Carrie Baker – The Growth Collective

If I told you that I could give you more time would you take it?

What if I said that actually, YOU can give yourself more time, would you choose to make that happen?

The great thing about the Time Hacks I want to give you today, is that they’re mostly just tweaks to help you be more efficient, and not huge changes in your normal life.

My hope for you after reading this blog post, is that you will find at least one thing to help you to be more productive, use your time more efficiently and give yourself more of it .

In case you didn’t see last week’s blog post which was Part One of this, we looked at being a good steward of your time, because we all know it’s a precious and limited resource. We focused mainly on hacks for your working life, but the tools can also translate across to other areas too. If you want to read it, you can find Time Hacks For Productivity: Part One here.

This week we are looking at the use of time in your personal life, and ways to make your time work for you.

Come on then, let’s jump in!

Multitasking

“Multitasking is a myth; it’s really task-switching that takes up much more time and energy.”

– Greg McKeown

There are definitely two camps on this one. Those who are for and those who are against the idea of multitasking. I choose to multitask only when I am either cooking or cleaning. I find it more satisfying when I can do double for my time. It makes it feel worth it.

For example, when I make dinner I like listen to a podcast that teaches and grows me, I’ll always have my journal out, ready to write down any notes. Or I catch up on messages, get the the shopping list written or even complete the online shop while I am doing things in the kitchen.

Sometimes I can even make snacks for the kids for the week, whilst doing the dinner.

Another task I can tackle while in the kitchen, is to begin the arduous task of watering my plants. I sit them in a container and water them from the bottom. This saves me having to do it over the weekend.

(Please note that I don’t manage to do all these things at once while making dinner, just sometimes when it’s a simple dinner and I can handle it!)

There are a number of ways that you can double your output in the same amount of time. If you are spending time doing one thing, and you have capacity to do a second task at the same time, why not?

Here are some ways you can do this on a smaller scale:

While you wait for the kettle to boil, you can wipe over your kitchen surfaces, tidy up a space, sort a part of the messy drawer, put a load of washing on, or whip the duster around a room of the house.

You will be surprised by what you achieve in a small amount of time when you set your mind to it. By tackling these little tasks when doing other things, you can give yourself back time, by not having to do it later on.

Defeat ‘decision fatigue’

“The key is to systematize your life to the point where you don’t have to make trivial decisions anymore.”

– Mark Zuckerberg

Let me ask you a question; how much time to you spend making decisions or thinking about the decisions you need to make?

As adults we have to make so many decisions in a single day, it is something like 35000. Yep. You read that right, if you don’t believe me, go and ask the oracle ‘Google’. And if you’re a working parent, well… I think you can add some more zeros onto that number!

You can get something called decision fatigue. When this happens, your brain is actually worn out from making so many decisions and choices, for you and for other people.

While we were sitting to eat together, one of the mums at my toddler group asked me what was in my lunch this week. I answered, “The same as every single work day.” I explained that it saves me time and brain capacity doing it this way, because I don’t have to think about it.

If you can minimise the amount of choices you make everyday, you can free up time and mental capacity, so you don’t get to the end of your day or week, feeling quite as worn out.

Make decisions ahead of time.

You can create a schedule or list for you, (or others in your home) of what you can or will eat when. Everyone knows what’s for dinner, and what snacks are available. This has saved me a ton of decision making with my kids!

You can choose your outfit the night before and hang out it in an obvious place. Did you know that making decisions when you are tired, takes you longer?

By making choices when you’re not tired, and you’re not under pressure will save you time later on, energy, and will help your future self.

If you are really organised, you can decide what you will wear for each day of the week. (Some people even go so far as to take a photo of every outfit combination, and use the photos to plan their clothes for the week.)

Have a think about the same decisions you have to make each day or week, how can you make decisions ahead of time… to save you time?

Create systems

“Creating systems in your life allows you to focus on what matters most, and let go of the little things.”

– Oprah Winfrey

Another great way to defeat decision fatigue AND give you back time is to create systems.

Like we talked about in the section above, you can systemise things in your life – like your wardrobe.

When you create systems in your life, it makes the everyday things you do, more efficient. They become more simple, and it minimises the decision making time.

It may take a little time to think it through and create the system, but then it’s done and the benefits will bless you long after.

As an example; I write a daily post along with a daily photo of the sunrise, and share it across different social media platforms. It used to take me so much time, I nearly stopped doing it many times. But because I felt that I needed to carry on with it, I decided to create a system that would make it easier for me to be consistent.

In a dedicated notes page on my phone, I have all the hashtags I use, and any templates, which I can copy and paste as and when I need them. I write these posts a few days ahead if time, and I share them across the different social pages, in the same order to make it simple.

This has made it easier to be consistent. Having created just one system for something I do everyday has helped me to be much more efficient with my time.

Imagine the impact in your life, if you were to create different systems across your daily tasks. How much time and brain space would you free up each day?

Is there something you do everyday, that could be done in a more time effective way?

Maybe it’s the meal prep. You can create a system where you batch cook dinners or batch prepare lunches so that you spend more time at one time, and less time over the week.

Or like I mentioned earlier, you could decide the night before what you will wear, and set it out ready. You can take that a step further and pack your work bag for the next day.

Creating a system, is really just forming a habit, that will simplify your life.

You are the gatekeeper

“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.” –

Carl Sandburg

When you find yourself saying things like; “I really should go and ___”, or “I have to do___’, take a moment to evaluate the situation.

When you’ve had a moment to think about it, ask yourself these questions:

• Is this something I absolutely need to do?

• Is this an expectation someone has placed on me?

• Is this a perceived expectation?

Let these questions (or similar) be the gatekeepers of your time. You have a choice in how you use the time you have, learn to be wise with it. There are always people in and around your life, who love to help you spend it.

If you have committed to something, then definitely do it. It’s important to be a person of your word, and to do what you say you will.

Let’s talk about ‘The Ask’, You know what I’m talking about… When you’re approached and casually asked to do something that is apparently ‘no big deal’ and ‘a small thing really’, which will take ‘hardly any time at all’.

You’re caught in an unguarded moment on your way to something else, and you realise you just said yes.

I was terrible for being a ‘yes person’ in my younger years. I didn’t want to let people down, or disappoint them, and I desperately wanted to be liked. I overstretched myself many times. Don’t be like me.

When someone makes a demand on your time, or asks for it, here are some things you can say instead of saying yes.

Practice saying these out loud with me:

• I will need some time to think about that.

• I need to check my diary, I’ll let you know if I’m available.

• Would you mind sending me all the details for that?

• That sounds really interesting. I’ll get back to you once I know if I have capacity to do that.

You never have to give an answer straight away, even if you feel pressured to. It can be a bit of a knee-jerk reaction sometimes to just say ‘yes’. Consider too, that you aren’t always given the full picture or time commitment, when you’re initially asked.

If it’s something you feel you want to do, it never hurts to ask for more information and see the whole picture, before you jump in with both feet. Be wise where you give and invest your time, and be sure that it’s something you can and want to commit to.

Rest is essential

“Rest time is not wasted time. It is economy to gather fresh strength… It is wisdom to take occasional furlough. In the long run, we shall do more by sometimes doing less.”

– Charles Spurgeon

This is a brilliant quote.

Rest is one of those things that can feel more like an occasional luxury than being essential to life. Yes, there is sleep, and there are the busy weekends when you might stop for an hour or two.

But that proper, deep, satisfying, soul-restoring rest… when was the last time you gave yourself that kind of rest?

Sometimes you feel as though you need to earn your rest. Let me tell you something… You don’t. You don’t have to earn your right to rest, you are designed to do it whenever you need to.

You are the only one who can make the choice for you.

The tools and hacks we have talked about the previous blog post and this one, are not so you can fit even more into your busy life. The reason I would love for you to be able to make your time work for you, is so that you can invest more time into giving yourself rest. To give yourself time to do the things you love, to connect into the author of life, time to dream, to create and to find space to live a life you love.

You can rest in all kinds of ways, that don’t necessarily include laying down or sleeping; like reading a book, going for a walk, watching a film, sitting in the quite, spending time with a friend, getting the sun on your face, praying, reading your bible or being out in nature.

To rest is to nourish your soul, to feed your creative heart and to bring order to your thoughts.

We live in a world where there is a strange pride around how busy your life is. Being busy doesn’t always mean success. But it CAN stop you from finding success.

To recap:

• Multitasking. It has it’s place and can save you time. While doing the housework, it’s possible to get double the tasks done.

• Decision Fatigue. We make so many decisions everyday, and by making some decisions ahead of time you can save your brain the effort, and yourself some time.

• Create Systems. By streamlining the things you do daily or weekly, you can make them simpler to execute, make it something you barely need to think about, and feel more organised.

• You Are The Gatekeeper. There will always be demands on your time, but by making those demands go through the gatekeeper, can help you to be wise where you give your time.

• Rest Is Essential To Life. Times hacks help to give you more time to rest. You don’t have to earn it, it’s a basic need.

You are given this life, and free will, as to how you use the time available to you. You can live your life in worship and honour of the one who gave everything for us. We can use it to do good, to love and bless those around us.

You can use your time to reach for those goals and pursue the dream in your heart.

How will you use your time?

Thanks for stopping by, I hope that you picked up some hacks and ideas on how to save yourself some time. As always, I am over here cheering you on as you grow and reach towards those goals and dreams.

For the other places I hang out, you can find them here. If you liked this post, let me know! While you’re at it, go and give it a share. And if you want to keep my brain able to write, you can Buy Me A Coffee Here!

See you soon friend,

Carrie xxx

If you want to read a previous blog post about How To Give Yourself More Time you can read that here.

If you would like to read about The Disappearing Time Trick, you can read that here.