You’re a high achieving woman, so of course, you need more time in the day. It seems like there’s always a million things to do, make that a million and one with only 10 minutes to get it done right. So I wanted to share three ways to add more time to your day that I found extremely helpful. And I just wanted to pass this greatness along to you, too.
So let’s jump right into it…
#1 Handle the hard stuff first
So whatever that thing is that you really procrastinate on, that you really don’t want to do, go ahead and champion it at the start of your day. What happens is, when you procrastinate and you keep putting it off and you keep saying, “oh, well, let me do this thing here really quick first and I’ll get to it,” What happens is you’re carrying this layer of anxiety and stress associated with completing that test. And you’re carrying it throughout the day. It then ends up impacting how you perform on the rest of your tasks, So go ahead and get that thing out of the way so that you can show up and perform optimally on the rest of your tasks. And you have it out of the way. You have a clear conscience. You can be so much more productive once you’ve activated that that level of of freedom, that mental freedom, that emotional freedom, so that you’re not weighed down by the thought of still having to do that dreadful thing because it is already out of the way.
A prime example of this is how my parents handle their taxes. My parents absolutely despise filing taxes for whatever reason. They absolutely hate filing taxes. They always wait until like the day before the deadline, April 15th or whatever it is. I don’t really know because I never wait till the last drop like they do, but they always wait till the last minute to file their taxes because they despise it. I’m just like, why don’t you just go ahead and do it at the top of the tax season and get out of the way? That way you’re not harboring the stress and anxiety, the whole tax season and doing this to yourself on repeat year after year. So it’s that same concept. I know there is an influencer on Instagram, Mattie James who always says slay your Goliath. And what she meant by that is, whatever the big thing is that you dread doing, avoid procrastinating and slay it at the top of your day. Get it out of the way. Knock it out. Just go all in and get it done at the top of your day. Because otherwise, it’s going to slow you down, even if you think it won’t, it will, because subconsciously you’re going throughout the day like, “oh my gosh, I still have to do this thing. I still have to do the thing. I still have to do this thing,” even if it’s not at the forefront of your mind, subconsciously it is wearing you out. So just knock it out of the park so that you can enjoy the rest of your day and freely give your energy to the other tasks that you have, that you find more enjoyable.
#2 Maximize Your Gap Time
Your gap time is literally just the gaps in your schedule. So, gaps don’t mean you’re necessarily sitting sitting there twiddling your thumbs, but there are just these gaps where you have time where you can actually do just a little bit more to maximize that time. So, for instance, your commute to work. If you have a book goal where you want to read a certain number of books each month and you’re just struggling to find the time to actually sit down with a physical book to hit your goal, consider audio books and using your commute to work to start chomping down on your book goal so you can be listening to your books on audible while you are commuting to work. Making sure you have a book with you in your car at all times, so that if you happen to go get an oil change or get your tires fixed or you’re at the hair salon, you always have a book that’s readily available that you can just grab and go.
You know, just maximizing your gap time in that way, having affirmations on your phone or something, where if you have a few minutes before meeting starts, you can quickly go to those affirmations on your phone for a quick reset.
#3 Make Your To-Do List at Nighttime
Most people make the mistake of making a to do list at the top of their morning.
But research shows that for every one minute you spend on your to-do list that night before, it can potentially add up to 10 minutes to your day the next day. So that means spend two minutes the night before on your to-do list, potentially add 20 minutes to your day the next day.
And why is that ? It’s because our brains are super incredible and they unconsciously, like your brain, unconsciously works on the to do list while you’re asleep. So you typically wake up and you have more creative ways of achieving whatever it is that was on your to do list because you’re basically giving your brain free will to process the brain dump. First of all, you got it out of your head. You’re going to sleep better because you’re not sharing all of that. But your brain is subconsciously working on the to-do list while you’re asleep in that. Amazing. So you’ll typically wake up with more creative ways that will probably shave time off of your tasks. So that is a huge advantage to making a to-do list the night before. You also wake up feeling more in command of your day because you’re not wondering what’s next for the day or what’s what’s on the agenda for that day. You’ve already kind of covered, of course, things happen, but you’ve already kind of, you know, outlined your day. So you’re not just guessing, you’re not trying to catch up. You’re in command.
So in a nutshell, the three tips for how to add more time to your day are: handle your hard stuff first, consider things that you can do simultaneously with other things, and I don’t mean like serious multitasking. I mean like.
When you’re doing a low-focus task in a high focus’s, then that’s different, like you’re driving and listening to a book that’s not really requiring you to multitask to the third degree because true multitasking has been proven to be ineffective. So that’s not what I’m saying. Also, really, really thinking about the gaps in your schedule that you can maximize, whether it’s two minutes or 20 minutes. And then number three, complete your to do list the night before. Three ways to add more times the other day, and I know they work because I use them too, so make sure you share them with someone else is well, get what you need from this and share the rest with someone else.
Now, if you’re a high achieving woman who’s been wrestling with knowing there just has to be more to life than this, you feel stuck, lost and don’t know what to do next. And you’re just fed up and tired of second guessing yourself and letting it hold you back from living out your purpose in a big way. Go to www.BrittanySherell.com to schedule your strategy session today so we can map out exactly how to gain crystal clear clarity around where you are in life, where you want to be, and a step by step plan with accountability and support to get you there.
It doesn’t matter if you tried in the past and it didn’t work out. This time is different because this time it’s personal. Do not waste another moment going through the motions and feeling guilty about knowing you’re called to do more in life and feeling confused about how to make sense of it all. Just go to www.BrittanySherell.com to get unstuck and create a life you actually love.