5 Ways to Get Control of Your Time Today
When was the last time you complained about being too busy?
It makes sense. You’ve got a ton going on. Between work, school, and family – there is a lot to manage at any given moment.
What I find fascinating about this life-at-warp-speed-epidemic that has spread around the globe is that researchers have discovered the happiest people on our planet are busy.
So what gives?
Why are you running around bemoaning your busyness when it can actually make you happier?
Here is the critical distinction: the happiest people are busy – but not rushed.
As soon as you tip the scale from living a full, productive life to an overwhelming, chaotic existence you’ve lost your sense of control. It starts to feel like life is happening too you not the other way around.
You are no longer in the driver’s seat. As one of my clients put it, “I’m not even in the car. I feel like I am just chasing it down the street at this point.”
As soon as we lose our sense of control, we stress more, sleep less, and the part of our brain that helps us organize, prioritize, and make decisions gets overwhelmed.
As it turns out, managing your sense of control is a really smart time management strategy.
Here are 5 ways to boost your sense of control (and save you a ton of time) starting today:
1. Get more sleep. The power of a good night’s sleep cannot be underestimated. Overnight you can vastly improve your ability to organize, manage your emotions, and maintain a sense of control.
Tony Schwartz, one of my favorite authors on the subject, recently outlined this cold, hard truth in The New York Times:
“Even small amounts of sleep deprivation take a powerful toll on our cognitive capacity. A vast trove of research suggests that 95 percent of us need at least seven to eight hours of sleep to feel fully rested, while 2.5 percent need more than eight hours. The final 2.5 percent — or about one out of 40 people — require less than seven hours.
In other words, you are not likely one of them, even though you may well think you are.”
If there were one silver bullet that can automatically make you a better time manager it would be sleep.
2. Cut your to-do list in half (or more). Here’s one of my favorite tricks: Draw a line across the page of your to-do list. All tasks you place above this line are the items you have to get done today. Everything below this line are the tasks you would like to complete. By zeroing in on your key priorities, you will be operating proactively vs. reactively and will enjoy a stronger sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.
3. Get clear on your capacity. It is common to overestimate the time you have available each day to complete your tasks and underestimate how long these tasks will take. This can leave you feeling defeated and frustrated. Look at your calendar each day and get clear just how much time you actually have to get things done. Setting realistic expectations for yourself can greatly improve your sense of control.
4. Focus on small wins. Life isn’t about overnight transformations. What creates true, long-lasting change is the small incremental shifts you make each and everyday. Research has proven time and again that the more you celebrate your small wins each day, the more momentum you create to carry you forward.
5. Own your time. The quickest way back into the driver’s seat is to recognize that you decide each moment of how you spend your time and attention. You are always at choice. Really owning this fact makes it easier to say no to requests that are not your priority – and yes to the activities that really matter to you.
Bonus tip:
6. Take breaks. It can feel extremely counter-productive to take time off when you are feeling overwhelmed. In my experience, this is one of the best time to give yourself a half-day, full day, or even a long weekend to unplug, decompress, and recover. Again, the science backs this up. You will come back to your work with a new perspective, dramatically improving your creativity, productivity, and sense of control.
Now it’s your turn. What tips do you use to stay in control of your time and energy? Be sure to share in the comments below.
Julie Gray, COC is a time coach that teaches creative entrepreneurs and executives how to regain control over their life, have more guilt-free time in their schedule, and live with far less stress and overwhelm. Download her free template and guide on How to Get Out of Overwhelm in 5 Minutes a Day or Less here clicking here.