I asked three quick questions back in 2017 to my newsletter subscribers:

  • What is your biggest challenge right now?
  • What would you like to learn more about in life right now?
  • What are you interested in reading about in future emails from me?

The good news is that over forty people replied. The bad news is that I never looked at this in more detail. Until now.

I’m going to look at each question and the answers, one question at a time and on different blog posts.

So, question numero uno:

“What is your biggest challenge right now?”

Jon

The results were startling.

75% of people answered question 1 in a similar way.

They were struggling for time.

“Time is a challenge.”

“I need more time to focus on more meaningful work.”

“Help finding time to work on the business rather than in the business.”

“Quality time with the family.”

“Crying out for personal time!”.

Time to spend learning or trying something new.

Wishing for some time for a side project.

We all have 24 hours in the day. It’s what we decide to do with those hours which makes the difference.

There are countless articles and books on time management. Google “time management” and there are about 4,940,000,000 results. Gulp.

That’s a lot of reading.

Most of us are on auto-pilot a lot of the time. We spend our time by default without enough thought or planning.

Below are some of the things that have made a difference for me. I am far from perfect and have good days and bad days. Getting consistent with how you manage your time is key.

Also, make sure you use methods and systems that work for you. We are all different.

Getting up early

If I manage to do this, the day goes well.

How early is early I hear you ask?! Well, as early as you can. Yes, it’s hard in the winter when dark and cold, but if you can start your day at say 6 am or earlier, you are already ahead of most people.

Please note – I do this inconsistently. However, when I do, it works. Really well.

This time could be the only time you get in the day to think, calm your mind and ensure you are heading in the right direction.

Take time to reflect and plan

When you have this quiet time (I completely understand that everyone has different circumstances like commuting and family), use it wisely.

Try not to reach for that addictive, tempting, sweet new smartphone you bought. Take a deep breath and put it out of reach and sight!

I try and plan the day and make sure I have time for the things that matter (see blocking out time below).

The things that will enable me to get nearer to the long term goals.

I also reflect on what I’m grateful for. It’s very easy to miss the small things. When you list all the great things that you are grateful for, it makes you more appreciative and happier.

Phone lock down

Smartphones. Tech heaven or distraction hell?

You are possibly reading this on a smartphone of some description right now. After all, they are rather useful devices aren’t they?!

But man, they are addictive.

Have you got the reports switched on to show how you used your phone last week? These are available on both iOS and Android and can make shocking reading.

Being aware of how you use your smartphone and what apps are the time-killers is critical to make sure they are useful yet not overpowering.

I suggest setting timers on the apps that you spend too much time in – you know exactly the ones. For me, that’s Instagram.

Then turn off as many notifications as possible. They are BAD! Ping, look at me. Bong, check me now! Apps are designed in a way to make you use them and make you go back to them. It’s that simple.

Phone addiction is serious and more and more people are realising this. Deleting apps (or limiting their use) and ensuring you are not disturbed is a key strategy for making more time.

Recharging your battery

No, that is not a mistake. I did not mean to say recharging the iPhone battery.

Your battery is way more important.

Life is hectic. Life is stressful. Your life is full.

You need to make sure you look after the number one thing that everything revolves around.

That is your health, both physically and mentally.

Apart from the obvious nature of this, you will also be in a better position to make the right decisions about how you spend your time, plus making the most of that time.

What works for me?

  • Sleeping well
  • Eating well – I’ve been plant-based since October 2017 and never felt better
  • Meditating (not enough though)
  • Journaling every morning
  • Regular exercise – running and cycling

To make every minute count you’ve got to make every future minute count also. And that means living a life today that won’t leave you burnt out and broke in 5 or 10 years.

Shawn Blanc

Blocking out times in my diary

Protecting your time is key.

Remember that your inbox is a task list created by someone else.

Be aware that it can take 20 minutes to get into a deep flow of productive work.

By having specific slots in the week where you work on specific projects, you get more done. This applies to exercise too, family time, personal learning. Make yourself accountable. Not everything is important.

You cannot overestimate the unimportance of practically everything.

Greg McKeown

Batching

Batching or batch processing is a powerful way of improving getting things done quickly and efficiently. Doing the same things together in a set period of time works.

If you have to make calls, do them all at the same time.

If you need to do some accounting, do it in one go.

The same should apply to email. Try not to dip in and out of your email. Do it once in the morning. Check it at lunchtime, answer anything important. Then check one more time before finishing work for the day.

I use something called Sanebox which I’ve mentioned before. I cannot recommend it enough for saving time with email overload.

You may also need to train other people to understand your new way of working. This will avoid them wondering why you haven’t replied to the email they sent 1 minute ago.

Saying no

There is a famous post from Derek Sivers which sums this up better than I could ever do.

Hell yeah!

Saying yes to something can almost immediately trigger regret, fear, anxiety or that oh b*gger, why did I say that reaction!

People will respect you far more for saying no in a polite way than you saying yes and not being able to do it. This leads to people respecting your time.

It can also ensure that you have the time to focus on your bigger goals and objectives.

Brutal honesty required

Last but not least, you have got to get real. You have to be brutally honest with yourself.

After all, a decision to do one thing, inevitably means that you won’t do something else.

You and you alone decide.

You can do anything. You cannot do everything.

One of my goals this year is reading more. An hour on social media vs an hour of reading a really, really good book should be an easy decision.

Yet Facebook or Instagram often win the battle for your attention.

There are countless examples of this. Above all, making the right decision, the hard decision on how to spend your time right now can lead to dramatic improvements in the future.

If you’d like to get some regular useful content and links to interesting reading, then please sign up for my newsletter.

You’ll be the first to know when I write about the results from the other two questions.

Please share what you do for managing time and whether you agree with some of my thoughts here.

Photo by Seth Macey on Unsplash

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2 Comments

  1. This was really good. Batching email really stood out to me as a great idea. My company over relies on email – it’s a huge distraction and at times it can become overwhelming.

    Some other good stuff here I’ll try too.

    1. Thanks Jamie.

      Email is the devil – people don’t know to use it sensibly and companies generally provide no guidance.

      Hence it’s used badly and also people expect instant replies. Most of it is unnecessary and could be done face to face or on a platform like Basecamp or Asana.

      I remember times when I was getting nearly 1000 emails a week across various email addresses. Utter madness.

      Even if you get say fifty a day, take two minutes to process / reply, that’s a fair chunk of the day gone. Extrapolate and that’s a day lsot to email per week. Four days per month.

      Yikes.

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