8 Time-Saving Habits You Need To Try

“There aren’t enough hours in the day!!” (*pulling hair out*)

Let’s be honest, we’ve all been there, we’ve all said those words and probably more often than we’d like to admit! So many of us find ourselves with a to-do list longer than the hours in the day and maxing out our stress levels before the week even begins. No wonder why the Sunday blues are so real right? The hard truth is that we hardly have anyone to blame but ourselves. When we consistently set our day or week up for failure by overcommitting, saying “yes” to too many things, or lack the discipline to set a schedule that has balance and healthy boundaries, then we find ourselves hoping for a 25 hour day...or an indefinitely extended vacation!

But there is hope! Instead of wishing and waiting for the sun to stop for just a moment, here are some tried and true time-saving habits that help me stay on track and balance a productive week of content..and yes it’s possible ;)

8 Time-Saving Habits

1. Time-Chunking: Organize and tackle items by working in batches to get them done more efficiently. Essentially you are batching your specific types of to-do’s, like errands, emails, meetings, phone calls, etc. On my busiest weeks, I even time-chunk hanging out with friends and coffee dates to fall on the same day, and even back to back if I am really crunched! No one needs to know...just make your friend-dates are at different locations, but in the same area, if needed.

2. Meal Prepping: We’ve got you covered here! Take the guess work out of eating healthy and having meals ready to go on the fly, by ordering Food Made Fresh prepared meals, delivered weekly! Or if you love cooking, then plan your meals, make one grocery store trip, and devote one day to prep your meals! You might even love cooking and have every good intention of meal prepping, but then before you know it, you end up putting if off and eating out every meal because of it. If that sounds like you, maybe consider outsourcing the cooking for for a while or at least for some meals, to be sure you have options when you need them. We offer al la carte options especially for the person who raises their hand to this one.  

3. Have clean and organized surroundings: A cluttered mind and a cluttered space go hand in hand! You will be more efficient and work better with less distraction and clutter around your space. Take some time at the beginning of the week to do some light tidying to cultivate a peaceful work environment. Trust me, it will be worth it!

4. Be realistic about time and your expectations: Stop scheduling or shooting to get 10 tasks done before you have to leave for that meeting in an hour. Set realistic expectations and focus on completing one or two. Setting yourself up for failure isn’t good for confidence and will further affect your productivity. Better to leave for that meeting feeling accomplished for finishing one project than leaving 10 projects disorganized and incomplete.

5. Wake up 15-30 minutes earlier than you normally do:  Before you go out and pour out and work hard for others, take some time to pay attention to your needs. Even getting out of bed 15 minutes earlier will make a difference in the week to add some self-care time ie: get a quick workout in, go for a brisk walk to wake up, meditate/pray, sit with your healthy morning beverage and NOT feel rushed, or actually enjoy breakfast at the table instead of on the road. These small moments of “me time” really add up to your overall contentment throughout the week.

6. Schedule social media/Internet use: Did you know that every time you switch gears from one task to another you waste at least 5 minutes of your mental concentration? That means every time you become distracted and check your phone you are not only losing the time of actual work but also the transitional time from task to task. That’s a lot of lost productivity! Instead of living in a constant world of distraction, schedule your time to scroll and double-tap, and then honor the time you are suppose to devote to work.

7. Set a weekly “mind dump” session:At the beginning of your week, it’s helpful to “mind dump” all of your to-do’s for the week on a blank sheet of paper. Then you can really see all that you have to do, and take a proactive approach by assigning a day of the week to each task, and even prioritize them as necessary. There, now you aren’t so overwhelmed! You might even notice that a few to-do’s aren’t even necessary to complete this week, but they have been taking up valuable real estate in your brain. As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail.

8. Determine which tasks and activities you normally do are vital and which are optional: This will help you schedule the vital tasks first and then you can decide to fill it with the optional ones. It’s best to tackle the vital & important tasks first each day, while you are fresh and focused. If you do optional or non important tasks first, you can easily think you are making progress when you are really avoiding what actually needs to be done. I’m often totally guilty of this one, but constantly working on it.

Take an honest assessment and really ask yourself, which ones do you need help improving on? Which ones are you already a master at?

We’d love to hear from you, please leave a comment below if you’d like to share any other time-saving habits that work!

Eat well & Be Well,