Improve Your Productivity With These Essential Time Management Hacks

It seems that the one thing that technology can?t help us create is more time. There are only 24 hours in a day, so if you want to increase your productivity, you need to have a better sense of time management. When it comes to managing your time it is essential to understand that time management isn't about trying to squeeze as many tasks as possible into a day but instead finding a way to work smarter. If you're looking to improve your productivity here are some essential time management hacks to help you along the way.

Get Enough Sleep

Often, our rest and sleep are sacrificed to gain more time in the day. Being well-rested, well-fed, and having a healthy body removes the distractions that will rob us of our time. When you can get enough sleep every night, your focus is sharper, your attention span is longer, and your quality of work is higher, which lends itself to an increase in productivity. 

Plan Ahead

When you can take the time to outline the events of the coming day, you provide your mind with the time to work through the tasks while you are sleeping. This allows you to start your day with many of the subtle details already worked out. Before you go to bed each night, take a few minutes to evaluate what you achieved. Spend a few minutes clearing your workspace, and create a list of the tasks that you need to complete the following day. 

Create Work Bundles

Various tasks that you have to perform require different skills and different ways of executing them. To save yourself time by re-orienting yourself between jobs, create work bundles. Grouping similar tasks together that require related skill sets will allow you to more easily flow from one segment or task to the next without a break.

Create Routines

There are some tasks that you work on that require little to no thought. You can create a routine for these kinds of functions that will allow you to accomplish them without becoming distracted from the real tasks at hand. Establishing routines is similar to your overall planning and execution, but with the sole intention of automation.

Work on the Hard Tasks First

We tend to tackle the easy tasks on our lists first because they don't take much time to complete, which will leave you with more time to work on more involved things. However, to increase your productivity, you should tackle the more difficult tasks first with your fresh energy, which will make the lighter tasks flow quickly. 

When it comes to time management, there is always time for improvement. Try to take into account the above tips, and you will find yourself getting more done in less time.

A habit-driven brain will automatically make its way toward any environment that has been associated with positive reinforcement over time - like your fridge after dinner. The more we surround ourselves with these "rewarding" places or events (aka pleasures), then our brain starts recognizing them as such.  This is how habits work.

The Power of Forming Positive Habits

The human brain is an amazing organ that can be programmed to perform almost any task you want it to do. All we need for this programming process are two things -  positive habits and committed actions!

A habit-forming system in your body makes doing good things easy without even having to think about them because our brains know how rewarding they were when those habits were performed before.

This means that forming positive habits have the power to change your life in ways you never imagined possible, and once you?ve made the changes ?  it will be easy to maintain them. 

Exchanging Bad Habits For Good Habits

Of course, recognizing that positive habits are beneficial is the easy part, but now it?s time to turn your bad habits into good habits. The first step to accomplishing this is to recognize your bad habits for what they are.

 

Once you know what habits in your life don?t belong, it?s time to change them. For example, if you always reach for the snooze button to catch a few more minutes of sleep when your alarm goes off in the morning, this is a bad habit. Instead of touching that snooze button, it?s time to train your body that when that alarm goes off, you get out of bed immediately and start your day.

 

You?ll be surprised after a few times how quickly your body will learn to recognize the alarm as the time to wake up, rather than the time to hit the snooze button ?  and you?ll feel less tired when you hear the alarm. 

Conclusion

Positive habits are extremely powerful, as they literally can change the way your brain functions, allowing you to live a better life without thinking about each task you complete. This is why it is critical that you take the time to establish positive habits in your life so that you can live a better, more positive life, without needing to constantly think about the actions you are performing.