2 Keys to Finding More Time in your Day

calendar - oldDo you frequently get to the end of your insanely busy day and wonder what you actually accomplished? If so, keep reading…

About 2 months ago, I read The One Thing by Gary Keller. One of the key takeaways I had in reading the book was the importance of chunking your time. I immediately completely rearranged my workday calendar. I am happy to report that the results have been nothing short of extraordinary!

Don’t just get stuff done, get the RIGHT stuff done.(tweet this)

Two simple adjustments have made all the difference:

1. Do the important stuff at the beginning of the day – For me, these are activities that will change the business (vs run the business). I already had a birthday cake, so I knew what the important stuff was, I was just having trouble getting to it. By putting these things first in my day, then guarding that time like it was a meeting with the boss, I have had much greater success in actually getting the right stuff done!

2. Schedule Specific Email Time – I get a lot of email each day and it is really easy for me to camp out on email and never get anything else done. By scheduling a couple specific time slots each day – 11am and 5pm – I can concentrate on other activities knowing I have email time coming. In fact, I try very hard to not even open my email until 11am each day. It is amazing how much more I get done! And if there is something time sensitive sitting in my inbox, people usually reach me through skype or by knocking on my door.

I’ve created a short video tour of what my calendar actually looks like now:

 

-RPY

 

Photo credit: CraftyGoat / Foter / CC BY-NC

4 thoughts on “2 Keys to Finding More Time in your Day

  1. My calendar ended up looking almost exactly the same, and I changed it right after I read the One Thing. I ended up trying to block a few hours for MITs (Most Important Tasks) and then smaller times for Tasks (routine things that have to happen every day, like email. I also blocked planning time at the end of the week, and like you it’s the time that always gets killed. David Allen (GTD) probably wouldn’t approve.

    Overall it’s make a big difference, and kept me a lot more focused.

    • Jonathan – Thanks for the real-life success story. The One Thing is a GREAT book. I think the most important thing wrt to planning is is 1. Have one 2. Keep adjusting until something works. Good stuff, thanks for commenting.