How to Add Time to Your Day

Ok, maybe you can’t technically “add” time to your day, but you can do specific things to add time to your productivity. By doing this, you’ll get way more done and feel more accomplished in the process. 

Keep in mind that this will take a conscious effort to change your habits, but after time, it will become part of your DNA. Once you start to see all the benefits, you’ll get addicted to properly utilizing your time, and you’ll want to go further. 

Ideas for adding more efficiency to your day:

1. Properly schedule. Force yourself to make the most out of your day by creating a specific schedule in the morning. Decide what your most important tasks are and then focus on them. Scheduling allows you to make the most out of your day, and it will limit wasteful time. 
2. Cut out distractions. Though social media can be an outstanding marketing tool, it can also be a massive distraction, so be intentional about scheduling a specific time to be on platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook. Also, too many of us feel the need to respond to text messages right away. By doing this, we are hurting our ability to stay focused on the tasks we are working to accomplish. If we have to stop an hour project seven times to answer texts, this is going to significantly add to the amount of time to complete our objectives. If you can get the most out of each hour, you’ll end up being more productive throughout the day.  
3. Track your hours. Most people have no idea how much time they spend on specific tasks. How will we know problem areas if we’re not adequately tracking them? For instance, a year ago, I went through email from 5 am - 7 am, but I realized I wasn’t as productive as when I went through email from 9 am-11 am, so I changed my routine. Since I was tracking my hours, I was able to adapt.  
4. Batch your activities. Since our society has become addicted to being distracted, we have to make an effort to stay focused. I’ve seen too many people bounce around to different activities, and it kills productivity. Although, if we focus on a specific task, like knocking out email and then moving on to the next job, we’ll be much more efficient. It takes too much mental energy to switch back-and-forth with tasks.  
5. Tackle the most important tasks during your most productive hours. First, you need to figure out what your most productive hours are, and then you need to utilize them properly. For instance, my most productive hours are from 7 am - 2 pm. Knowing this, I do everything possible to knock out the most important tasks of my day during that time. I try to schedule all of my "to-dos" that don’t require too much brainpower after 2 pm.
6. Do easy things during your least productive hours. Everyone has a time of day when their physical and mental energy is low. Schedule easy tasks during these times. It can be an excellent time to read emails, file papers, or tidy up.
7. Reduce the amount of time spent on low-value activities. You might be surprised by how much time you spend watching TV, scrolling through Facebook, or unnecessary texting. Putting this time to better use can easily add a few hours of productive time.

Even though the length of our days are set, we can get a lot better at utilizing the time that we have. Keep in mind, Oprah, Beyonce, and Tiger Woods all have the same time, but they get more done than most. Why? They’ve learned how to maximize their time.  

Fight to get as much out of each day as you can. The more productive you are at using your time, the more success you’ll enjoy.