🌼7 Strategies That Will Help You to Stop Wasting Time(MUST READ)

🌼7 Strategies That Will Help You to Stop Wasting Time(MUST READ)

Super easy to apply and practice.

Time is a commodity that is more valuable than money!

Don’t believe me? Ask any wealthy person on their death bed what they would give for a few more minutes of time.

There are 86,400 seconds in a day and how you choose to use them ultimately determines your degree of happiness or success and, on the other side of the coin, your misery or failure.

Interestingly enough, the goal of wanting to stop wasting time is not to be efficient 24/7/365; you are not a robot.

I know the gist of self-help articles spew being effective as a virtue, but being effective also means getting some sleep, not overloading yourself, and doing nothing at times.

Read also: 11 money rules for financial success

You cannot be all “go-go-go” like an energizer bunny. You will need balance. But if you feel Like you waste time and want to stop, here are some things you can try.

1. The 2-Minute Rule.

The rule is simple: Starting a new habit should never take more than two minutes. (The name of this strategy was inspired by the author and productivity consultant David Allen from the book Getting Things Done).

It is an excellent rule for improving — if the habit is something you want to improve — simply do it now.

I utilized this exercise when I wanted to work out but didn’t want a gym membership. So I got down on the floor and did 25 push-ups. That simple habit, over time, made me increase my strength and whetted my appetite for working out, as the more I did the small number of push-ups, the more I gradually increased the number.

Had I tried to make the push-ups a more significant deal, like an hour workout, chances are it wouldn’t work.

2. Set Macro and Micro goal quotas.

What gets tracked gets measured. So if your goal is effectiveness monitoring your progress is critical.

Seeing your progression is an incredible confidence builder because when you witness it on a larger scale, it will give you a fantastic feeling of accomplishment.

I love reading books, so when I dive into large books of 500 pages or more, I break it down based on how much I want to finish. I usually aim to read for a set time(micro) of 30 minutes — one hour daily. Then over the longer timeframe, like a year (macro), I would end up with an inspiring amount. That’s how I was able to read 71 books in 2021.

Micro and Macro goals Give you a target to hit on a consistent scale — macro for those big goals and micro for the smaller steps that lead to the big goals.

3. Single-tasking.

I thought multitasking was a great thing for most of my life until I realized that I get more done doing one thing at a time.

No matter how much I convinced myself I was a multitasking god, The truth was in the results.

I realized I couldn’t multitask effectively, as trying to do too many things at once made sure all other things suffered.

“The man who chases two rabbits soon finds himself with none.” — Chinese proverb

Simply stated

-Do only one thing at a time.

-Focus on the one thing that, by doing it, will make all other things easier.

-If you have a list, prioritize it.

-Eliminate distractions at all costs.

4. Prioritize like you’re going on a vacation.

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to go on vacation, you realize that it was the most productive time.

You are tying up all loose ends before a vacation, and the closer you get to your deadline, the more effective you seem to become.

You make decisions quickly; you know you have limited time as procrastination is not a factor anymore.

You don’t deviate because anything can delay your vacation, and you don’t want to carry work worries with you.

The last time I went to Jamaica, you would have thought I had a team of people with me for the amount I got done. But I wanted to feel free to relax instead of having some unfinished business to deal with when I got back.

5. Create Deadlines and make sure you stick to the deadline.

Similar to the vacation productivity boost but with no reward or vacation.

A deadline makes you realize there is an end.

Without a deadline, the opportunity might pass and take longer than you need.

Deadlines are significant because they help us to collaborate toward achieving a shared goal, and to keep complex, multistage projects on track.

Could you imagine a movie getting made without deadlines? There would be chaos and a lot more expenses.

Deadlines clarify what we expect to deliver and when; this means that we can take control of our work, free of confusion or chaos. Another benefit of deadlines is that they can increase performance and time efficiency.

A deadline helps you build a sense of urgency, which is necessary when fighting procrastination. But keep in mind an increased sense of urgency created by deadlines improves your performance and motivation up to a certain point. After that, it works until the task becomes too complex and the probability of success decreases, so be careful of outrageous deadlines like becoming a billionaire in 30 days.

Too much work in too little time leads to overwhelm and motivation loss, so know be aware of when you may be pushing your limits.

6. Allow yourself grace.

Forgiveness is beneficial when trying to save some time.

How so?

There will be days where you want to get things done and still squander time. You won’t be productive every day, and chances are you will feel like giving up. But remember that everything takes time.

It may be a case where all you need to do is allow yourself to unwind so the body and mind can relax. Forgiveness comes into play because it’s easy to talk smack about yourself — as we are our harshest critics.

When you miss a day of productivity, quickly forgive yourself and try to improve next time.

“Lack of forgiveness causes almost all of our self-sabotaging behavior.” — Mark Victor Hansen.

7. Eliminate all unnecessary things.

What doesn’t need to get done don’t need to be done.

One of the ways to keep safe in the Construction industry is through the hierarchy of controls.

The hierarchy of hazard control is a system used in industry to minimize or eliminate exposure to hazards. It is a widely accepted system promoted by numerous safety organizations.b

Read also: 7 things people regret later in life (digest this now)

Hierarchy of Controls
The first step is elimination in the hierarchy of controls.

If a job cannot be performed safely, it will get canceled.

If you apply that concept to your life — without the hazard portion, you would be surprised how much time you can save by eliminating things you don’t need to attempt — Whatever it is. The stuff you say no to can create time for what you need to do.

Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash
Whatever time you save, please put it towards what makes you happy and not another destructive habit.

All the best

If you have other valuable ways of saving time, please do share.

CONTRIBUTED BY Teronie Donaldson

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