How many times have you wished you had more time? 

"If only I had more hours in a day. More days in a week. More weeks in a month. More months in a year. More years in a life."

Sound familiar?

via GIPHY

Because we feel that we don't have enough time, we try to make more time. By cutting the corners of our lives - sleeping less, multi-tasking, skipping meals, cancelling events. 

The sad truth is that we spend too much time fruitlessly wishing we had more time and cutting things out to try and make more of it, instead of spending the time we do have on more important things. 

Spoiler alert - having more time is NOT the answer. The answer to getting more done is instead learning how to use the time we do have better, smarter, more effectively.  

Time is precious. Think of it like a bank balance. 

We can't buy more of it or get a refund once we've spent it. And we never really know how much of it we have left. So instead of wishing for more time, maybe we should be ruthlessly auditing the way we spend the time that we do have? 

So I have a question for you:

If I gave you an extra hour each day, how would you spend it? 

Working? 

Sleeping? 

With your family/friends?  

On Netflix or Social Media?  

Exercising?  

Meditating? 

Doing something you love? 

Be honest - you have no-one to fool but yourself here. It's ok, I'll wait. 

via GIPHY

What if instead of wishing for more time, we got better at using the time we already have? What if we learned to prioritise better? To delegate more? To be more focused? To procrastinate less? To say no sometimes? 

I live my life in pursuit of extreme efficiency. I believe that a moment wasted is a moment lost, and I know that I can't achieve the big things I plan for my life if I spend all my time in wasted moments.   

Before I share my most impactful strategies for maximising the time you do have, let me clear up one common misconception first.  

This idea of 'extreme efficiency' does not mean spending every second of every day 'doing'. All work and no play is an unsustainable and unhealthy approach to 'getting more done'.  

Rest, fun, and self-care is just as important - perhaps even more so - than doing productive things. This is where you refuel, reconnect, recharge and realign with what is most important. This is where the memories of your life are made. 

Sadly, in the quest for productivity, these are often the things that are sacrificed.  

We say no to that weekend away because we have important things to do. We skip that dinner, that show, that dance class, that birthday party, to instead focus on ticking things off our to-do list. We put off exercise, meditation, learning and time in nature to get a jump-start on the day and try to make a dent in our ever-growing email backlog.  

It's ok, you're not alone. I'm guilty of all of the above as well, from time to time. But I know that whenever I fall into these patterns, it's time to readjust my priorities and make space for the things that keep me connected to my bigger purpose. 

Before I get too carried away on that soapbox - I'll cover this topic a little more in a future article - let's get back on track and dive into my top tips for getting more done in less time. 

#1 - Plan & Prepare 

It was Abraham Lincoln who said "If I was given 6 hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first 4 sharpening the axe".   

While it can seem counter-productive to spend precious time planning when you could be doing, it is in fact the most impactful tool I have in my productivity toolkit.  

Each week, review your to-do list and decide what is the most important stuff that needs to get done next week. I know, I know - all of it is important. But some of it is the MOST important. Start there. 

Then work out how much time is needed to get that stuff done. Plan out when you will do each thing, and map it out. Use your calendar, or reminders, or even a daily planner if that's your thing.  

Identify what you will need at your disposal in order to complete those things. Is there a document you need to find in your emails? A website or link you need on hand? Notes from a past conversation? A meeting or conversation you need to have? Find/do those things and have them ready ahead of time. 

Then, each day when it comes to the 'doing' you won't be wasting valuable time wondering and deciding what to do first, or getting lost down rabbit holes looking for the thing you need to complete that other thing. Magic. 

If you have trouble deciding what is really the MOST important, check out this animated book review video of Gary Keller's "The One Thing".

#2 - Do The Hard Stuff First 

We only have a certain amount of decision making power every day. As our brains get tired, our logical reasoning and creative power diminishes, making us less effective and less efficient. Have you ever noticed that even simple decisions become really hard at the end of a long day when you're tired? 

You may have noticed that Steve Jobs wore the same outfit all the time. He had a wardrobe full of blue jeans and black jumpers as he didn't want to waste his most precious decision making power on what to wear each day.

Now I'm not suggesting that you throw out your entire wardrobe and adopt this approach, but it's a useful story to illustrate the importance of WHEN you do certain tasks. 

How often do you start your day by opening your inbox and managing your emails? Often a relatively simple administrative task that doesn't take a lot of brainpower - yet we spend our brain's most potent decision-making time on such a simple task. 

What if, instead, we delayed checking our emails until mid-morning, and tackled the hardest task of the day when our brains are at their freshest? Would that task be easier, take less time and be more enjoyable? 

#3 - Eliminate Distractions 

I know I know, easier said than done. In our highly distractable world, becoming indistractable can be one of the hardest things to do. But it is possible. In Nir Eyal's must-read book "Indistractable", he outlines how we can live the life we really want by controlling our time and attention.

Here's a couple of ways that I manage my distractions: 

Turn off notifications

Nothing disrupts our focus more than the 'ding' or the 'buzz' of a notification alerting you to some exciting unknown message. What if you've just won $1 million dollars, or aliens have just landed on earth? 

Phone and app makers are VERY clever at manipulating your behaviour to catch & keep your attention, and notifications are one of the key ways they do this, so don’t let them win. 

Turn off push notifications for anything you don't really need to know about immediately (no, it's not essential to be notified every time someone snapchats you a picture of their breakfast!). Turn off the badges that show unread items on your apps. Delete or hide the apps that habitually suck you into a scrolling vortex for hours on end, and give back very little value in return.  

Take back control of your attention and engage with these apps on your terms.  

Hour of Power

Set aside one hour every day to do your most important focus work. Tell your family & your team you are not to be interrupted in this time unless there is a real house-burning-down emergency.  

Turn on the 'Do Not Disturb' function on your phone and laptop to silence any remaining ding's and buzzes from stealing your attention. Put on noise cancelling headphones, diffuse citrus oil, play focus music - whatever triggers your mind into 'let's do this' mode. Have snacks and water nearby so you aren't tempted to run to the kitchen for a procrastinatory fuel top up.  

When you create a space of deep focus, and train yourself to use this undistractable time to do your most important work, you'll find that you get 3 hours worth of stuff done in 1/3rd of the time. 

To learn how you can efficiently setup and use the 'Do Not Disturb' feature on a Mac, click this link.

Imagine This

Imagine a week where you prioritised and planned the most important tasks for you to work on and set aside an hour of power each morning to focus on completing those most important things. Where you avoided spending hours aimlessly scrolling through social media, and were able to stay present in your meetings and conversations without the constant 'buzz' of something demanding your attention. 

How would it feel? 

via GIPHY

Would you feel more fulfilled knowing you'd accomplished more and been more present? Would you feel grateful that you could spend your downtime with your family, friends and refuelling yourself? 

More time is not the answer! You already have all of the time you need. You just need to build the habits of using it to its fullest potential. 

So let me ask you again, if I gave you an extra hour each day, how would you spend it? 

About the Author 

Frances Quinn is a Business Founder, Author, Consultant and Productivity Ninja who's on a mission to help business owners bring their visions into reality. After a 20 year career in fast-paced corporate roles, Frances started and scaled an award-winning consulting firm helping businesses take back control of their time and their businesses.