getting dinner cleaned up, lunches made, chores done and the kids in bed I had no time before I had to be in bed.
The second thing was that I was freaking tired at the end of the day.
I’m just not a night owl. When I tried to do things that were important to me at night, they didn’t get done.
Once I switched my schedule around so that I did the things that were important to me first thing in the morning, I started to feel better, more motivated and like I could get more done.
Figure out when your productive time is here – free worksheet included!
10. Identify WHEN you’re most productive
I’ve written a whole post on this so I will refer you there but like I said above, working on things that take a lot of brainpower during times when you HAVE a lot of brainpower just makes sense.
If you’re spending your valuable time trying to focus on what you have to do instead of just getting started then maybe you should be doing it at a different time.
11. Done is better than perfect
First, because nothing can actually be perfect and second, because perfect is boring.
You’ll never get anything done if you just keep trying to make it perfect and if you’re spending all your time doing this, you effectively have nothing to show for it.
Save yourself the time and heartache and when it’s done, stop. Then start putting your time into something else.
12. Avoid interuptions
Similar to distractions, interuptions are enormous time wasters.
What makes this even worse is also that it takes time to get back in your groove. The more time that you have to spend getting focused the less time you actually spend on your tasks.
Something as simple as closing a door or putting up a “please let me work” sign could save you hours a week while you’re trying to get things done.
Effeciency equals more time
This is probably what more people think of when they’re trying to save time. And it’s true. The more efficient you are with your time the more of it you’ll have to use other places.
13. Meal Plan and Prep
I could not stress this more if I wanted to!
Figuring out how to meal plan in order to cut down on prep, cook and cleaning time has been monumental in saving me tons of time week after week. If there is only one thing you do from this list, DO THIS ONE.
And it’s not just because of the time savings. It’ll save you a ton of energy, typically help you eat healthier and if you do it right you can slash your food bill significantly as well. Literally no downside.
Learn more about meal planning here
14. Batch errands
I’m huge on reducing waste, in any capacity. So whether that’s time, food, money or anything else, I want to be as economical and efficient as I can be.
That’s why I batch errands together. I will wait until I have a few things to do in the same part of town before I tackle them and I also try to keep my frequently shopped at places close together.
So as an example, I do dollar store runs after the gym since there’s a dollar store right next to it. I go to the post office and bulk buy store and Michael’s when I take the kids to the library since they’re all on the same street.
Not only will this save you time but you’ll save on gas as well.
Learn about Task Batching here
15. Limit screen time
If there is one thing that is guilty of stealing the most time from us without us even realizing it, it’s screen time. I was listening to the radio the other day and they were talking about how the average person checks their phone over 2000 times a day.
Let that sink in.
That’s once every 45 seconds! Did anything really change from the last time we looked? Probably not.
So stop.
Set windows in your day where you just keep your phone in a drawer or a different room. That way it’s not tempting you. By giving yourself the opportunity to really focus on what you’re doing you’ll increase your productivity and give your self more time back.
16. Buy less stuff
This is a good one. The less stuff you have the less time you have to spend taking care of it. I used to have a lot of stuff. My parents used to make fun of my as a child because they thought I was an insane hoarder. I kept everything.
This was terrible for a variety of reasons, I could never find anything, didn’t know what I had and I hate cleaning. The problem when you have a lot of stuff is that you have a lot of stuff to clean up.
So when I finally did a series of massive purges over the last 3 years I felt so much better. No more time spent digging through closests and boxes or cleaning up the gizzilion and one baby toys I had.
Just a lot more peace of mind.
17. Stop with the paper
If you haven’t gone paperless I highly encourage you to do it. Not only will you reduce your environmetal footprint but you’ll eliminate so much of the headache that comes with going through endless piles of paper looking for a certain document.
It’s so much easier and faster to have digital copies that you can search at the touch of a button. Bonus: they never go missing.
Seriously, just do this.
No one likes shredding confidential info so just stop getting it mailed to you.
18. Take Care of yourself
The last thing that you should do to be more effient with your time is to take care of yourself. Yes, it’s true. If you take the time to recharge you’ll be more productive and save time by being your best self.
There’s even been a recent new article about Microsoft in Japan. The company gave all of it’s workers Fridays off for 5 straight weeks and saw productivity increase by 40%!
There were a ton of benefits to this strategy (read the article here) and the things is, if we’re well-rested and sharp we have less brain fog and waste less time and resources.
All in all, in order to get the most out of your time it’s important to get organized, be efficient and really analyze whether something is worth while or not.
By taking some of these steps you’ll be able to get hours back into your weeks and feel great about all the things that you’ll be able to accomplish with all the extra time that you created for yourself.
So go forth my friends!
And live a happier, more productive, less stressful life.
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