Real Ways to Save Time: SAGE Column July 2008
Time is Relative – Real Ways to Save Time
It is time to get realistic about time. With only 24 hours in a day, you cannot expect to get 1000 things done well. Figuring out what is important results in mental balance and clear purpose. Purging your schedule of the tasks that are not supporting the life you want to live lets you realize your goals.
Most people continually over and underestimate time. Sometimes they start a project thinking it will take an hour. Three hours later they’re apologizing to their friends and family for being late.
How long does it really take to do something? In 30 seconds you can sort mail or shatter a world record. Start timing yourself to see what you haven’t been allowing enough time for, and where you have been lollygagging.
When you know how long tasks actually take, you’ll find them easier to schedule. Preplanning also helps you get things done correctly the first time, which saves redo time. And a task isn’t finished until the stuff is put away – whether that’s laundry or making dinner. It may take you 45 minutes to grocery shop, but it also takes 10 minutes to drive home and another 10 to unload the car and put the food in the fridge. You need more than an hour to complete this chore.
Or maybe you put off tasks until you think you’ll have more time? In reality, the more you put off the more time you need to complete the job.
Are you a multi-tasker? Recent studies have found that multitasking is not as efficient as focusing on one thing and then moving onto the next thing. The brain has to switch back and forth when you multi-task. You lose precious milliseconds with each switch. Those fractions of a second add up quickly.
Consider these two suggestions for saving time:
- Schedule breathing room in your schedule to accommodate interruptions. If there aren’t any, this wiggle room becomes bonus time by the end of the day.
- Systems and routines are the real time savers. When tasks become habit there’s no wasted time reviewing the process. They become automatic.
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Miriam Ortiz y Pino’s articles appear monthly in Sage Magazine, a publication of the Albuquerque Journal. Miriam is a Certified Professional Organizer (CPO) and owner of More than Organized // www.MorethanOrganized.net // She works with people who want to simplify their lives in and around Albuquerque, New Mexico.
This article may be freely distributed if this resource box remains attached.
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