Add More Hours to your Day

“There just aren’t enough hours in the day.”

Surely, you’ve said this at some point, when deadlines were looming and your frustration was mounting. But the reality is, there are enough hours in the day. The problem might be you aren’t using your hours as efficiently as you could.

According to a recent post on Business.com, there are a number of ways you can add hours to your day and be more productive. Let’s look at a few:

• Batch similar tasks: Hopefully you’re not one of those people who brag about your ability to multi-task, because there’s no such thing as multi-tasking. Our brains are programmed to handle one task at a time. In fact, it takes as much as 23 minutes to return to a task once you’ve been interrupted or moved from that task. Try to batch similar tasks, then complete them consecutively. You’ll find this process minimizes interruptions and is much more productive.
• Try outsourcing: Consider hiring a part-time administrative assistant to help you stay organized and on-task. Or, maybe you hire a freelance writer to help with your social media posting. The point is for you to stay focused on what you do best, and that’s selling.
• Get smart about your smartphone: Smartphones may be our greatest hindrance to productivity and success. Do a Google search on how to reconfigure your smartphone to disable distractions, neutralize inefficiencies and enhance productivity.
• Manage your meetings: It’s estimated that the average business person spends as many as 23 hours each week in meetings. If you feel you’re spending too much time on unproductive meetings instead of on the phone chasing leads, start cutting them out of your day. Learn how to say no to meetings. At first, you might feel as if you’re missing out on something, but you’ll soon realize that a lot of the things covered in meetings can be handled with a quick phone call or email.
• Get started earlier: Consider starting an hour early every morning. There are fewer distractions and your mind is likely to be fresh and more focused.

Benjamin Franklin, is credited with saying: “Time is money.” Which means, time wasted means less money. See what you can do to add a few more hours of productive time back into each day. It will be like money in the bank.