How to create more time in your day ?
People often complain about not having enough time in life. There is always one or another pressing issue revolving around our universe confining us with little to no time at all for some of the most important tasks in life.
When you move aside everyday chaos and stop for a moment then you would begin to notice, there is always the same amount of time being allocated to everyone around. In a way you have the equal luxury like the world’s most renowned people. All the life altering and most profound contributors like the Inventors, Discovers, Researchers, Philanthropists, Nobel prize winners, Business Tycoons, Social workers, Astronauts, Rocket Scientists, Doctors, Novelists and others have been blessed with the same 24 hours in a day. So how do we always end up stuck with the same pattern of time crisis over and over again? Lets try to catch the root cause and the suitable solutions to it.
What causes the time crisis ?
Lao Tzu, the famous Chinese philosopher and writer said “Time is a created thing. To say I don’t have time is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.”
It is our misconception that time is limited. We have plenty of time to achieve all that we aspire to be, to make room for our passion, and yet be able to accommodate the free time for a quick nap, a short walk, a prompt callback to that old friend, to visit our relatives, to attend your child’s school meetings, to make your favorite cuisines, to attend that pending seminar, to go to your college reunion, to attend a family function and to do as such unlimited desires which most of the time dies just being in our wishlist.
There could be multiple reasons for this crisis to arise in the first place and it varies depending upon the different personalities and mindsets.
- Going through the day without planning
Most people never plan a day until it has a few important events like a meeting, a party, a vacation, an exam, a doctor’s appointment, to catch a public transport, to receive or drop someone at the airport etc. While they never realize how important it is to plan each day the same way, with the same urgency to make the most out of a day.
2. Welcoming all the work together
It is true we have plenty of time to accomplish all that matters the most but if you have a habit of accepting every work that comes to your plate, it would be impossible to do all of them well within time.
3. Doing everything on your own
We get caught up with this pattern of doing all the tasks by ourselves and end up doing few of them. If you are also one of them, consider this one as the major pitfall engulfing your precious time.
4. Stop Daydreaming
Many of our most productive times just vanish in the heat of daydreaming. It does not necessarily always mean dreaming with your eyes open. It could be checking your phone every minute of every hour of every day, getting lost in the myriad of applications from the time you open your eyes each morning till you doze off at night or it could be gossiping, attending unnecessary calls, taking more than enough coffee breaks etc. Anything that distracts you could be contemplated under this category.
How to generate more time ?
- Make your To-Do Lists
Never let a day pass without proper planning. Do it in writing and preferably the 1st thing in the morning. It does work wonders and the amount of tasks that gets completed in this manner will amaze you.
Create a list of tasks that you intend to complete in a day and then prioritize it as per its urgency. Start with the topmost priority task and finish it. Put a cross against the task once done and keep going with remaining tasks until you cross all of the tasks at the end of the day.
Its natural that some of the tasks may still be sitting on your list waiting to be crossed. If you know its difficult to complete that task due to any reason such as dependency on someone else or a bad health etc. then add that task in the next day’s list.
2. Say “No”
Start saying NO to unimportant tasks or tasks with lower priority. This will make space for important tasks to be done with brilliant focus leading to less mistakes and helping to overcome mediocre work. Your to-do list should not have more than 7 items. Studies have shown that it’s easier and feasible to complete up to 7 tasks with sufficient time frames for each of the tasks. Be vigilant with the tasks you pick up and start saying “NO” if it’s not urgent.
3. Delegate tasks
Do yourself a favor and assign those tasks to someone else which does not require your direct intervention. Delegating tasks is an art and the people who are good at this smartly squeeze the time out for much more priority tasks.
4. Reduce Distractions
Have an open mind when you start your day and carefully notice what all distracts you the most. It could be a beeping phone, a constant knock or chatter around. Once you know exactly what your distracting criminals are, taking appropriate actions to solve them one by one becomes easier.
Final Thoughts -
I hope these short and simple points may prove to be an eye opener to you in order to assist you with your quest for creating more time in your busy schedules. I would like to end this with a beautiful quote by Seneca “It’s not that we have little time, but more that we waste a good deal of it.”
Thanks for reading. Hope you all have a great day !
