“Stop managing, and start maximizing your time.” - Jason Selk

Have you ever felt like there wasn’t enough time in a day? Of course, we all have!

What if we maximized every minute of our day versus trying to manage it? The difference? View time maximization as outcome oriented and time management as an activity.  Time management is often about fitting more things in a certain time frame whereas time maximization is about getting the most out of the activities we do in a day.

There are multiple ways to maximize the time we have in a day.  Here are 12 effective strategies that will help you get more out of your time…

1. 1. FOCUS ON OUR PEAK ENERGY TIMES - most of us have more energy in the morning, then hit a bit of a wall in the afternoon, and then pick up energy again closer to the end of the day.  This means then, that we should attack our most difficult tasks early in the morning because it’s when we’re most energized, plus it helps set the tone for the day

1. 2. CAPITALIZE ON OUR WHITE SPACE - even if it’s 3 minutes, let’s leverage that time to refer back to our “Get To Do List” and attack our important yet not urgent, tasks.  These white spaces are also great opportunities to slow down, breathe, and quick resets to get us through the day when needed

1. 3. BE DECISIVE - if you were to guess, how much time do you believe you spend in a week by overthinking situations and being indecisive? Now take that number and multiply it by 52.  That’s a lot of time isn’t it? Even if it’s just 25 minutes a week (5 minutes a day), that works out to 1,300 minutes or 21 hours.  And that’s only at 5 minutes per day! Trust your instincts, be confident, learn from your mistakes, and be decisive

1. 4. MENTAL REHEARSAL - when we mentally map out how our day is going to go, we give ourselves a better chance of success and staying focused. For example, we can imagine situations arising that could be potentially detrimental to our productivity, and prepare for them ahead of time. This will allow us to be able to make quick decisions in these moments that come up, deal with them quickly and effectively, and get back on track with our day 

1. 5. CHUNK OUR TIME FOR OPTIMAL ENERGY AND FOCUS - it may sound counterproductive to take breaks throughout the day, but this is incredibly important to increasing our focus on the task at hand. Try breaking up your schedule into no more than 90 minute time slots and taking 5 minutes for breathing exercises, or to attack another part of your get to do list 

1. 6. PRIORITIZE TOMORROW TODAY - with the added energy that we have near the end of the day, we can use that to focus on preparing for tomorrow by prioritizing our 3 most important and 1 task that’s non-negotiable for tomorrow.  This will help give us energy to start the following day as well 

1. 7. LIMIT DISTRACTIONS - we must limit the distractions that don’t serve us. This may mean putting our phone in the drawer at work to reduce the temptation to check social media, cutting meaningless conversations short, avoiding news channels, etc. Essentially anything that would put us in a negative state, thus reducing our energy levels, needs to be minimized in order to maximize our time

1. 8. SET OUR ENVIRONMENT UP FOR SUCCESS - we can give ourselves a boost of energy by having our office clean, setup with pictures, plants, books, etc. all of which will make us feel good and energized.  This seemingly small attention to detail has the power to make a big impact on our energy levels throughout the day

1. 9. FILL IN OUR GAP TIMES TO AND FROM WORK - if we travel any more than 10 minutes to work, this is an opportune time to listen to an audiobook, informative, inspirational or educational podcast, or even the comedy channel.  This will help get our day started and finish it on a positive 

1. 10. AVOID INTERRUPTIONS - this is hard to do isn’t it? In order to give ourselves the best chance at getting into a state of flow, we must limit the distractions around us and avoid interruptions as best as possible. When we’re in flow, we often do our best work and are the most productive

1. 11. TRACK OUR TIME - we’d all be surprised at how much white space we have throughout the day if we actually tracked it.  Try tracking your time for a week in 15 - 30 minute slots.  You can use a simple excel sheet.  Note what you’re doing with your time and at the end of the week, reflect, review and strategize how to make more out of the time you have in a day

1. 12. SET OUR LIMITS - when creating our Get To Do List, set time limits on how long it will take you to complete your most important tasks, and have the discipline to stay committed to that time limit. If your tasks are consistent throughout each day, which is what mine are, it will get easier to stay within the time limit and even get quicker at them without sacrificing quality of work

When I think of time management, I think of efficiency or busyness.  When I think of time maximization, I think of effectiveness or productivity. The goal for all of us is to be as productive as possible. This is a skill that can be developed with attention, intention, and deliberate practice. 

Slowing down to speed up is probably the most fitting mantra when it comes to increasing productivity.  I was the person who had no issues working 12 - 14 hour days 6 days a week - which will seem like a short week to some, but I was busy and definitely not maximizing my time.  This ended up having a profound effect on my energy levels, emotional control and results. There just wasn’t enough time in the day to get everything done, or so I believed. 

We can slow down by investing our time in preparation, mentally rehearse how our day is going to go, being decisive, and taking mini power breaks throughout the day to do breath work and stay centred. Once we start chasing the day and trying to fit everything in, we lose control. This is when we start having the same symptoms I had when working 12 - 14 hour days for months on end. Constantly going our top speed is incredibly counter-productive.

Slow down to be more effective and increase your productivity!

You got this!

Brandin