Maximizing Your Productivity: Making Time Work For You

Utilizing Your Time Wisely

As our lives move forward, so does time; I know you've probably heard the saying that "time is on our side" but is it really? I believe that it can be if we learn how to manage it correctly. I'll be the first to say that I didn't always respect or utilize my time properly, honestly I used to waste time and quite frequently. I also move pretty slow or as I like to say at my own pace, pair that with wasting time and you get no progress. Once I realized how much time I was wasting, plus I started feeling bad for being inconsiderate when it came to meeting up with friends for dinners or things of that nature. I changed my view on how I see time.

When we look up the definition of time, it states: the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole. That is the noun definition, as a verb time means: plan, schedule, or arrange when (something) should happen or be done. Both definitions define time as events that are measured during a certain time frame, but the definition that stands out to me would be the noun; mainly the part that states "indefinite" which means unknown or unstated. I feel that is how we should always look at time, as unknown because none of us truly know the amount of time we're granted. Now that's not to say that we should be fearful or move as if we have to consistently track everything we do down to the second, however we should be more mindful.

Cruella is clearly about to lose her sugar honey ice tea in the photo above (lol). So that we don't end up like Ms. De Vil, what can we do to maximize our time when it come to business and everyday life events? I have a few tips of my own, along with a good deal from sources across the web that I recently read.

Personally I believe that you can maximize your time by having your day planned out, whether you're writing your task down or keeping a mental note of all the things you want to accomplish for the day; both options are necessary in there own ways. I suggest writing your task down if you know that you have a hard time keeping up with everything you need to do mentally, I write down somethings but not everything; mainly because some of my daily task have become more of a habit. For example going to the gym, eating (yes at one point of time I had to remind myself to eat, if not I could possibly go almost all day without eating until I become hangry [hungry/angry for those who may not know what that means]), and taking my vitamins are some task that I just naturally do without a reminder. I'd say checking my emails and mapping out what I want to accomplish with Rizen for the week, are few other task that come naturally as well. Things like appointments, classes, conferences and hanging out with friends; would be things that I have to write down. Unless these events are just at random/spontaneous moments, then I'll have to set myself a reminder.

Another way that I believe you can maximize your time is not saying yes to everything that you may get invited to, there was a time that I would literally say yes to everything that my loved ones would invite me to until I started feeling like I had no time for myself. I would accomplish work related things but nothing I wanted to do personally because I would commit myself to showing up for everyone else. Now I'm not saying cut yourself off from enjoying celebrating your loved ones, however I will say that you need to make sure you're also prioritizing yourself otherwise you'll definitely experience some sort of burnout. Only say yes to the things that don't take away from the time you set out for you own obligations, because if you're similar to me; once I commit myself to something I feel like I'm obligated to support in whatever way that I can.

The last tip I have for you guys, is to prioritize rest; yes rest. I believe that resting is one of the most essential ways to prioritize time. When you make time for rest, you have far more energy to accomplish whats important. Resting rejuvenates everything internally, as well as externally, that's a personal opinion; however if we were to google that statement, somewhere it's probably been proven as a fact as well (lol).

I've provided you with a few tips of my own, lets see what the web has to say about managing your time. I will say that some of the tips I read align with my own personal experiences with utilizing time better. They provided quite a bit so I'll only touch on a few but I'll give you the full list as well.

The first tip is to avoid multitasking, although multitasking may seem like its efficient and will save time; its actually ineffective, causes you to lose focus, and can make you easily open to errors. I think this one is true but funny at the same time because I promise I'm great at multitasking (lol).

Tip two states to block out distractions, distractions is the quickest way to get you off task and to easily waste time. Something that I do to make sure that I don't get side tracked is putting my phone on do not disturb and if I'm in a public setting with people I like to inform them that I'm currently trying to complete something and that I'll give them my attention when I can or once I've completed whatever I'm working on at the time. Social Media is a quick way to get sidetracked, even though when it comes to digital marketing its a key factor; you have to know when its appropriate time for leisure scrolling.

This last tip may be my favorite, which is delegate task. Although I enjoy completing things on my own I believe being able to have others assist with certain goals/task puts your mind at ease and not think about how much time you either have or don't have left to get other things done.

Some of the other tips that were provided are as follows: prioritize, set SMART goals (I have a post on this as well), budget your time, learn to say no (touched on this one!), set reasonable time limits, time blocking, focus on the big picture, make a plan, reward yourself, set priorities, conduct a time audit, create a daily schedule, Pareto principle (80/20 rule), take breaks, and procrastination. A few others were listed, however I felt they were repetitive to what was already stated. I would suggest taking some time out to reading up on each tip if your not really sure on what they mean or how you can use them in your daily schedule.

No matter what your day to day consist of, prioritizing your time is very important; by doing so it gives you the opportunity to accomplish your goals while also making room to enjoy the people that are in your life. Because lets be honest outside of working, creating moments with those you love is what life's about. Stay blessed guys, until next time; we'll chat soon! =)