Lifestyle

How Can You Use Your Time More Wisely?

Do you ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? A lot of women spend much of their time thinking this exact thing. With work, housework, children, friends, and more, there’s a lot to do. There are only 24 hours in each day. Most of them are taken up by sleeping and performing other necessary bodily functions. You can feel like you have so much you want to do, but you never have the time to do it. What are you to do when it feels like your life is slipping away from you? You don’t have to put up with feeling like you’re wasting your time every day. Make the most out of your life by using the tips below.

Prioritise

To get started, you need to decide what’s most important in your life. You know there are things that you have to do and things that you want to do. You can’t avoid things like looking after the kids or spending time with your partner, and nor would you want to. But you also want to spend time on your hobbies and have some space to yourself. Think about the things that matter, both regarding what you have to get done every day and what you want to be doing. You can rank things in terms of what you need and what to do first, and what can wait or perhaps be done by someone else.

Organise

People who manage to pack a lot into one day are often some of the most organised people in existence. They can save time by having everything they need right in front of them whenever they need it. They don’t spend time looking for their keys, filling out paperwork at the last minute or cleaning the house all day. One of the best things you can do is to keep to-do lists, so you know exactly what you need to get done every day. Using an app like Any.Do can make it even easier to keep track of all your tasks. You can line up everything you want to do each day and tick them off as you go. Get your home and office organised too. Make sure everything has a place, so you don’t waste time looking for things.

Who says you have to do everything yourself? You’re not Superwoman. Unless you live alone, there are other people in your house who should be pulling your weight. Whether it’s your housemates, partner or children, they can put in some time to get stuff done. Even younger children can do some simple jobs. They can tidy their room or wipe down the dining room table. Whether or not there’s anyone else to help you, you could also hire outside help. It’s easy to hire house cleaners whenever you need them, for however long you want them. You could hire someone on a weekly basis or just book a cleaner whenever you need one. A gardener can help you out too, as well as a babysitter or a dog walker.

Do Things in Batches

Doing the same thing over and over again can get tiresome. Every time you cook dinner or do your laundry, you know you’re going to have to do it again soon. Sometimes you can use your time more wisely by putting things together in batches. For example, you might normally cook a new meal every night. Instead, you could dedicate one evening to making a week’s worth of meals. Put everything away in the freezer or fridge, and you’ll have more free time in the evenings.

Find Out When You’re Most Productive

Do you struggle to engage your brain first thing in the morning? Maybe you find it hard to move from the sofa in the evenings, or you’re distracted after lunch. Identifying the times when you feel most productive can help you to get more done. If you know you’re not fully awake when you get up, don’t plan to do your accounts. But if mornings are your best time, you might be able to pack in a lot more. Think about when you’re most awake and engaged. Then you can schedule your day to be productive and take your down time at the right times.

Stop Wasting Time

Everyone needs a break sometimes. But we can all get into bad habits when we’re not really doing anything. You can view every activity you do as useful to your day, especially when you need to get away from it all. But that doesn’t mean you can’t spend just a bit too long doing those things. For example, messing around on the internet for half an hour can be a chance to get your breath back. However, doing it for three or four hours takes a significant chunk out of your day. If you often find yourself lazing around for hours at a time, it’s time to start being stricter with yourself.

Schedule

If you really need help getting everything on track, you can try tightly timetabling your day. Doing this can help you to realize that you have more time than you think. Setting yourself deadlines can help. Give yourself a time slot to get each task done, and you’ll find you get things done quicker when you push yourself to finish on time. You’ll then have more free time to do the things you want to do.

Make Commitments

Some people struggle to do the things they want, even if they have the time. If this is you, you can help by making promises. Join or group, make a standing agreement with a friend or pay a fee that will get you to stick to your commitments. Motivation from other people, combined with a little bit of guilt, can go a long way. It’s easier to do the things you want if you know someone else is relying on you, or you’ve already paid for it.

You might not be able to add any more hours to the day, but you can use them more wisely. Get your life organised and you’ll have more time to do the things you want to do.

1 thought on “How Can You Use Your Time More Wisely?

  1. This is fantastic! I completely agree with the “stop wasting time section” – When it comes to studying I do take a break every now and then, and just search the internet, and browse, but if you are doing it for hours and hours, that definitely IS a waste of time when in that time you could have started, even completed another blog post! I am a woman of ‘prioritising and organisation’ – It’s the ‘receptionist/admin’ girl in me! haha! I really like this article, and when I clicked on ‘your life’ that article is great too!

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