I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! And I hope you were able to refuel because now is the time to chase down that next goal and evolve.
And to do that, I want to help you create more time in the day to spend being productive by completing the important tasks that propel you towards real success.
This isn’t some quirky trick – doing this creates more time in the day…
I’m 99% sure that you waste time throughout the day.
I’m not saying that to be mean; that’s just how it normally goes for the vast majority of people, including me.
But by “curing” ourselves of these time-wasting practices, we can free up more time to use affectively, whether it’s to focus on that important project or to spend with your family to remind yourself why you’re chasing your goals.
These are the things that create more time in the day…
1. Seek but don’t require perfection
Here’s a weird idea to consider – perfection can often get in the way. Let me explain…
We always want to strive for perfection. That’s how we end up with the best product, right? But we also need to be healthily practical and realize when that desire for perfection is keeping us from completing something that’s already very good in quality.
Allow yourself to finish a completed project rather than wasting time trying to perfect it.
2. Don’t think about potential issues too much
Sure, when you’re working on anything it’s positive to consider the outcomes and possible issues in order to create the right plan for completing your task in the best way.
However, we often allow ourselves to dwell on the unknown and spend far too much time thinking about how something might go wrong. It’s like wasting a bunch of time worrying about how you could hit traffic on the way to an event when you could simply plan on leaving 10 minutes early and have peace of mind.
3. Say ‘no’
The ability to say “no” to people is something I like to include in my columns as much as possible. That’s because it’s so important. When all you do is say “yes”, you wind up doing unimportant things for people when you should be focusing on that vital project or task.
When I learned to say “no” to the appropriate things, my life really did change for the better. Practice makes perfect for this one.
4. Condense your to-dos
Another idea I harp on is busy work versus real work. Instead of spending your time completing insignificant task after insignificant task, limit yourself to 1 or 2 truly important tasks that will make a difference.
Instead of filling your to-do list (if you don’t have one, get one) with a dozen small things that you can either delegate or simply not worry about, create a to-do list with those 2 or maybe 3 things that are actually productive and will actually get you closer to your goals.
This is the biggest time waster, so mastering this idea will create huge amounts of extra time in the day.
