Find Extra Hours in Your Day With These “time Multipliers”
Not every day can come with an extra hour, so by the end of the year we’ll have to figure out how to create our own.
I use RescueTime to keep track of how I spend my day, and there was a recent post on the RescueTime blog about using “time multipliers” to reduce the time it takes to complete tasks :
A time multiplier is a strategy or tool that gives you more free time in the future. It’s like sharpening an ax in time management.
The ax sharpening metaphor comes from a quote attributed to Abraham Lincoln in which our former president stated that if he were given six hours to chop down a tree, he would spend the first four sharpening his ax. Most of us don’t spend our days chopping trees, but the principle is the same: By honing the tools we use to get our jobs done, we can spend less time getting things done.
What does this really mean? Well, here are some of the most effective time multipliers I’ve learned over the years:
I plan my day by the hour
Each morning I start my day with a list of what I hope to complete and the time frame in which I hope to get it done. Yes, I know this schedule can change as the day progresses, but the feeling of “this is what I need to do and this is how much time I can spend on it” helps me stay focused.
Setting internal, self-made deadlines also creates a sense of urgency that inhibits procrastination. For example, if I need to finish this work within an hour, I cannot spend this time on something else other than writing it.
Batching administrative tasks
Administrative tasks are time-consuming, no matter what they say “it only takes two minutes”. (If you have 10 tasks, each taking two minutes, at least 20 minutes have elapsed – and this does not include the time it takes to navigate between tasks.)
Therefore, I group administrative tasks such as submitting invoices or reconciling expenses, and complete them within the first hour of each business day. I also have a 2 hour process and admin slot scheduled every Monday to take care of the overflow.
By the way, I am also sending email in batch. I know that not everyone has the option to close their email client while they are finishing a project, but just checking and responding to email at certain times of the day is an extraordinary time multiplier. Probably the biggest I have.
Saying no
Learning to say no is such a rewarding way to get your time back that it’s the first item on RescueTime’s list of time multipliers . Obviously, both in your work and in your personal life, there are situations where refusing is not really an option – you will not refuse when your boss gives you another task, and you will not refuse when your children have a football match or an event with orchestra – but when you have the opportunity, use it.
Derek Sievers ‘ heck yes or no framework works well here. If a new opportunity presents itself and it’s not hell, yes , say no. I also use the one-in, one-out method to limit my commitments; if I take something new, I ask myself if there is still something I should stop doing. This is a good way to keep balance.
If you have a favorite time multiplier you’d like to share, let us know! For example, I’m not into automation (invoices, email responses, etc.), so I’m curious if this generates enough extra minutes to pay for itself. I’m also interested in family time multipliers as I can’t go into them in detail, so let’s discuss what we do to make the most of our time and what we do with that extra time when we have it. …