Some days, weeks, or even months can feel like you don’t have a single second to devote to anything else. I believe everyone, including myself, has experienced this feeling. Maybe you’re currently feeling this way with a packed schedule. It may seem impossible at first, but there are many strategies you can use to make time in your day.
After using these strategies to make time in your day, you will feel more structured, relaxed, and in control of your time. To get the most out of these strategies, definitely start by auditing your time and adjusting your mindset. From there, choose a couple of the other strategies that seem the most fitting for you and add them to your routine. If you are able to stay consistent, they will feel like second nature and you will be able to incorporate the remaining strategies into your daily life.
This post will explain the strategies required to make time in your busy day.
How To Make Time in Your Busy Day
Making time in your day is important for you to be able to get all your work done as well as have a balance to do things for yourself. These strategies include:
1. Audit what you’re spending your time on
2. Reframe your attitude
3. Get organized
4. Take advantage of your most productive times
5. Create and use a to-do list
6. Consider waking up earlier
7. Stay aware of wasted time
8. Don’t be afraid to say no to things
9. Avoid interruptions
10. Try to improve your time management skills
11. Be realistic about how much time each item on your to-do list will take
12. Multitask the right way
13. Remember to make time for yourself
To make these strategies most useful for you, take your time on the audit and reframe your mindset. Once you’ve completed those steps, move on to choosing 2 of the other strategies. By only choosing 2 additional strategies, you will be able to really dive into each of them rather than only partly giving your effort to all of them.
When I find myself struggling to have enough time in my day, I always use these strategies as a reset. My favorites to start with are creating a to-do list and avoiding interruptions. Continue reading for descriptions and how to apply the strategies!
1. Audit what you’re spending your time on
- Throughout the day, jot down everything you did. Include the time you started and how long it took.
- At the end of the day, review this list and consider what took more time than you expected.
- Those things that took more time will be your focus to find a way to reduce the time spent.
- After reviewing this list, you can also consider if there are any things you can cut out altogether.
2. Reframe your attitude
- Keep an optimistic attitude about being able to find more time in your day and it will help you succeed.
- This will absolutely take time and practice. (This is not something where you can flip a switch and turn it on.)
- Take a look at this article for more mindset tips!
3. Get organized
- If you find yourself spending time looking for things, this is a good place to start.
- It will take additional time on the front end but will be worth it in the long run.
- When spending time organizing, keep in mind everything should have a place. This will help you keep track of everything without spending too much time day to day.
{ Related post: 5 Simple Strategies for Organization for Time Management That Will Make You More Successful }
4. Take advantage of your most productive times
- This will reduce the time required to complete the work you need to get done.
- If you’re not sure of your most productive time, maybe test out doing your focused work at different times of the day. Most people find that they are more productive at a specific time of day.
- Once you determine this, try to tailor your schedule around putting your most difficult tasks during your most productive times.
5. Create and use a to-do list
- Create your to-do list by paying attention to your most productive time of the day.
- Also, incorporate your tasks that are a priority to make sure you get them done.
- As you go through your day, continue to check in with your to-do list to stay on track.
- At the end of your day, review anything you weren’t able to complete and be sure it doesn’t get forgotten in your future to-do lists.
6. Consider waking up earlier
- Staying up late doesn’t typically lead to much productivity. Instead, it is usually filled with watching TV or mindlessly scrolling (I know from experience).
- Try to cut these activities off early and wake up earlier.
- Getting a head start on your day will allow you to get some uninterrupted work done before others are awake.
- Read the article below to learn how to make it easier to wake up early!
{ Related post: How to Wake Up Early: 11 Ways to Make it Feel Easy! }
7. Stay aware of wasted time
- It can be so easy for time to fly by when you’re not being productive. I know the feeling of surprise when you realize an hour has gone by and you never actually got started on the laundry you said you’d do.
- Try to ensure that you stay aware of how much time has gone by so that you can reconsider if what you’re doing is a good use of time.
- You should start by trying to keep track of the biggest time waster that you found in the first exercise.
- For example, if it is scrolling on social media, try apps that send an alert after a certain amount of time using the app. If you struggle with spending too much time watching TV, maybe make a point to look at what time it is before starting each new episode.
8. Don’t be afraid to say no to things
- If something comes up and it is not important to you, you can say no.
- Also, don’t be afraid to push something back to the next week or even a month if it’s not urgent.
- When you have a full schedule for the week, you should leave a little flexibility because life is always unpredictable, but you should try to stick to it as much as you can.
9. Avoid interruptions
- Interruptions will take your focus off what you are currently working on and waste more time than you think.
- For example, if you get a phone call, not only are you taking time away for the phone call, but you also need to think about the time spent refocusing on the task after the phone call.
- This article gives a very interesting insight into how much time interruptions can take away.
10. Try to improve your time management skills
- Improving your time management skills will allow you to get more done in less time.
- This will also help you feel more in control of your time.
- Take a look at the following article for information on improving your time management skills.
{ Related post: 3 Easy Strategies for Time Management: Why You Need Them Today }
11. Be realistic about how much time something will take
- Make sure you set realistic expectations so you will have a more accurate idea of how much time you will have left over.
- This will be difficult at the beginning but will get easier over time.
- To start, jot down an estimation of how long you think something will take. After completing the task, write down the actual time it took.
- At the end of the day or week, take note of how long things actually took and keep that in mind when making future schedules.
12. Multitask the right way
- Multitasking typically just slows down both tasks you are trying to do, but it can be done correctly.
- Instead of trying to focus on two different things at once, choose one task that doesn’t take much thought.
- For example, try cleaning your house while you listen to one of your favorite podcasts.
- Take a look at this article for more information on the best ways to multitask.
13. Remember to make time for yourself
- When your schedule is packed full, it’s easy to forget to set aside time for yourself.
- Including time for yourself will help you to be more productive and prevent burnout.
- Be sure to include some time to do something for yourself, this can be a walk outside or maybe cooking a delicious meal for yourself.
Thank you for reading these strategies! I hope you are able to implement some of them and see improvements in your time. Please reach out to ourteam@wellroundedyou.com with any comments or questions.
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