We’re all way too occupied. We live in an age with endless online and offline demands on our time and attention. And the result is that we leave with little free time for us to breathe and be.

These ten tips won’t be mind-blowing – but when you add them all up, you’ll see an expansion of free time that will make a significant impact on your day-to-day routine. So, without further delay, let’s get going!

Exercise daily

Exercise is essential to do our daily tasks. Research has revealed that exercise increases cognitive function, creativity, problem-solving, and productivity. A NASA study revealed employees who exercised daily worked at 100% efficiency after seven hours.

Create a daily schedule

Not organizing your time when it’s so easy to do, is a loss of time. If you have kids, you may oppose this by saying that their afternoon schedules change with the seasons, so it is pointless to have a daily plan for yourself. Some people like morning, while others are midnight owls. You will have to know your peak time of the day and schedule your work around these hours. Planning your career is another one of our tips to protect time.

This schedule will increase your performance and make working much easier for you. You will also see growth in productivity if you work during these hours.

Set a timer

Set a timer and work to beat your best time once you’ve decided how long specific tasks should take.

Do the night before

If you are waiting until the morning to choose your clothes, make lunches, get your keys and work bag, etc., you are misusing time. Do everything you can do the night before so that you don’t have to rush or be late the following day.

Make meals ahead of time

If your busy evenings give little time for making a home-cooked dinner, try cooking different meals at once on the weekend and freezing them to reheat the following week. Having a meal plan in place is vital to this process. You can choose from numerous plans (gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, etc.) that include only natural food. Another time-saver in the kitchen is the beloved slow cooker.

Reduce phone calls

If you get phone calls regularly, let them go to voice mail and pick a specific time each day to return calls. When possible, reply via text or email. People will finally get the message that emailing or texting you is the best way to contact you.

Don’t mindlessly browse online

Web browsing is one of the great black holes in time spending. Before you understand it, you may have spent hours browsing while making very little value.

Eliminate all distractions for a set time

Distractions are constant throughout the day. They come via email, cell phone, co-worker inquiry, etc.

Leaving out all distractions for a set time is one of the most effective ways to get things done in a shorter time. You can’t remain in hiding permanently, but you can be nearly four times as productive while you are.

Plan and start early

Ten minutes of dedicated time planning each evening will save you from 30 minutes of ad-hoc preparation each morning. Likewise, beginning your morning on purpose 30 minutes ahead will likely shoot at least 60 additional productive minutes into your day. Think about it.

Pick up the phone

We’ve become so habitual to communicating digitally, sending emails, and texts, etc. So, we sometimes ignore that we can get the same tasks accomplished in a fraction of the time with one or two fast phone calls.

Write things down

Nobody’s memory is 100% accurate. If you don’t take notes and set up to-do lists for yourself, you will end up spending minutes attempting to remember things that would have taken you seconds to write down.

Set task priority

It can be hard to concentrate on one thing at a time when all your jobs are there randomly. A tiny bit of attention in this perspective can help you stay focused. Prioritize your tasks in the order of value or delivery date. The most urgent tasks or the ones close to delivery go first and vice versa. Once you have set preferences for your work, you can focus your attention on one task, do it and then, move on to the next one.

Conclusion

Time is valuable. It’s a commodity no one can buy more of – so why not try to maximize your efficiency? Whether you’re cleaning, shopping, or entertaining, there are regularly a few ways to save time. These time-saving methods will surely help you increase your performance and productivity.