3 Tips to Stop Wasting Time

My husband will often ask how he can help me with zany days balancing coaching, kids and running a household. My response (after winning the lottery) used always be more time. I’ve learned some important lessons in how to use my time efficiently and wisely.

Time is one of the most valuable commodities that we have in our lives today. Yet, we often waste the time we do have with activities that do not move us forward in our tasks or bring us joy.

How can we use our time in the best ways?

Here I offer you 3 tips to stop wasting time –

Don’t multitask – You have been told for so long that we should be multitasking. Multitasking is a myth though. You actually lose more time when we try to multitask because your brain has to refocus and get up to speed. The more complicated the task the more time you lose. If your goal is to gain more free time then focusing on one project within any time block is what you want to.

Figure out what you are avoiding – Maybe you have a task that you don’t like doing or are fearful that a project won’t turn out right. Acknowledge those feelings but don’t let them get in your way. For example, maybe you don’t want to do your weekly data input. Think about how you feel when it is finally finished and focus on that feeling to you through the drudgery.

Enjoy your time – When you sit to down to binge watch Game of Thrones are you actually enjoying your time or are you mentally running through a list of things you should be doing, but just don’t want to? If you are constantly thinking you should be doing something else while taking a break then you need to rethink how you are taking a break. If you constantly worried about your to-do list while trying to relax you are neither relaxing or completing tasks. **

We all have the same 24 hours in a day and we generally all want more hours. But when you use the hours you have to your advantage then you find more focus, less avoidance and more enjoyment of your time. Make sure you are using time in ways that lead to better outcomes for you.

P.S. There are times when multitasking is OK. If you are watching television then go ahead and fold the laundry too. If you commute to work listen to a podcast or crank out a couple of emails (as long as you aren’t driving). Just make sure the tasks you are trying to accomplish are not complex as then dividing your time leads to more errors and using up your already valuable time to fix those errors.