Let’s be honest. Having a chronic illness can cut your time in half. Between medicine, pain, emotional struggle. It all takes up time.
I am here to help. Below you will find great strategies that will give you more time in your day. Occasionally you have to swim against the current, do something different, and find ways to get your time back.
1.) Pick out your clothes for the week
Feeling OCD? Try this out. We only get a certain amount of decisions to make before our brain is fried. Cutting out picking your cloths in the morning will not only save you time, it will save some of that decision making for more important activities.
Try to hang all of your clothes for the week in order and put them in the front of your closet. Not only will you be ready each morning, you won’t have to deal with that dreadful morning when you realize you have not done the laundry.
2) Have standing meetings
Have out of shape co workers? Are you physically up to it? Make them stand! Standing meetings go much quicker than sitting meetings. No one enjoys standing for long periods. You can start the meeting, hit the actions, and be out in a fraction of the time.
Are you the senior employee in the office? Have the chairs in the main conference room taken out. You won’t only gain some time back, your whole organization will.
3) Take naps
Have you ever had lunch and felt tired for a few hours after? Guess what? Your productivity in those hours just went down the drain. In the afternoon, taking a quick power nap can actually increase your productivity. Check out this article from Michael Hyatt on the power of taking naps.
4) Only pick up the phone for numbers you know
You don’t recognize the number? Don’t pick it up. If it is that important they will either call back or leave a voicemail. You spend far too much of your time answering stupid questions that can wait. Pick the phone up when you have to, don’t waste time with unknown numbers.
5) Take breaks
Remember recess? How great was it to go play outside between classes? What most people don’t realize is that recess actually increased the amount learned while in class. If there was class all day you would have been brain dead by the end of the day.
Small 5-10 minute breaks revitalizes you, and increases your productivity.
6) Bet with yourself
I am sure you can find a way to place a bet that matters. The trick is to reward yourself for a job well done. What means the most to you? Spending time with your family? Maybe you love to watch a sports team? What ever is important, make a bet with yourself that you will not reward yourself until what you are working on is done.
Imagine not being able to spend time with your family unless you finish a project? I bet you will expedite the project and cut the time down.
7) Unplug your laptop and race it to finish your project
Have you ever waited till the last minute to start a project? I bet you not only finished it, you did pretty well. Bottom line: Humans tend to procrastinate. You will always complete tasks by the deadline set. Unplug your laptop and put procrastination aside. Just make sure you save often!
8) Set minutes to your meeting agenda- no going over.
Rarely have I been to a meeting where there is a time frame for each part of the meeting. When there is a time frame it is amazing how much more can get done. It is antisocial? Sure, but if your goal is to save you and your company time this is one of the best tips. Make an agenda, set a time frame for each part, and make sure the team is aware so that they are ready to action each part.
Bonus tip: Meetings don’t have to be in increments of 30 minutes. If timing the meeting makes it last 43 minutes than end it.
What creative tips do you have?
Do these tips work for you?
Let me know.
Dave
