will be in your rearview mirror. Before you know it, you’ll be celebrating July Fourth, then Labor Day, and then the Holidays begin and the year is almost over. Dates in our calendar truly are closer than they appear, and we have more to do than ever. We’re all moving at the speed of life—
B
which is faster than ever before. What we need is a faster and beter way to deal with the clock and calendar. So let’s not waste time talking about how busy we are; instead, spend a couple of minutes skimming through the following list of clever time-saving tips to find something that will work for you.
Minute to win it. What are we all aſter, anyway? If I may be so bold, I suggest what we are all
chasing is a feeling. We want to feel relaxed, in control, and happy. We want to feel good. Tere are ways to feel good in a just a few minutes—and we all can find a few minutes a day for our own happiness, right? For example, a certain song can improve your mood in a mater of minutes. Playing with a pet can do it. Watching a quick video clip can upliſt us. A cat nap is invigorating, but doesn’t have to last all aſternoon to feel good. A quick swim, short walk, or a bite of chocolate can make us feel beter.
Focus for a few minutes at a time. For many of us, we work beter in short bursts—or have to because
we’re constantly interrupted or distracted. If we set our offices up where we can quickly and easily flit from task to task, we can save time by being intensely focused for as long as we can. Today, balance is achieved by being 100 percent into whatever we are doing at that moment. For example, as a parent it’s about the quality of the time we spend with our kids as much as it is the quantity of time. When we are at home we should be “all in,” and when we’re at work . . . well, that’s up to you.
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y the time you are reading this in the DATIA’s Focus magazine, it will be spring, and the first quarter of 2019
Don’t try to be perfect in an imperfect world. Perfectionism can be a blessing and a curse—
mostly the later. If we let go of the outcome and focus on the task at hand, we spend less time worrying and more time working. Along the same lines, if we set a time limit or limit the scope of what we’re working on, we can be perfect within reason. For some things, good enough is good enough. For example, maybe we use something we’ve already had success with as a template instead of spending a ton of time starting from scratch.
Don’t fight your natural tendencies. If you like to drop your purse, keys, and phone by the
door, don’t fight it. Instead put a hook, bin, basket, and phone charger there. Now you’ll know where your stuff is—and looking for lost items is a waste of time. Procrastinating is also a time-waster, which is why the easier we make something to do, the more likely we’ll do it. All it takes is one excuse, and we won’t do something. Now I leave my bass guitar out and ready to play. If I had to pull it down, get it out of its case, and set it up, I would never practice. In our home or office, the things we use the most should be the easiest to get to. It’s okay to pile papers if they are for projects in progress, and we need to access them quickly. Piling with a purpose saves time.
Become a clock watcher. If we can do the things we have to do faster, we’ll have more time leſt
for things we want to do. For instance, if we time ourselves doing a maintenance task— and life is made up of mostly maintenance tasks—we can try to beat that time each time we do it. Also being more aware of how long it takes to do things will make us want to do them faster. My wife said it takes her twenty minutes to get ready in the morning, but when we timed her we were both surprised (okay, she was surprised) that it took nearly twice that long.
It is who you know. When we can make one call and get things done, it saves a ton
of time. It saves us from having to do a bunch of research because we know our connection has already vetted the vendor or they wouldn’t recommend them. It’s worth the time it takes to build bonds with key people who know everyone, because it could take years to get that connected ourselves. Instead, we could spend less time making sure our smaller group of well-connected friends and associates are happy.
Some things are not worth your time. In order to determine whether
something is bringing us closer to our goals or pulling us away, we must first have goals. A new way to keep your goals close at hand is to have them on your phone. It could be as simple as making a list, making your screensaver a reminder of your plans, or creating a mini movie about what maters most. To do this, just grab images online that represent your big goals, then add captions, music, and use your photo soſtware to make them come to life as a video. Another way to manage your time is to create Top 10 lists of important projects, key people, and good uses of your time. Focus on the best of everything and forget the rest.
You know more than you think you do. By all means do your homework and get all
your ducks in a row, but then let go and just do it. It’s like when we take a test, we take notes and study, but then we must trust that we’re ready. A good example is when we guess on a test but go back and change our answer, only to learn our best guess was beter. Save time by listening to your inner genius and going with your gut instincts because your first “guess” is usually your best guess.
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