5 ways to manage your time more efficiently
We all know how difficult it can be to get motivated during these cold bleak days of winter but here is a thought …
Why not use these long dark nights to make your business work more efficiently, so when those first rays of spring sunshine emerge you can frolic outside to your heart’s content safe in the knowledge that your business is running smoothly = giving you the perfect work/life balance!
Here are my top time management tips (don’t worry … you can thank me later!)
1 - 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
Yes and by this I mean your phone!! Constant interruptions are one of our major productivity killers and it is usually the technology made to make our lives easier that averts the attention needed to work efficiently.
We have all been in the situation where we find ourselves mindlessly scrolling on a page only to wonder how our phone even got in our hand … did you know on average we look at our phone over 58 times a day!!!! So, by actively logging out of social sites, it is more difficult to ‘zombie scroll’ (its official term obvs!) but if this is not possible for you, at least turn all your notifications off so you aren’t being interrupted by that exciting PING of a new message or email. You may also need to place your phone away in another room or hide it in a drawer if you know the temptation is too much!
As your will power gets stronger and you can wean yourself from your handheld device, why not allow yourself a screen-free day? See if you can hide your phone and laptop away ALL DAY!. You will be surprised how this can re-energize you and allow you to clear your head to take on the challenges ahead #freeyourbrain!
2 - 𝗗𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁
So this is described as 'eating the frog' although I can personally think of a few things worse than this but anyway it basically means: do the worst thing first so that everything after that feels less daunting.
Everyone has those unpleasant phone calls, lengthy reports to complete or that overwhelming project where you don't really know where to start …but by getting that long, boring, or tedious job out of your life you will feel an instant sense of relief and everything else thereafter will feel like a breeze. Also, you never know, it may not end up being as bad as you thought it would!
PS - no frogs were harmed in the making of this blog!
3 – Have a break … have a 4 pronged chocolate treat that I can't name for copyright reasons!
No matter how busy you are, after a certain amount of time fatigue kicks in physically and mentally; you have to allow yourself a breather to recompose your thoughts and stick on a fresh head.
Get a coffee, take a short stroll or make some lunch - you will return to work refreshed and ready to tackle whatever comes your way … just remember to turn that phone back on afterwards!!
4 - Batch processing (round them up cow… person!)
By grouping smaller yet similar tasks together as one entity and scheduling a time during the day to complete them ensures you are not interrupting your other tasks with little ‘bitty’ jobs.
For example, try and ping all those marketing emails out in the morning and smash out those client calls for after lunch (this way you won't be hangry when speaking to any 'Karens' that plague your life).
By batching similar processes you save time and keep that momentum going … plus you will feel that you have ticked a much bigger job off your list!
5 – Find when you work best…
Some people are early birds, whereas others are night owls … its part of what makes us so beautifully different and the reason the world ticks along so wonderfully.
A prime example of this is me and my husband – one of us is much better in the mornings than the other and vice versa … which is a blessing especially with our two crazy kids #tagteam
Get up super early if you’re most productive in the morning or stay up late at night if you prefer to work in the darkness … but don’t force yourself to change your habits just because it is said that we reach productivity at certain hours.
Whatever time management strategies work for some people, may not work for you! The main thing is that you try and enter a deep work phase, where you focus solely on completing the tasks at hand!
I would love to hear how you are keeping motivated during these times….follow KVA on Instagram for more tips and information on the world of virtual administration.