I have always considered myself to be an efficient person that makes the most of my time. A few months ago, I decided that I wanted even more time in my day to do things I thoroughly enjoy. Less work time and more leisure time! I mean, I am all about working hard, but my time is valuable and there is so much I want to do for outside activities. If I don’t do something about it, no one will do it for me!
If you are looking for something similar, first you must take responsibility for what your life is right now and then take massive action steps to create the life you want. Here are 10 of my smart tips in creating an efficient day so you can have much more time for the things you enjoy doing.
- Create Your Plan/Your Mission Each Day – As I always say, if you don’t design a plan, you might not stand a chance. Don’t just go through your day. Get a plan of action together and take massive action on it to make big things happen during the day.
- Write out Lists to Stay Focused – Writing out a to-accomplish list will keep you focused and it will keep you motivated to keep moving forward on what you need to do, especially when you have the reward of crossing off things you get done!
- Do One Big Grocery Shopping Trip Each Week – Are you constantly going to the grocery store to pick up items for a daily meal? Try to do a weekly grocery shopping for all your essentials to save yourself some time.
- Group Errands Together – If you have a bunch of errands to do, instead of driving back and forth multiple times on different occasions to get them done, try to design a plan to get them all done at one time.
- Put A Limit On Television and Social Media – If we really get down to evaluating our schedules, many of us are spending a lot of time either watching television or being on social media. If you do it, acknowledge it then really take a look at whether you are making the most of your time. If not, create a plan to eliminate some of it and you’ll find lots of time for yourself.
- Be Okay With Saying ‘No’ To An Activity – Sometimes you just have to say ‘no’ to requests for your time in order to make the most of your life. Quality people will understand. Just be honest and don’t feel guilty about saying no to activities at times.
- Make Quick, Easy, Healthy Meals – I have come to realize that you don’t need to spend a ton of time in the kitchen preparing meals. There are healthy, quick meals you can make and not spend hours of your day preparing.
- Clean As You Go Through Your Day – There is not much worse than when you let things go to the point that things are so disorganized, then at some point you have a huge amount to clean or de-clutter. Make the commitment to try to keep your space clean at all times. Try to clean as you go so you don’t have to worry about things later on.
- Take Massive Action During Your Productive Times – Figure out your most productive hours of the day and take massive action on things you need to do during this part of your day. Try to focus on what you need to get done during your peak motivated hours. Get things done!
- Put Yourself On the Calendar – Bottom line is, if you want to have time for yourself, you must schedule time for yourself. No one is going to do it for you. So create a schedule that leaves plenty of time for you.
What ways do you need to improve on creating more time for the things you enjoy? Or if you have already had success in creating more time for the things you enjoy, let me know what you have done. I’d love to hear from you!
Cynthia Bazin is absolutely passionate about YOUR success and happiness. If you are ready and committed to change your life and take charge of your life, contact Cynthia today to start a conversation! She wants to be your mentor! She will get you laser-focused on the important things in life! [email protected] | https://cynthiabazin.com Also, be sure to be on the lookout for her 2015 workshops and programs being announced VERY soon! It’s going to be an awesome year for YOU!
Cynthia is also City Director for a national magazine ‘Today’s Innovative Woman’! Check out her city page today! http://todaysinnovativewoman.com/sacramento
Excellent content! All are great points!! Thank you!
Thank you so much for the shout out Deb! I appreciate it so much!
Hi Cynthia!
Great post as usual! I think it’s sometimes easy to become overwhelmed with everything and you offer some really useful tips to downsizing everything. The “saying no” point is so important – it’s just too easy to say yes to everything; giving yourself permission to say “no” is important and it can help to propel you forward.
Thanks for sharing!
Donna
Thank you so much Donna for sharing your insights. Saying ‘no’ to activities at times is probably one of the most important things to do, in order to say yes to your own life. Thanks for always being such great support! You are appreciated!
Love all of these action steps! I recently read “Time to Write” by Kelly L Stone and she advises to find the time to write (because hundreds of published writers she interviewed started writing while working full time or managing a family, etc) you should start by doing a time diary for an entire 24 hrs. Mark down how much time you are spending getting ready, exercising, eating, working, watching TV, fixing lunches for tomorrow, checking email, and so on until you account for EVERY minute of your day. Then you have a clear picture of where you can eliminate time wasters, figure out where to delegate, or recognize what may be simply taking too much time to do. Which is where your blog comes in and reminds us to simplify and say NO to activities that don’t make us happy or get us to our goals. I also had to find the time of day I am most productive. My creative brain is awake in the morning so now I’m getting up earlier to get the writing time in.
Excellent insights Tracy! Thank you so much for sharing the book you recently read and the things that you have done to create the time in life to do things you enjoy. I am like you that my most creative time is in the morning, therefore that’s when I am most productive. Thanks again for your comments. You are fantastic my friend.
As always Cynthia, you have posted a great blog and a good challenge! Creating time to enjoy things is always hard but you have mapped out 10 ways to do it! If even one or two of your suggestions can help someone then they are on their way to enjoy extra time while being super productive.
Have an awesome day my friend!
Dale
Thank you so much Dale for your comments. I appreciate the shout out. Life is speeding on by and I hope my list of 10 things gives people some food for thought on how they can create more time for themselves to do things they really enjoy!
#10 – that’s the money maker. Putting yourself on your own calendar seems ridiculous, right? WRONG! You must schedule time for yourself. It’s how you recharge your batteries!
Sheryl, thank you so much for your comments. You are so correct! We absolutely must put time on the schedule for ourselves.
Great post Cynthia! All fantastic points that can easily be applied to our daily routine. This will no doubt add extra time throughout our day to do more of the things we love. I personally must work on #3 (guilty!!) 🙂
Thanks for posting such great content. You are a superstar my friend!!
Hi Linda! Thank you for your support and your comments on my article. I am glad you have recognized an area that you can do differently to gain more time in your day! I appreciate you my friend!
I totally agree with Create A Plan. When I don’t have my day planned out then I’m a mess. All over the place and I feel like I got nothing done at the end of the day. So planning my day in chunks really helps keep me stay focused and on track. Great post!!
Thanks Stephanie for your comments! It’s great that you recognize what you need to do to get the most out of your day. Keep those lists going for yourself and be sure to reward yourself along the way. You’ve got this. You are doing amazing things!
Big thanks for another fantastic blog! These are are all great points, Cynthia!
As I was going through my busy November schedule yesterday, I noticed there was still room for more client appointments, for this, for that… but I took a fair chunck of those available time slots and scheduled “me time”. So, #10 really got my attention. I also tell myself “put yourself on your priority list, today.” Doesn’t have to be big things.Little things can make a big difference in my day. Sometimes, just taking a short break, enjoying a great espresso, taking a short walk, taking 5 minutes to just feel grateful can do wonders for me.
Have a fantabulous day!
~Giovanni
Giovanni, thank you so much for your comments. They are absolutely fantastic because it gives everyone a real-time example of you putting yourself on the calendar. I absolutely love it and you are so right, that it doesn’t have to be big things. It can just be a short break which can really recharge your batteries. I appreciate your wisdom and support. You are AWESOME!
Thank you for another helpful blog post, Cindy! Great tips!! Your suggestion of creating a list of things that need to be done has been a very important one for me. The list keeps me focused and motivates me to cross things off of it. Each small step feels like an accomplishment in moving toward my goal and brings me one step closer to doing the things I want to do rather than only the things that I need to do.
Thank you for another great post, my friend! 😀
Jill, thank you so much for your comments. You are just like me that we really like and need our lists to keep us moving and motivated and it feels so good to cross off the things we get done! Keep doing what you are doing because you are accomplishing so much. I appreciate YOU!
Some fabulous ideas here, Cynthia!
It might sound nerdy, but I’m a fan of the “clean as you go” and “shop once a week” approaches!
I am also a flagwaver for taking a few quiet minutes each morning to slow the brain down, get centred and work out a mental runsheet for the day. Those few minutes may be different for different people and there is no perfect example (some people may sit under a tree, some ride a bike to work, I get off the train a stop or two early and take a slow walk through the inner city parks) .
The important thing is not HOW you get that quiet reflection time, but the simple act of doing it.
Take the 10 minutes each morning – clear your head, get the ideas sorted in your mind and ready yourself to step into things. You will find yourself launching into those big priority items that you have planned, without distraction or noise and with a clear sense of confidence.
Well done Cynthia, i always enjoy your writing!
Tony, absolutely FANTASTIC input here to my blog. It is totally amazing the things you are doing because you are being efficient and you are also taking the time to focus on yourself which awesome. I love what you say that it’s not HOW you focus on yourself, it’s that you do it. Thank you so much for your wisdom and support. Keep doing what you are doing Tony!
Great post Cynthia! Excellent points, especially making time for ourselves. We need to recharge in order to face the challenges and enjoy the triumphs of life.
Thank you so much Terri for the comment on my blog. Yes, it is so important to put time on the calendar for ourselves. I appreciate your support!
Love this! It’s so easy to fall into a habit of “busy” instead of shooting for a life that’s “full.” So many people think that there is no way that they could ever find the time for themselves and even worse, that they don’t deserve it. You make finding the time and losing the excuses so much easier. This is going to help a lot of people!
Great post Cynthia. The first one that resonated most with me most is #7.Simple, quick, healthy and delicious meals can be faster and ultimately more energizing and rewarding than waiting in line at your favorite take out place. But combining 2&3 with #7, planning out the ingredients ahead of time so they’re available and then putting them together as needed, a healthy meal can take 10 minutes or less to prepare and still be delicious, energizing and satisfying. The food we choose to eat affects are our motivation levels. By simplifying food prep we create more time for mindful eating, which in turn increases that amount of chi our body absorbs from food.
#6 is a big one to reclaiming and repurposing our time for the things we truly and deeply desire.
I find if I schedule #10 as a priority and early in the day that the rest of the daily tasks are accomplished more quickly and joyfully. It’s a way of telling the Universe through that you value yourself and the Universe responds in kind.
Well you did it again Cynthia, you nailed it. I always love reading your blog. Direct, to the point and packed with great tips. I’m really happy to find out that I am doing most of these. Yeah. Now if only I could teach my teenage daughters to do #8, life would be grand.
The one thing I’ve done is not check my email first thing in the morning. Emails dictate how you will use fill your day. I use that first 30 minutes when I wake up to enjoy a cup of coffee, meditate and reflect on what I need to do for that day.