Let’s face it, time is valuable. You need to find ways be more efficient if you plan to keep ahead in today’s world.
Being in college and running a business forced me to realize the very real meaning of “time is money“. I realized that, if you can’t change the quantity of time you’re given, you need to focus on improving the quality of the time you have. Here are a few ways, I noticed, have helped me to be more efficient and improve the quality of my time.
Be sure to add your thoughts and insight to this list.
Be healthy.
- eat better
- exercise regularly
- sleep appropriately
Of course, right? People know they need to do these things, but only a few actually ever do them. You would think that being healthy would make you less productive because it reduces the amount of time you have to get things done. The truth is, though, while you do reduce the amount of hours you have to work, being healthy allows you to be more productive per hour.
Here’s the catch; only be as healthy as you need to be. In other words, aim for the highest possible ROI. It doesn’t make sense to spend all day in the gym unless you make money doing it. The same is true about sleeping; if you’re not staying within the sufficient sleep recommendations, you’re wasting time.
Have a plan – then work it.
This is the meat and potatoes of the list. Most people tend to spin their wheels without a plan. The upfront investment of time that it takes to plan will pay off greatly in the end – trust me.
Be sure not to overdue it though. As my grandmother once told me, “don’t get lost in the thinking“. Figure out how to make progress and then go make it happen.
Keep a schedule.
One of the best ways to be more efficient is to keep a schedule. This goes hand and hand with your plan. If you know what you have to do to accomplish your goals and how long they will take, you can schedule them out so that you complete them within a certain time frame.
If you’re an entrepreneur, you don’t typically stop thinking like an entrepreneur. The problem is, though, you need to at times. Stepping outside of your normal thought process gives you a better perspective on life and provides you with valuable insight. It took me a while to realize that, but once I did I found that I was able to make better decisions at a faster pace.
Establish work hours, schedule time to have fun, and do not procrastinate with either.
Get a grip on your finances.
A lot of people are terrible at managing their money. Managing your money can take a significant amount of time. The good news is, though, that there are ways to automate your finances and force yourself to stay on track. I’ve realized that, once you figure out how to manage your money, you actually start to have more money. And as you get more money you are able to use it to to free up time.
For example, when I bootstrapped my first business, I didn’t have much time to spare because I had to carry the majority of the workload. To give myself more time, I switched over to Quickbooks Online and started automating the company’s bills and invoices. This drastically cut down the administrative tasks I had to accomplish and allowed me to use that time to get more business.
For entrepreneurs, the same concept applies to streamlining your business operations.
Surround yourself with great people.
As you start to get more business, you’ll be able to hire more people and save even more time. The trick, though, is to hire and surround yourself with great people. These individuals will make you more money and will reduce the amount of time you have to spend cleaning up after them. Don’t stop there though. As you bring on great people you need to go to work for them; create and implement processes that help them develop and start delegating appropriate responsibilities.
The same goes for people you hangout with outside of work. Don’t waste your time with lazy people who just want a handout. Instead, surround yourself with other people who are prudent and diligent in their work.
Conclusion
So there you have it – a few ways to be more efficient and improve the quality of your time. As a few of you have noted in previous posts, work ethics and attitude goes a long way in life. Most of this is common sense to us; with the right attitude and a little self-control it’s easy to make a difference in the quality of our time.
What are some ways you’ve improved your time?