Seven Tips to Navigate Your Day Intentionally

Dear Freedom Achiever,

If you’re feeling like time is slipping away and that you are not getting all the things you want  done, it’s time to take a step back and reassess what’s not working. With all of the advice and books out there on how to get more done in less time it can be difficult to find the right tips and tricks that work for you without first evaluating how your current way of doing things, is affecting your ability to work efficiently. These seven simple strategies can help you navigate your day so you can feel more accomplished at the end of your day.

1. Reflect and Understand Where You are Now

"We do not learn from experience; we learn from reflecting on experience." - John Dewey

Businessman thinking about new ideas

How often do you take time to reflect on how you are currently managing your time? If you do not do this, now would be a good time to develop the habit of reviewing where  you spend this precious resource called time each day.. In order to gauge the impact of how you are using your time, you can start by asking yourself:

  • How do I feel when reviewing my to do list at the end of the day?
  • What percentage of my tasks are completed, and what percentage roll over to the next day?
  • How would I like to feel at the end of my day?
  • What changes need to be made so I can feel like I am making progress on my goals?

Your answers to these questions will give you an indication of what is working and what is not working and support you to determine where there may be room for improvement and how you can implement these other six strategies to support you in creating the results you want to see.

2. Establish a Morning routine

If you want to become more efficient in your day and you don’t already have an established morning routine that sets you up for a high-energy day, this is your next step. 

Determine how much time you need to give yourself in the morning to ease into your day, eat breakfast, get ready etc etc so you are not rushing around in the morning trying to get ready. 

I did this exercise and the best time for me to wake up is at 5 am, so I have time to pray, meditate, exercise, get ready and SIT to eat breakfast in my favourite chair overlooking the beautiful green hills and then I start my work day. (I have to be honest, this does not happen every day, but this is the routine I am cultivating). 

  1. What do you want your morning routine to be? 

  2. What do you need to do, to make this a reality?

African American woman doing warming up and stretching

3. Plan and prioritise your tasks

African american businessman writing down his plans to notepad

How do you usually approach your tasks? If you usually tackle them in a random order, consider developing a more intentional approach. You can give yourself more control and the opportunity to accomplish the most important tasks first by:

  1. Documenting all the tasks that you want to complete, but don’t just stop there. Take a few more minutes to rank those tasks based on importance or relevance to your monthly and quarterly goals.
  2. Then allocate specific times to each task 8.30- 9.00. 9.15 – 10.30 etc etc. By allocating specific times, you will see what can actually get done on that day and anything that does not have a time next to it within your designated work hours, will need to go into a different day!  
  3. You could also take into consideration which tasks will take more time and energy to complete than others. Now that you’re aware of what needs immediate attention you can structure your day around those tasks that are top priority and require more time and effort during the times of the day when you’re most energetic.

 

4. Ask for help

While at times we may assume that we must always do things on our own, that is not the case. We work so much better when we have the support we need to successfully complete those tasks. On those days that you feel like obstacles are continuously getting in your way, reach out and ask for help! It’s okay to rely on others when needed. Your friends, colleagues, and even coach can offer you encouragement and insight that will help you navigate those obstacles and take a different approach to help you accomplish what you set out to do.

Happy African woman calling to friend via smart phone gadget.

5. delegate! delegate! delegate!

Experienced dark skinned thoughtful male economist writes notes for delegate project, works at offic

Not every task needs you to complete it!! In order to get more done, we need to LET GO OF WANTING TO CONTROL EVERYTHING!  If you feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day to accommodate all your tasks you need to get done,  identify the tasks that absolutely need to be done by you.  For all the other tasks on your list, see who else around you can do them and then  delegate it to them!  This includes your husband, life partner, children, team members etc. This is a crucial aspect of increasing your efficiency because as simple as it may seem, it frees up time so that you can focus on your priority tasks and gives you the energy to do them with excellence. 

 The added bonus is knowing that while you are focusing on one thing, another person is supporting you and those tasks are being completed by someone you trust to execute it and uphold your standard.

The key to effective delegation is ensuring the person is competent to do the task and is open to doing the task. So if they are not, you will need to either train them first and /or find ways to encourage them to do the task.

6. work for shorter periods of time

You don’t have to sit at your desk and work for hours at a time straight to be efficient – that can actually be counterproductive. One tip is to schedule your day in blocks of specific times to focus on a task with short ten to fifteen minute breaks in between. This will give you the ability to recharge during those intervals so that you can return to your tasks re-energised once you come back to your work.

An additional tip: Add a light physical exercise or mindfulness activity to your day in between tasks to keep both your mind and body stimulated on your break. As an alternative to  picking up your phone to mindlessly scroll through social media feeds and then realising you just wasted an hour of your day Social media is an absolute time sucker!!

Tomato timer to fight procrastination.

7. Find the right tools for you

When you have the right tools, your efficiency can increase. What does your priority list require for you to get the job done quickly and efficiently? For some, it may be an updated computer with the latest software and for others, a good pen or paper might do the trick!

Identify what is taking a lot of time and then research what tools/resources are available to make this task easier or similar e.g Quickbooks for your accounting, or the Money Manager app to track your personal spending, your bank’s app, so you don’t have to go into the branch to deposit or transfer money, or use of a team project management tool to record and track actions – the BPD team uses Asana.

Now that you are more aware of ways you can increase your efficiency, which of these strategies will you implement? You will be pleasantly surprised by how much more you can get done if you make a few changes to what you are already doing!!!

Live YOUR Passion!

With The Time Suckers Toolkit, you will have access to information and tools to help you reduce the things that “suck on your time,” thereby giving you “time back.” It’s time to take control of your time, so that it is not being unconsciously sucked away!
Georgina Terry FCCA PMP, Passions to Profitability Expert
Georgina Terry FCCA PMP, Passions to Profitability Expert
My mission is to help you live YOUR Passion by providing you with the tools you need to live your life by desire and design, and NOT by default, so you can achieve your version of freedom!

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