Finding Time

Have you ever been at home or work (this seldom happens at work, lol) and you look up at the clock and realize that the day has slipped away? You ask yourself “what did I get accomplished today?” It feels like the “Time Robber” must have busted in and literally stolen your day away. But how does this happen? We know that we all have 24 hours in a day. Is 24 hours not enough? But what about those people who seem to get so much done in a day. What is their secret sauce?

1. Start Your Day the Day Before: A good planning system is the key to

being organized and productive. I’m kinda from the old school, I love a cute planner with a good old pencil and eraser. But, there are so many great apps on your phone, computer, etc. However, the process may be different, but the results should be the same.

It is highly effective to plan the week out on Sunday. This allows you to get a jump start on your Monday so you are starting out with a specific well thought out plan. At the end of every day you should be preparing for the next. Make sure to make your to-do list for the next day and confirm any appointments you may have scheduled so you can replace them if they don't materialize.

Prioritize the most urgent on the top of the list to the least urgent on the bottom. I love to check off those things that I have completed so I can pat myself on the back at the end of the day for a job well done.

Make sure anything that you haven’t completed that day you transpose to the next day’s list. This type of system also will allow you to look back if you have to make reference at a later date to see when something was accomplished and the result.

You will find that when you begin your day with a plan in place you will be much more productive and you will chase off the “time robber” from stealing your day away!

2. Convince Yourself... I’ve Got This: Let’s face it, we have to be our own best cheerleader! When we wake up each day we have a choice to make. Will we be grumpy and negative or will we encourage ourself with positivity.

I know that some of you are not morning people, but remember, just because you don’t like to wake up doesn’t mean you have to be grumpy and negative.

My mom taught me that if you can’t say something nice then don’t say anything at all! So if you don’t like mornings and you think you might be caught saying less than positive things, then you might just want to be quiet until you can convince yourself that “You’ve Got This!”

It is proven that the most successful people are the ones that have a morning routine. It's all in the morning! So wake up sleepy head and get a jump on your day. Get, moving, get meditating, get healthy, get motivated. You will never reach your life's goals and dreams laying in bed!

3. You’ve Got Mail: If you are like me, you can get over run with emails in just a few days (sometimes in just a few hours.) It seems as if anytime I delete one.... five more appear. Am I crazy or are these things multiplying?

If you want to be efficient with your time and accomplish more tasks, It is vital to set a specific time of the day to check your inbox. I like to check mine in the morning and evening.

You have to look at the inbox as a temporary holding pen. The object is to not allow emails to stay in the pen but quickly file them where they belong.

Note: There is an exception to this rule for emails that need immediate attention and you are waiting back on the response. It is not necessary to create numerous folders to hold every specific email as in the file cabinet system. I suggest making yourself only a few folders to assist in organizing.

Four examples:

1. Today: Anything that requires a response today.

2. This Week: Anything that requires a response before the end of the week.

3. This Month/Quarter: – Anything that needs a longer-term response.

4. FYI: Most items I receive are informational. If I think I may need to reference an email again, I’ll save it to this folder.

The next thing you want to tackle unsubscribing to any junk emails that you are receiving. Just taking the time to delete these is costing you precious productivity.

If you do them as soon as you receive them it is quick and fairly painless, however if you wait until they multiply you are in for a job. If thats the case, just jump in and start unsubscribing.

The time you save in the long run will outweigh the time it costs to clean up all unnecessary mail. There also are apps that can assist you in this process.

My last word of advice on this liberating time saver, be intentional about this system! Your email will quickly take over your life if you don’t aggressively take charge and show it who’s boss.

I suggest that you embrace this system, or one that works for you and stay consistent. It is easy to find yourself defaulting back to old habits but make this a new way of doing things. This will assist in making life easier and most important, more productive.

#TimeManagement #Success #NewHabits