.png)
Read time: 3.5 mins
You will never have as much time left in your life as you have right now.
If you skipped past that sentence, then take a second to read it again.
Your time is your most precious asset.
You get what you get.
You can't create more of it.
But you CAN use it well.
Today, we're sharing 5 of our favourite ways to tap into the master of time you have within you.
Let's get into it:
There are countless books, podcasts, and YouTube videos with advice on how to manage your time.
We wanted to collate our favourite tips from thousands of hours of reading, research, and experience - so you don't have to trawl through the rubbish to find the gems.
5 WAYS TO BECOME A TIME MASTER
1. Do what you love, outsource what you hate:
"The greatest waste of time is not time spent doing nothing, but time spent doing something you don't like."
-Seneca
You only have 1 life.
Don't waste it on things you don't like.
Instead, figure out what you're great at and absolutely love doing, and do more of that.
Outsource, delegate, and eliminate the rest as much as possible.
2. Not everything can be urgent and important:
Steven Covey wrote in the 80s about the necessity of prioritising.
The problem for most people is when EVERYTHING becomes urgent and important.
You can't have 10 things on the list that are all equally mission-critical.
If you do, time to get absolutely ruthless.
Choose the top 3 priorities that are most urgent and most important, and work through them 1 at a time.
The rest must wait.
3. Stop thinking you can multi-task:
You can't.
No one can.
Research shows that multitasking reduces productivity by up to 40%.
Next time you're flicking between the 18 tabs open on your computer, your emails, Slack messages, and the presentation you're preparing, stop.
Reset.
Do one thing at a time.
4. Write things down:
One of Steve's favourite sayings is " If it's not written down, it doesn't exist."
Research has shown that people tend to have around 15 goals and projects on the go at any one time.
15!
How are you going to actually achieve all of that if you're working from what's in your head?!
Getting it on paper frees up brain space for tasks that really matter, instead of being distracted by the never-ending to-do list in your head.
5. Break it down, Pomodoro style
You would never try to eat an entire pizza in one gulp, right?
Instead, you eat one bite at a time (hopefully).
The same goes for doing work, where you break down big tasks into chewable bites.
Our favourite way to do this is using the Pomodoro technique:
- Set a timer for 25 minutes.
- Focus fully on 1 key task until the timer rings.
- Take a break.
- Repeat.
For the action takers:
These are the top 5 solutions we're using.
We'd love to hear from you: which one is your favourite, and which one did we miss?
Get in touch - we'd love to hear from you!
We hope these tips help with your career and growth.
As the great Brian Tracy said, "There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing."
Right now is your perfect opportunity to choose that most important thing and go for it.
There will never be as much time to do it as you have right now.
Speak soon,
Lynne and Steve
TLDR
- Time matters. You only live once.
- Time efficiency is a superpower essential to achieving your goals in your career, business, and life.
- Focus on your priorities, do one thing at a time, write it down, and break it down.
- Message us with what we missed!
Extra Resources
- On multi-tasking: The True Cost of Multi-Tasking,Weinschenk, S. Ph.D., Psychology Today, 2012. <https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-wise/201209/the-true-cost-of-multi-tasking>
- On writing it down: Why We Continue to Rely on (and Love) To-Do Lists , Sawhney, V., Harvard Business Review, 2022. <https://hbr.org/2022/01/why-we-continue-to-rely-on-and-love-to-do-lists>
- On the Pomodoro technique: The Pomodoro Technique: How a break can improve productivity and well-being, Waters, S. Ph.D., BetterUp, 2022. <https://www.betterup.com/blog/pomodoro-technique>