2. A day in the life growing up felt like it would take an eternity, at
times the clock felt like it was going backwards.
Move forward a few decades and now you could swear that you’re
short changed of hours everyday.
With the help of technology and
information sharing there are more
ways than ever to tackle the issue
of time management and productivity
so that you can start thinking big!
3. Do you know what entrepreneurs and everyday people are utilising
to get the most out of the hours in their day?
Here are
46 time management
strategies
that can help you get back
some of that time each day!
4. 1. Start Now!
Doing is better than perfect. You can waste too much time trying to
make something perfect. Start now, get it done and the next time
you do it, you will be better, eventually may be even perfect.
“Someday is a disease that will take your dreams to the grave with
you” – Tim Ferriss
5. 2. Forget the Excuses
Control your mind and don’t let it trick you into believing excuses.
Next time an excuse pops into your head stop and create some
awareness around it.
Think for a second:
● Hang on where is this excuse coming from?
● Am I just using an excuse to trick myself into not having to do something?
Be aware of the decisions you are making and how they will
impact you in the long term.
6. A good friend of mine Nick Mannix was in a horrific accident that
left him a tetraplegic. I think of him on a daily basis especially
when I find myself fabricating excuses. In that context there isn’t
many good excuses for me to not get it done!
You can't change the situation, the only thing
you can change is how you deal with it!
- Nick Mannix
7. 3. Prepare Yourself
Don’t hope your going to have a good day, prepare yourself to
have a good day by going through a morning ritual and preparing
yourself in the
best way that works for you
so that you're in the right place
to have a great day.
8. 4. The Importance of Daily Rituals
Rituals help you find your rhythm and prepare you best for your
next task. Although your day can be made up of many different
rituals the main two to focus on are your morning and night
rituals.
Morning Ritual is the process you go through
upon waking to prepare you for the day ahead.
What is crucial here is knowing yourself and what works best for you
personally. I feel the best if I get up when I first wake usually at
around 5.30am. If I sleep in I feel sluggish for the rest of the day.
9. My morning ritual
The first thing I do is make the bed and I cheat a little bit here. I
only use a sheet on the mattress and then a duvet
(no top sheet).
The reason for this is plain and simple:
● I don’t like top sheets; they are a pain in the arse and too
much work.
● It’s so easy to get up, grab your duvet, and fling it in the air
and bingo your bed is made. First easy win for the day!
10. Next;
I hydrate, put on my shoes, grab my headphones
and head out the door for a stroll.
I go for a walk because its low intensity and an easy way
to get the body going without the pressure of having
to push yourself first thing in the morning.
It also gives me the opportunity to listen to a
podcast, stimulate the mind and get some inspiration.
I usually listen to Marketing School
by Neil Patel & Eric Siu.
11. Then I do one or two of the following:
● Rehab session consisting of
stretching and self-massage
● Go for a quick flat-water paddle
● Or skate some bowls
This ritual really pumps me up for the day and gets me excited
about what I am going to do next.
In fact this article was a result of a mornings walk inspiration.
Starting the day with small wins helps you structure your day and find
your rhythm.
12. Night Ritual :
Is the process you go through before going to sleep to wind down
for the day and prepare yourself as best as possible to wake up
refreshed the next morning.
Finish the day with something that is going to set you up for tomorrow!
13. For me this is yoga
A session of bikram, hatha flow or
hot yin sweats out all of the stresses
from the day. If I don’t do a yoga class I will
spend 30 minutes foam rolling in the living room.
After yoga, I have a late dinner that I have usually pre prepared.
Then I sit down and identify the 3 most important tasks I have to complete
tomorrow and put them at the top of my
Trello list “DOING”.
14. While doing this:
I have a hot cup of water with
● 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
● 1 tablespoon of manuka honey
This hot drink is well known and commonly used by the likes of
Tim Ferriss and for some reason it helps you sleep like a log.
I certainly notice a difference and usually will have an
uninterrupted sleep if I have this before bed.
15. Although I never have problems with going to sleep this night
ritual makes a massive difference when I wake up in the morning
and jump out of bed rather than crawl out of bed. I need 7 hours
of sleep every night.
A ritual or routine shouldn’t be forced, it’s about finding
what works best for you to maximise your time and
productivity, so that you can operate in the most
efficient way on a regular basis.
17. 6. Organise Your Tasks
The To Do List is the nuts and bolts of your daily productivity and
with a lot of different apps and methods to choose from your To
Do List is still more than likely cluttered with no structure.
Find a simple method that
is organised and stick to it.
18. I use Trello purely because it is very simple to use, can be partially
automated and integrates with my Gmail accounts.
19. I run a few different Trello boards however my main board for
organising my day is labelled TASKS.
I add any tasks as a card to the list WAITING as they come to mind
and from there I can drag and drop the task into
THIS WEEK, DOING or DONE.
On my board TASKS I also have a list TO PAY which is where any
manually paid invoices are easily added as a card to the list from
Gmail. (This is explained further in the next tip).
Manage it on your laptop or desktop but also be sure to download
the mobile app so you can add tasks on the go and manage
anything from your phone as well.
20. 7. Use Trello With Google Calendar
Using pre made recommend zaps in Zapier you
can automate the copying of any events scheduled
in your Google Calendar to create new cards
in your Trello boards and lists of choice.
I run this zap to add any events
scheduled in my Google Calendar
for the day ahead automatic
ally to the list DOING in my Trello
board TASKS.
21. 8. Make Sure All Events in Your Calendar
are Scheduled With a Reminder
Don’t rely on your brain
to remember everything.
Always take notes.
22. 9. Manage Your Email Inbox Effectively
Do you have a system in place to manage your emails?
Or is it just deal with it, as you need to?
Having a process in place to deal with your emails can save you a
world of hurt and embarrassment when you forget to follow up or
reply to important emails.
Since I use Trello I can add any email as a card to any of my lists on
my Trello boards by clicking the “Add this Gmail to Trello” icon above an
opened email.
23. I use this for things such as manually paid invoices that are emailed
to me and save it to the
list “TO PAY” in my TASKS Trello
board.
This is also great for emails
that require attention later on.
Simply add the email as a
card to one of your other lists
WAITING,THIS WEEK or DOING.
Then once it's ready to be taken care of you will have dragged and
drop the card into the task list DOING.
24. 10. Create a Trello Board for Your
Assistant and Collaborate
I manage my assistant’s tasks in Trello by creating a board for her
which we both have access to.
It outlines all the re-occurring weekly tasks as individual cards
from Monday through to Friday and I add any tasks I want to
assign to her on a one off basis by creating a card and adding it to
the list for the relevant day.
25. 11. Use Google Chrome
Chrome is fast and does not have the compatibility issues that
most other browsers have with some software’s.
26. 12. Utilise Extensions on Google Chrome
By enhancing the functionality of your Chrome browser Chrome
Extensions are the little time management strategies that save you a whole lot of
time.
27. 13. Download an Ad Blocker Extension
Advertising is slowly becoming a thing of the past.
People are trained to ignore ads in this day
and age and downloading an ad blocker extension
is just one of many ways to cut out unwanted
messages and delays in productivity online.
I use Adblock Plus and have been running it for almost 2 years. In that
time it has blocked a staggering 25,109 ads on my Mac so far!
28. 14. Google Drive
As far as cloud based storage goes Google Drive is excellent for
collaborating, storing, syncing and sharing files with ease.
Again make the most of Chrome Extensions and download the
Save to Google Drive extension to save web content of browser
screenshots to your Google drive quickly and effortlessly.
29. 15. Work is the Best Way to Get Working
● Break large tasks into little chunks
● Start with small tasks to get the ball rolling
● Work through one at a time
30. 16. Stop Multi Tasking at Work
Multi tasking at work kills your focus.
Larger tasks should be broken down
into smaller tasks and concentrated
on one at a time.
31. 17. Start Multi Tasking Outside of Work
Outside of the office you perform a lot more mundane tasks that
don’t require a whole lot of concentration. I usually try to get a
surf in three mornings a week and make the drive from Melbourne
to the coast (which is anywhere between 1hr20 and 1hr40
depending on where I surf).
I use this time to listen to long form podcasts and take any notes using a voice
recorder so that I am not distracted from driving and can refer back
to them later for further study or organisation.
32. 18. Create a Routine that Works
If you’re an entrepreneur you really are working all the time
however create a routine where you have identified hours to get
the important tasks completed and stick to it.
I am in the office by 8.00-9.00am
from then until 12.00pm is the
timeframe I concentrate on getting
the 3 most important tasks I organised
the night before done and out of the way for the day.
33. After lunch I can be in the office
from anywhere between 1.00pm to 7.00pm.
This is my time to work on tasks going forward whether its:
● strategies
● planning
● or content creation
I can cruise along and get things done at my own pace.
Sometimes I might wrap it up and be done by 5.00pm.
Each day is different to the next but the main focus is getting
those 3-4 most productive hours complete at the beginning of my
workday.
34. A typical well time managed routine
for me looks like this:
- 05.30am Wake
05.30 – 07.30am Morning Ritual
07.30 – 08.00am Breakfast & Shower
08.00 – 12.00pm Uninterrupted Work
12.00 – 01.00pm Lunch Ritual
01.00 – 5/7.00pm Work
5/7.00 –07.30pm Free Time
07.30 – 10.30pm Night Ritual
10.30pm - Bed
But remember more work hours doesn’t necessarily mean more
productivity.
35. 19. Don’t Slack Off Today
Because You Had a Productive Day Yesterday
“Yesterday's home runs, don’t win
today's games.” - Babe Ruth
36. 20. Embrace Change, Pivot & Adapt Quickly
Instagram began as Burbn combining elements of Foursquare
(check-ins) with elements of the social network game Mafia Wars
(hence the name Burbn).
Throughout the process the creators saw mobile photos as an
awesome opportunity and decided to pivot, strip everything back
and focus solely on photos.
This example of pivoting and adapting quickly proved
to be a wise decision considering the 2 founders sold
the app to Facebook 18 months after launching for
$1 billion ($300 million in cash and the rest in Facebook stock).
37. “You have to be able to adapt quickly. If you aren’t able to adapt to market changes,
someone else will.” - Neil Patel
38. 21. Block out distractions
I no longer have the Facebook app on my
phone, it’s a trap!
It's just too easy to get stuck in the
Facebook vortex and waste 20 minutes
going through your newsfeed while you
forget what the real reason was that you
had to get on your phone for.
Since I have a password manager I generate custom passwords so I
actually don’t even know my password to be able to login from my
phone using Google either! And I don’t use the password manager
app on my phone for the same reason.
39. I still have the Facebook messenger app on my phone however I
don’t allow notifications so I am not interrupted by a message and
will check to see if I have any messages in my own time.
Same goes with anything else on my phone that isn’t business
related; “Allow Notifications” is set to off”.
Blocking out distractions in this day
and age is crucial in the realm
of time management strategies.
40. 22. Record anything that distracts you
● New ideas
● Thoughts
● Searches
● etc.
This way you can revisit it at a suitable time.
When you do, you won't have to waste time
trying to remember what it was that popped
into your head.
41. 23. Keep Mornings / Afternoons Contextual
Switching between projects
or clients is unproductive.
42. 24. Organise Meetings and Calls Early in The
Day
Get them out of the way early so you have to be prepared the day
before. A lot of the time leading up to meetings is wasted if they
are set later in the day.
43. 25. Group Similar Calls
Grouping calls of the same context saves a
huge amount of time compared to
having them placed sporadically
throughout the week and it also
helps you refine your skills.
44. 26. Leave Time in Between
You know when you're late or rushing to be on time, whatever you
were doing gets cut short and you say to yourself “I will finish
that later”.
Well do you really finish it later and if you do it takes twice as
long as it would have if you had a few spare minutes to complete
it when you were working on it.
Make sure you give yourself realistic time between meetings and tasks. Having an
extra 10 minutes or so up your sleeve lets you complete tasks thoroughly.
That way you can pride yourself on being on time and cut down on
the time used going back to complete tasks.
45. 27. Move Your body!
It doesn’t matter what you do, just do something. Do something
everyday! You will feel ten times better for it, expelling toxins,
increasing energy levels and clearing the mind
With fitness it doesn’t have
to be about pushing yourself
all of the time, it's about
getting it done.
46. Sure some days you aren’t going to be in the mood to exercise but
don’t let that determine your decision to not do it. Even if you turn
up and get it done at 50% intensity you are still winning the day.
On the days when your energy levels are at their best then you will
automatically push yourself without having to find motivate from deep
within.
Over time the more exercise you do the more you will feel like pushing yourself.
47. 28. Know Your Body
Knowing your own body and where its weaknesses and strengths lie is vital
to getting the most out of everyday.
Try different sports or training methods. Doing something new will teach
you more about your body and you may just find something you like.
It also enables you focus on the weaker areas in your daily rituals.
For example, My left hip flexor can tighten if I don’t maintain it which then leads to lower back
pain. So as part of my daily rituals whether it's stretching or foam rolling this is an area I make
sure I focus more attention to everyday if not a few times a day.
Minimising or eliminating any problems that may reduce my productivity.
48. 29. Get a Wardrobe Routine
I wear a combination of different
coloured AS colour tee-shirts daily.
They are cheap, fit well to my body
shape, look tidy and presentable and
they are easy to re-order as they
wear out saving any time hassles when
deciding what to wear or what clothes
to buy.
49. 30. Quit Sugar
What happens if you quit sugar?
You’ll feel better than ever.
50. 31. Pre Prepare Meals
The Daily Burn provides a lot of helpful ideas around pre preparing
meals to save you a lot of time.
Being a country lad at heart, most Sundays I will make a stew in a
large slow cooker. It's easy to do, loaded with vegetables and
goodness and provides meals for me for most of the week.
Sometimes I will eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
51. 32. Measure Your Level of Discipline
It’s easy to say yeah I have been out of bed before 6 everyday the
last 2 weeks.
But do you have the data that brings it into a reality?
Using simple time saving apps to measure custom daily goals gives
you an accurate idea of how disciplined your really are. Keeping a
daily record of the things you want to track gives you the ability
to identify patterns in your habits from real data.
52. I use the app Way of Life to track my habits and because
it is so efficient to use I track a big range of things
from did I surf today to did I get to bed before
10.30pm.
You can then go back and review how
successful you were over the week,
months or years and identify areas
in your day that might be letting
you down or explain why you aren’t
improving in certain areas
important to you.
53. 33. Have Something to Look Forward to
It could be anything from going for surf in the weekend to a
weeklong working holiday. It doesn’t have to be something big or
irregular. By finding gratitude in the smallest things you always
have something to look forward to on a daily basis.
I look forward to my cup of cider and manuka honey while I jot
down the 3 most important tasks I want to get done before
lunchtime the next morning.
I am grateful that it works so well for me and with a forward
thinking mind it sets me up to accomplish my goals on a daily
basis.
54. 34. Don’t Be Afraid to Fail
Sometimes it’s the quickest road to where you want to be.
“Sometimes the worst experiences are the ones where you learn the most
lessons.” Richie McCaw – All Blacks Captain
55. 35. Be Open to Possibilities
Half of what we know to be true today
may be proved wrong in 20 years time.
56. 36. Give Your Mobile Apps Some Order
There are various ways to organise your mobile
apps and it really comes down to personal
preference in regards to the way you think for
maximum efficiency.
I like to organise my apps in folders labelled with verbs mainly
and in alphabetical order.
57. 37. Collaborate With Slack
20% of your day can be easily spent chasing information or getting someone to
help with specific tasks. Whether by email, instant messaging or face
to face its a huge cause of poor time management.
Slack has taken care of this problem in
the work environment by bringing
communication together in one place, being
extremely customisable and the ability to
work across just about every device you
use. Best of all Slacks free plan provides plenty
of great features so chances are it won't
cost you a cent!
58. 38. Use Online Bookmarks, Create Folders and
Organise Your Toolbar
I bookmark anything I use regularly or that’s important to refer to
later. Google Chrome lets you sync your bookmarks so you can easily
access them at anytime from another device by logging into your
Google account. This is especially helpful when updating computers.
Create folders to easily organise
any web pages you bookmark.
59. 39. Learn Keyboard Shortcuts
Just start with one basic command! You will appreciate the small
amount of time it saves you and will encourage you to add more
shortcuts to your keyboard skills repertory.
61. 40. Upskill, Learn and Grow
If you’re not continuously learning then you’re not utilising your time and pushing
yourself to grow and improve.
Self-teaching is a lifelong journey, embrace it with online learning
sites like Lynda which has unlimited access with a subscription starting at
$35aud/month and Udemy the world’s largest online learning centre with the
ability to purchase individual courses to help anyone learn
business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve
personal growth at a reasonable price.
62. I use both and highly recommend them to catapult anything
self-taught to maximise your productivity and get ahead.
“Nothing comes easy. You have to learn how to do things.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
63. Get good at documenting the process you go through when completing tasks.
If you can document your processes in a simplified and easy manner
so that someone who knows nothing about the task could follow it,
then you are well on your way to scaling your business in the most
efficient manner possible.
The process of creating processes might seem time consuming and
don’t get me wrong it is, however this will save you a tremendous
amount of time further down the road as you delegate tasks.
41. Create Processes for Everything
64. Giving you more time to concentrate on the important things like
growing your business.
Not only should you be doing this but everyone within your
business should be as well. Creating a centralised hub for your company’s
processes online. Every time a process is improved or streamlined the
first thing you do is go back and update the appropriate processes
in your process hub.
This safeguards you from disasters like having employees or
freelancers up and leave without notice because each process for
every task they are responsible for completing is documented in a
simple step by step manner and can be assigned to someone else.
65. With more and more freelancers operating around the world and
choosing to work remotely, outsourcing has never been easier,
more reliable and cost effective than right now.
If you are doing something that someone else can do
for $10 per hour, it’s a poor use of your time.
Utilise the processes you create and in particular outsource re-occurring
tasks.
42. Outsource
66. Using platforms like Upwork
which has over 12 million registered freelancers
gives you a great opportunity to build teams of specialist freelancers
that if hired correctly are smarter than you,
can complete tasks more efficiently than you
and more cost effectively
giving you time to work on more
important tasks.
67. 43. Build Momentum
The greats haven’t always been great. They started from nothing
and grew by building momentum.
Ever get that feeling that you’re on a roll and
everything is working out right?
Well that’s momentum.
Get on a roll by getting into a rhythm
and focus on staying in rhythm to build
momentum. Your daily rituals will help
you take advantage of this especially.
68. For example you most likely get your morning coffee from the same café?
Well that is because you know what to expect, you know what the
process is going to be, who you're going to be talking to (they
probably even know what you will order) and how long you will
have to wait for it to be made. This is all part of your rhythm.
These simple daily routines and rituals build momentum and help you in find that
momentum again day after day so that you can carry it on throughout the
other tasks you complete.
69. Obviously there are a lot of factors out of your control but going
back to these small routines and rituals will help you find your
rhythm again and gain the momentum you need to keep going in
the right direction.
“Create an environment that helps you be your best.”
- Tony Robbins
70. Practice your craft.
If you're not willing to put the time in then that dream really
isn’t a dream and you're wasting time doing something that
you're only putting 70 or 80 percent into. Working hard is
the best time management strategy of all.
“It’s easy to dream about it … Much harder to execute it ….Work!”
– Gary Vaynerchuk
44. Work Hard
71. 45. But Don’t Work Yourself Into the Ground
Work smarter. Pushing yourself
to the point where your brain
or body can't even function will
do you no favours.
Find the right balance so you can
stay refreshed and energised
everyday. Then you may just
find that you start producing
some of you best work.
72. Sometimes working more
hours can be counter-productive. If I’m tired and slow I can't
function, even the simplest tasks take a mammoth effort.
I am also very active so I have to be careful that I rain it in
sometimes so that I am recharging the body rather than exerting
to the point where it takes a couple of days to recover.
“By working only when you are most effective, life is both more productive and
more enjoyable. It’s the perfect example of having your cake and eating it, too.”
– Tim Ferriss
73. 46. Don’t get frustrated
Sometimes you have to go
backwards to go forwards.
These are the hacks that have
helped me get the most out of
my week, thinking bigger,
managing time and getting me
on my journey to being a time
efficient entrepreneur.
74. Maybe you do something that works better?
If you have any recommendations on what works well for you that
might help me optimise my time further I would love to hear them
in the comments below!
Originally posted on www.crewdo.com.au/arlo-gibb-blog
