5 Tips to Get More Done and Manage Your Time Better
The whole reason I started Hustle Sanely is because I was getting asked often how I accomplished so much stuff every day while still having a positive attitude and spending time with my loved ones.
Honestly, as an enneagram 3, I am super intrinsically motivated when it comes to busting my butt to make my goals happen. Like it makes me feel some type of way to check things off of my to-do list, okay? BUT I know that not everyone is wired that way and that some of us need a little extra push to make stuff happen.
I gotchu girl.
Today I’m sharing 5 tips that will help you improve your time management so you can get more done.
Tip #1 FOCUS ON DOING LESS EACH DAY.
Hold up, WHAT? Isn’t that the opposite of getting more done? Actually no. Here’s the deal - getting a lot done is great. But getting the right stuff done is better.
How many times have you made a GIANT daily task list only to start working on the somewhat unimportant things first just so you can tick them off? I’m talking to you people who write things on your to-do list after you do them just so you can check them off - no shade (do people still say that? idk lol) but here’s what I’ve learned:
For most people, seeing a long AF to do list staring back up at them is overwhelming. I don’t care if the tasks on the list are make bed, brush teeth, walk dog, make coffee, workout, shower - like those things as individual tasks are not a big deal (and a lot of them are our norm) but seeing them all written out as one big list is daunting.
Your daily task list is not where you should be doing your brain dumps. If you feel like you need a place to dump all of your looming to-dos to clear up some headspace then by all means do that (I actually use my digital journal for this exact purpose - you can grab one for free if you wanna try it:
I’m a fan of creating a schedule using the time blocking method to nail down the big picture of my responsibilities each day but when it comes to my actual to-do list, I like to keep that baby short and sweet. Here’s the deal - what we spend on our time each day is what makes up our lives. Don’t fill your days with meaningless tasks that aren’t essential to being done by you that day.
Before you allow a task to take up space on your daily task list assess it:
Does this need to be done right now?
Does this need to be done by me?
If you can answer no to either of those then it probably doesn’t belong on your daily task list. Pop it on a brain dump page that you visit bi-weekly or monthly.
Every evening, I spend 5 minutes (seriously, that’s it) creating an action plan for the following day. I like to use my daily planning notepad from the Hustle Sanely shop but you do what works for you.
First, I write down my top 3 priorities for that day. And I make a mental note that as long as I get these 3 things done - the day was a success and I don’t need to feel like I didn’t accomplish enough even if my task list didn’t get complete. This ensures that the MOST important tasks get done each day instead of me floundering my energy on little, less important tasks.
And honestly, when I get my big, important tasks done first, I usually end up feeling energized by that and I can crank through the smaller tasks a lot quicker because I’m not starting with trying to do the smaller tasks while simultaneously panicking over how I need to hurry up and get to the main 3 tasks that day.
Choosing a top 3 each day helps me be present and accomplish all of my set tasks with excellence. I use that notepad down there to help me plan out my daily 3 and time block schedule (I mean hello, it’s leopard print…)
I don’t like long running to-do lists because the reality is they never get completed in one day. Tasks end up rolling over to the next day forever and ever and you never feel that sense of completion. And for me, that opens the gate to anxiousness and not being able to be present with my friends/family after work hours - instead I’m thinking about what all I didn’t get done and that I need to get done tomorrow.
So to sum it up: To get more done, make sure you are focusing on LESS and doing the important stuff first.
Tip #2 DITCH MULTITASKING.
Yep that’s right, I am NOT a fan multitasking. And let me give you a little disclaimer - I used to be the QUEEN of multitasking. I’d have my hand on 4 different projects at once. I was the person who was responding to DMs, while eating lunch, while typing up the paper that’s due tomorrow...and guess how I felt? FRAZZLED. I guarantee if you give all of your attention to one thing at a time that it will be better for your mental health (Hustle SANELY anyone) and that you’ll get each task completed with excellence - which let’s break down what that means real quick since this is the second time I’ve said it today.
Dictionary.com defines excellence as the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. AKA you’re bringing top notch quality work to the table.
If you’re trying to juggle 16 different things at once, girl, they’re all gonna be kinda janky - like halfway done or finished but quickly with noticeable half effort. You cannot give something 100% if you’re working on multiple other things at the same time. It’s not possible. So tackle your tasks and projects ONE BY ONE. Don’t be tempted to start one thing and move to the next when the first one is halfway done and so on.
I’ve used this analogy before - imagine you have 5 empty cups on the counter and you have to fill all 5 up. You don’t grab one, fill it up a little, put it back, grab another, fill it up a little, go back to the first one and add a little more then grab the third one and fill it up a quarter of the way. NO. You fill up the first one. Fill up the second one. Fill up the third one. Then the fourth. Then the fifth. All of the cups get filled. There is no chaos of reaching and grabbing and spilling. When you focus on completing one thing and then moving onto the next you are operating in flow and chances are you’ll get more accomplished that way because your headspace won’t be so dang cluttered!
Tip #3 CREATE A SCHEDULE.
I think I’ve talked about this 55 times already throughout the lifespan of this podcast and we’re only 14 episodes in but GIRL I’m telling you that creating a schedule is life changing. Having a schedule allows you to focus on actually getting the stuff you need to get done...done instead of spinning your wheels wondering what you need to be working on. Flying by the seat of your pants every day is all good and fun until things start slipping through the cracks and you miss important deadlines or forget to pick up your kid from school because your brain is scattered and you don’t know what types of things you’re doing at 8 AM versus 4 PM on any given day.
Like I mentioned earlier, time blocking is my jam. My husband prefers a more loose structure - he makes a big to-do list each day and just goes right on down it based on what he feels like doing at a given time.
Just find what works for YOU and stick with it!
Tip #4 PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR ENERGY EXPENDITURE.
Not all tasks are created equally. What does that mean? Certain tasks require more of your energy than others. For example, on the days that I have my coaching calls, I don’t schedule other heavy energy tasks. Instead I opt for things like creating graphics or working on admin stuff. These kinds of things take TIME but they don’t take a lot of my brain power so they pair well with coaching days because coaching takes a lot of my brain power. I like to see it as strategically spreading out my brain power.
If I tried to write 4 podcast scripts on a coaching day, for example, I’m pretty sure my brain would combust - because both of those tasks require a lot of mental energy from me.
Take some time to map out your usual tasks and batch and schedule them according to how much energy they require. This is such a practical way to make sure that you’re not overextending yourself mentally and ended up fried at the end of each day. Which means you can go home in the evening and spend solid quality time with your loved ones because you didn’t squeeze out every last drop you had working on your daily to dos.
Tip #5 FIND A PLANNING SYSTEM THAT ACTUALLY WORKS FOR YOU.
This one is pretty self explanatory but I think it’s worth mentioning. Especially this time of year because we see everyone setting up their pretty planners or organizing their Google calendars by color and we are tempted to want to do what looks good on the gram. Well if you choose something that doesn’t work for you, you’re not going to stick with it. Period. You’ve got to find a planning system that jives with you because that’s the only way that you’re going to stick to it.
In my 6-week Hustle Sanely program, there is a whole week dedicated to figuring out your planning style and I go into DETAIL about my planning system too. I have my clients take a quiz to figure out what their planning style is and then I recommend some planning tools that might suit their needs.
Which speaking of program, I’ll be opening enrollment for that soon! If you have no clue what I’m talking about, it’s a 6-week program where I teach you how to prioritize your tasks, manage your time, and ditch your doubts so that you can accomplish your goals without sacrificing your mental health + relationships.
If this sounds like your jam then sign up below so you’re notified when the program is available. Last year I ran through it with over 23 women and it was INCREDIBLE!
And those are the 5 things that you can do to help you get more done!
If you want to listen in to this conversation in more detail, make sure you head on over to episode 014 of The Hustle Sanely Podcast!