Juggling work, home, family and personal life can be stressful. You see how people choose to waste time nowadays. They are not even keen about following the old adage, “Time is gold”.
In a span of fifteen minutes, you can do many activities. A study reveals that women had a better chance of sticking to a plan if they only had to commit to 15-minutes sessions. That’s how essential 15 minutes to our lives, so better make it productive. In losing weight, all you need is 15 minutes. According to study, 15 minutes of resistance training is as effective as boosting metabolism.
Do you want to get extra 15 minutes in your day? Bring to mind these wise saving techniques.
1. Wake up 15 minutes earlier
Getting up early than the expected time makes you efficient because you can do things ahead of time and finish them ahead. The remaining extra 15 minutes can be spent well by having your me-time or performing other important tasks.
2. Plan your day
In planning your activities, set the biggest task of the day on the time when you are more focused and productive. You will notice that you will finish them faster than if you do them during a natural low point.
3. Refrain from multitasking
Do you think multitasking makes you productive? Well, it is counterproductive because most of the time, you are trying to do many things at once without accomplishment. To combat this, after you are done listing your to-dos for the day, choose an item in your to-do list that you want to complete first. Just do one task at a time. Your tasks will be competed once you give your full attention to it.
4. Do the first come, first serve rule
Whenever you receive an email or a paper comes across your desk, deal with them immediately. Prevent procrastination, as it will waste more of your precious time.
5. Write it down.
It makes you efficient if you write all your to-dos for the day in black and white. After you are done with your task, cross it out and go to the next task in line.
6. Don’t be afraid to decline or say no.
Know your priorities. If you think this task needs to be tackled immediately then do it. Don’t be overwhelmed having so many activities to do in so little time. Set priority as to which comes first and which comes last. If you are managing several tasks, don’t be afraid to say no when someone (not your immediate superior), ask you to do something. Just decline politely. I know they will understand.
7. Lessen your TV and social media time
These two activities take so much of your time if you allow them to rule in your life. According to study, people average seven hours a month on the social media site. If you do the math, you are consuming 15 minutes per day just surfing the net. You don’t have to ban them in your life. Limit the use of Internet especially social media sites and watching tv. Put your precious 15 minutes into good use.
8. Record your shows
If you don’t want to miss an episode in your favorite tv program, ask someone to record it for you or get a digital TV recorder so you can have time to pursue other things.
9. Pick up the phone
If you need to ask for something urgent, use the telephone. It is the easiest and fastest way to get your message across immediately. Email and text messaging takes too much time and it adds to the piling inbox.
10. Set a timer
Time your activities. Set an alarm for every activity that you intend to do. Once the alarm rings, you have to stop what you are doing and proceed to the next activity. This will help you manage your time well. Learning to manage your time well is a good trait you have to acquire.
