How often have you heard this, or said it yourself? Lots of times I would imagine. I certainly have.

I made a promise to myself a while ago that I am not allowed to utter those words again. Instead, anything I don’t ‘have time’ to do will be considered as not important enough to spend my valuable time on. Everyone has the same 24 hours in the day and I believe that how you choose to spend those hours defines your priorities and is a huge contributor to how productive you are.

It’s amazing how much time you can find when you minimise the things that aren’t important to make room for the things that are.

Where do you spend your time?
I bet you don’t even realise where half of your time goes. If you did, you would probably be surprised. I’ve spent many an unproductive hour on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram (as well as productive ones so it’s not all bad).

First things first, you need to decide what your priorities are and how to create a lifestyle where you have time to give them your full attention.

To start things off, here are a number of my favourite time hacks to:

-Get more time
-Spend time on the right things.

Get more time

1. Schedule less time to get things done.

I always say, ‘if it wasn’t for the last minute a lot wouldn’t get done’ In other words, when you limit how much time you give yourself to complete a task, you force yourself to work quicker so you can get things done faster. This doesn’t always apply to everything though and I’m not suggesting to ‘half’ do things, and some things do take longer than others but generally, if you give yourself 30 mins to complete a task, it will take you 30 mins, give yourself 15 mins and…you know the rest.

2. Stop watching T.V.

By that I mean mindless T.V. Choose to watch things that are really going to add some value to your life. This may be purely for relaxation purposes. Technology nowadays means we can watch things whenever we want and not only when they happen to be broadcast. Watch what you want, when you want and not just because there is nothing better to do.

3. Say no to unproductive activities in your life.

I’ve actually become a little bit obsessed with this concept and sometimes feel a little bit anxious when certain activities are eating into my precious time.

4. Remember that things don’t have to be ‘perfect’.

Spending too long on some things can actually be counterproductive. Sometimes ‘good’ is good enough.

5. Complete a few “maintenance tasks” each day so you will never be overwhelmed by an untidy house, piles of washing to be done or no food in the fridge. You will have more time to focus on more important tasks the rest of the week.

6. Read emails only when necessary.

For me once a day is quite sufficient, and that’s only to delete the amount of rubbish I get sent. I think a ‘things to do’ list entry needs to be to unsubscribe from things I seem to be getting sent on a regular basis. It may take a long time in the short term but will save a lot of time in the long run.

7. Limit time on Social media.

I’m guilty of spending way too much time trawling through Instagram looking at pictures of people’s travels, breakfast plates and outfits. I love photography, travel (and food) though so I’m passing it off as research. Saying that, social media has its place and there are some really valuable connections to be made, so I guess I should reword this point by saying ‘limit unproductive time on social media’

8. Multitask.

Trying to do two things at once is sometimes a recipe for disaster, as neither thing gets finished, but I’ve learnt to do this with really small tasks like emptying the dishwasher whilst waiting for the kettle to boil, doing squats when the Nespresso machine is making my coffee, listening to a podcast whilst driving. Choose things that are not going to compete with each other, they are just clever uses of your time making your overall day more productive and allowing you to fit more in.

Now that you have ‘created’ some extra time…

Spend time on the right things

1. Determine your highest-leverage activities.

What are the things that produce the best outcomes for you? This applies to your working life and ‘other’ life. It’s not about balancing your time by allocating an equal amount of time to all areas of your life. Make a list of those things and invest the majority of your time on them.

2. Shorten how long you do something for.

There are things in life we all put off doing. We put them off because we don’t like them or think they take up too much time. A great way to integrate new habits into your life is to simply shorten the amount of time you will spend on them each day. Let’s take exercise as an example. You might say “Could I exercise for 1 hour a day? No, I’m not going do it. Okay, what about 30 minutes. Still too long. Okay, 15 minutes? That doesn’t sound too bad, I can do that.

3. Work on tasks that are important, but not urgent.

Every day, do at least one task that is important but not urgent, so you can make sure you are always ahead of yourself. There’s nothing worse than the stress of having to do something having left it to the last minute (although, sometimes I have found the ‘last minute’ to be very productive).

4. Make a procrastination list.

What things do you procrastinate over? Most of the things on my list are not actually difficult to do, I just avoid doing them for whatever reason. A list makes me more aware, and hopefully, more likely to stop putting them off.

5. Live by the two-minute rule.

The two-minute rule overcomes procrastination by making a task so easy, that you can’t really say no. Once you start doing something, it’s easier to continue doing it. The important part of any new habit is getting started – it’s not about getting it perfect, just about doing it consistently. In the end, it may take more than 2 minutes but who’s counting?

6. Schedule your free time.

Adding more structure to your free time has actually been shown to make you more productive and motivated. Don’t just waste your time thinking about what you could be doing. Even if you want to spend the day sunbathing, at least if it’s something you have thought about in advance, you will feel as though it’s time well spent. I’m not saying you can’t be spontaneous and change your plans at the last minute. In fact, anything but. Sometimes they are some of the best times.

7. Be mindful of how you spend your time.

Constantly monitor and reflect on how you spend your time (and energy and attention) throughout the day. I sometimes do this by setting an alarm on my phone and only allow myself a certain amount of time to do something. It’s far too easy to spend a long time on the things we enjoy and not so long on the things we don’t. In fact, its human nature that we are hard wired to look for pleasure and avoid pain. But this isn’t always the most productive way to live.

8. Spend more time planning.

Apparently, for every minute you plan, you save five minutes of ‘doing’. I’m not sure how exact this is, but for me, I find making a daily ‘things to do list’ helps me to be more productive by grouping tasks together and not forgetting important things.

There are so many factors that influence how much energy you have on a daily basis to complete the things you want to do and it’s all very well following the points above, but if you’re lacking in physical and mental energy, it can be easier said than done,

I hope this blog has been helpful to you and would welcome any strategies you have to manage your time allowing you to live a productive life.