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manage time
Waste Time To Be More Efficient
Waste Time To Be More Efficient
It seems counterintuitive to state that you could be more efficient by wasting time. But, the truth is, when you allow yourself some flexibility in the process, you have the potential to make efficiency happen.
This is not to say that you can spend six hours out of an eight-hour day wasting your time. You need to keep the ratio skewed to being productive. But, trying to get too much done without having some “you time,” is going to burn you out.
The phrase wasting time is actually a misnomer in this case. What you are doing is setting aside some time to be creative or to get some exercise, etc. It could even be a time that lets you clear your head by taking a walk or sitting in a room by yourself to get away from the grind.
People make proclamations that they are too busy to waste time in the manner specified. But, that could be a huge mistake. When you set aside that time to do something out of the ordinary or spontaneous, you often discover ways to do your main tasks better.
For instance, suppose you went to the gym during your lunch hour, and you took a class. In the class is someone who is involved in the same kind of business you are in but works for a different company.
You both get to talking and become friends. Then, you exchange ideas and in the process discover information that you incorporate into your work.
This exchange may not have happened in your workspace. Sometimes, it takes outside entities to get our creative juices flowing. Therefore it’s always a good idea to look for different ways to accomplish the same tasks or talk to people you wouldn’t normally talk to on a routine basis.
You will need to make sure this time-wasting process if it can be called that, is limited to a small percentage of your day or your to-do list. You still need to get your work done.
But, there is a reason why companies don’t harp onto their employees when they take some time to socialize in the coffee room, etc. Even within different departments, you can expand your knowledge base, and that is good for the company as a whole.
Some people will go overboard with this and end up being late on their deadlines. Avoid this at all costs. Set goals for the day that give you a certain amount of time for yourself after completing a large portion of your daily routine.
Can Being More Efficient Lower Stress?
When you learn how to be more efficient, you get more work done, and you tend to do it better, all things being equal. This makes your boss happy which means you won’t get in trouble for not getting your work complete. You may be given more responsibilities as a result, but as long as you maintain your efficiency, you should be able to add those to your workload.
Efficiency also means getting others to help you out. As you prove your effectiveness and your responsibilities increase, you should be able to get support for having others pitch in.
When you get support from your boss, it will be more difficult for your colleagues to resist your authority. Besides, when you show them how to be more efficient, it will get them on board. They will likely ask others for help when that happens.
This increase in efficiency is going to mean more work gets done, but it will take less time. You will constantly look for ways to do things better, whether it be via automation, or use delegation, etc.
Since you are getting more done with less, your stress levels will decrease, and you will be happier at work.
There will be some managers who don’t see the forest for the trees and the more work you get done, the more they see it as an opportunity to increase your workload.
This can get to the point of adding to your stress levels if they don’t support you. For instance, if they discourage you from delegating these new responsibilities, or they don’t give you the tools you need, this will overwhelm you and add to your stress. If talking it out with your manager won’t help, it may be time to look elsewhere.
The good news is your increased skills in being efficient will help you land a new job quicker.
When you learn how to be more efficient, you have greater control of your workload. Most people find they actually free up time when this happens due to economies of scale.
This free time gives you breathing room, and you won’t be so flustered all the time. You won’t be scrambling to get your work done by the deadlines.
Efficient people tend to have more opportunities available to them, in their current employment situations as well as outside the organization. They will always be in more demand. The great part about this is it won’t add to their stress levels.
How To Make Your Workouts More Efficient
One of the reasons people hate going to the gym is because they have to spend hours there to get any benefits. But, there are ways to make your workouts more efficient, which means you won’t have to spend as much time at the gym.
Do some of your exercises at home. If you have some dumbbells lying around, keep them in your family room or whatever room you spend most of your time. While watching television, stand up and use the dumbbells for one set. Do this on commercial breaks.
You can also do a set of sit-ups while watching television or whatever you do in your spare time. If you can get several sets in while you are home, you will have less to do at the gym. By staggering these exercises, you will be more inclined to do them.
Consider using the services of a personal trainer. These people go through a certification which means they learn the best exercises to do in the shortest time possible.
They will also show you how to do them right and correct you when you are not. The downside to this is they tend to be expensive and require you to work with them on a weekly basis.
You should also consider working out with a friend. It’s much easier to keep after each other than it is to try to motivate yourself. A friend may also help to motivate you into going to the gym when you start losing that drive.
It’s probably a good idea to keep the number of people you work with small. The larger a group is, the more they become distracted with talking too much, etc. This can still happen when you work with one person. If it does, you can try to choose someone else as your workout partner.
Another way to make your workouts more efficient is to come up with an actual plan for your workout. You could choose to hire a personal trainer just to come up with your plan and then do the workouts on your own.
But, there is also plenty of information on the internet that can help you structure your own plan. Try out different plans you may find and write them down. Make sure you are consistent in working your plan and have a way to measure your success.
Make sure that you factor in your diet when you are working out. Many people believe they can eat whatever they want since they are working out. This is false, and you will not get as much out of your workout when you do this.
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Manage Time With A Success Mindset
Manage Time With A Success Mindset
So, you’re anxious to reach those goals you’ve set for yourself and your online business, but you quickly realize that there’s only so much time in the day. No matter how hard you try, you feel as though you’re always one step behind.
One thing becomes very clear: You need a plan.
No matter what business or industry you’re involved in, learning how to effectively manage your time is one of the most important skills that will set you on the path towards ongoing success.
Without a system designed to place a value on each hour you spend working on your business, you’ll find yourself frantically scrambling to meet deadlines, follow through on launches and prioritize what is most important to your business.
This article has been written to help you get more done in less time by levelling up your productivity score quickly and easily.
The strategies contained in this article are designed to help you learn to value your time, make informed decisions about the kind of work you’re focused on and ultimately, beat the clock.
Let’s begin. There’s no time to waste. 😊
Lose The Employee Mindset!
One of the reasons so many people seem to struggle to gain traction in their business is entirely due to the way they manage their daily activities.
This typically points to one major problem: People are stuck in an employee mindset!
They’re so used to that 9-5 grind that they aren’t equipped to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, which will help them make the transition so they can train themselves to focus on the most important tasks: prioritizing their time and assigning value to the time they spend building their business.
When you work for yourself, your time is more valuable than it has ever been. You’re no longer an employee, paid for each workday regardless of the outcome. If you aren’t ruthless with focusing on the most important tasks, you can easily fall behind or find yourself constantly treading water trying to stay afloat.
As an entrepreneur, you’re solely responsible for your business, so your ability to value your time and make every minute count will have a major impact on how successful you’ll be.
Fail to make this important shift in the way you spend your time, and you’ll always struggle to get to where you want to be.
Thankfully, it’s not all that difficult to break that cycle and transition your way of thinking from that of an employee to a boss. It starts with preparing yourself for the realities of being an entrepreneur.
This means you need to:
Set Realistic Goals. You must be honest about what you’re capable of getting done on any given day. Then you need to determine how many hours you’re willing to invest in your business and then assign those hours to specific projects.
Break tasks down into smaller, focused projects. Tim Ferris, author of “The 4-Hour Work Week”, refers to this as “chunking”. We’ll talk more about the importance of this in a bit because it’s a great way to boost your productivity and get more done in less time.
Cut out Distractions. Your work environment will change drastically from what you may be used to as an employee, and you need to optimize your workspace so that it’s supporting a focused, productive workflow.
Identify the Truth Behind Procrastination. This is one of the hardest things to acknowledge at times, especially if you’ve gotten into the habit of procrastinating for reasons you aren’t aware of.
We’ll talk more about this in an upcoming chapter because it deserves a section of its own. It’s that important.
Be Ruthless in Prioritizing. Does your email really need to stay open while you work so that all those notifications cause you to continuously check your inbox?
Cutting out distractions, as we just mentioned, plays a huge role in your ability to prioritize. Every hour needs to count, and you’ll get a lot more done if you focus each segment of your time on only one task. No outside interference!
Now let’s take a closer look at how you can learn the chunking technique, which will immediately boost your daily output and keep you focused on meeting your goals.
Time Chunking 101
For years, I would fire up the laptop and start my day doing several different things at once. I’d check email, then maybe do some writing, then head over to social media, and then back to email yet again.
This cycle cost me valuable time, and while I thought I was proficient at multi-tasking, the truth is even the most seasoned go-getter will struggle to get everything done if they’re trying to tackle all things at once. Time management needs to be more purposeful to be effective.
Chunking is where you decide to focus on just one major task at a time (or even per day). Depending on the type of business you’re involved in, this might include one day exclusively focused on graphic design, then one day dedicated to marketing.
Consider creating a detailed task list of all the important aspects of your business; the things that keep it all afloat and absolutely require your time.
This can be tricky because we tend to things all things are important, but the reality is, they’re not.
When it comes to any business, there are a handful of critical tasks that need to be taken care of daily, and the rest just adds a little more gas to the tank. They can be done later once the main tasks are out of the way.
You need to learn to place a value on every ounce of “fuel” you have left. That’s where chunking comes into play.
By focusing on one main task a day, or at least per segment of allocated time, you are not only able to focus strictly on getting it done on time, but the quality of your work will likely be much better because you’re not being constantly derailed. Give it a try!
Don’t be tempted to multi-task because this is a productivity killer! So many people make a big deal of being able to multi-task, but all you end up with are a number of tasks that are partly done and an increasing amount of frustration because you never seem to be able to clear things off your to-do-list; sticking to one task at a time is much more productive, believe me!
And remember, one way to stay productive is to be focused and many people struggle with this. If you want to learn more about staying focused, check out the featured resource below for a free report; download, read it and take action 😊
