One of my common suggestions to clients is to stop working overtime in an attempt to get more done. It’s a futile strategy – unless you get organized first. When you work overtime on a regular basis you are simply extending your current inefficiency to cover longer periods of time.

This is an example of Parkinson’s Law, which explains that activities tend to expand to fill the time available for them. If it takes about two hours to write an article, for example, but you have four hours in which to do it, you tend to use up all four hours to complete the task. The quality of the outcome is seldom better.

Realistic deadlines make us more efficient and it’s only the unrealistic ones that cause undue stress. So if you estimate how long a task should take, and add about 50% more time “just in case,” and allow that amount of time in your schedule, you will be more efficient. The more time available to do a task, the longer you are exposed to outside interruptions, the more you interrupt yourself, and the greater the likelihood of your mind wandering.

I maintain that those people who habitually work overtime are also less efficient during regular working hours; because they know that they can always finish it later. “Later” may refer to time that could be more effectively used for family and friends, exercise, or simply enjoying more of what life has to offer.

www.taylorintime.com

According to an article in the Rocky Mountain News many years ago, people spend about five years of their lives waiting in lines. This includes supermarkets, banks, post offices and motor vehicle offices. Staff writers at the newspaper actually stood in lines all day and timed the various waits. They found that using the drive-through windows at fast food restaurants took longer than going inside to place your order. And surprise -express lines were actually faster than the other lines in supermarkets, although I challenge that conclusion.

Line-ups do consume time, and much of the long waits could be avoided if we planned better. For example, here are five things you can do to reduce wait time.

1. Avoid the obvious rush times such as lunch hours, weekends or holidays. Choose early morning appointments with doctors and other health care professionals. Ask when the slow periods occur A quick phone call could save you a half hour or more.

2. Have others line up for you. Either pay someone to get the item for you or use the buddy system – where you line up for another person and they return the favor the next time.

3. Make fewer visits to the stores, post office, cleaners etc. For example, buy groceries in bigger quantities and less often.

4. Make more purchases on the Internet and fewer in person. Or shop by mail. Search out those companies who will deliver to your door.

5. Recognize that waiting is sometimes unavoidable. Curb your impatience by looking at it as an opportunity to read an ebook, check your email or text a friend. Don’t let a short wait become a health hazard.

https://www.taylorintime.com/blog/

• What do your mornings look like as you dash around getting everyone out of the house on time?
• What do you afternoons look like as you slowly dissolve in fatigue?
• What do your evenings look like as you try to catch up on the laundry and other chores?
• What do your weekends look like as you attempt to pare down the to-do list?

Is it time to monitor your habits that may be robbing your time?

First step: Reflect on where you are, where you want to be, and what you want to achieve. Start journaling and write down how you are feeling and where you would like to be spending more time.

A colleague once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will do.” So at the beginning of this New Year, take some time to map out your destination. Start to plan exactly where you want to go. Leave guilt and worries at home. Bring along passion, faith and desire. Take it slow, savor the moment, conserve your energy and enjoy yourself.

By Harold Taylor

Canadians, with a two-week starting vacation (three in Saskatchewan) spend more time working than their European counterparts. And according to an article by Tanya Finberg in 24 hours Toronto (July 27, 2010), only 24% of us are using up vacation time. This translates to about 36.5 million extra days at work. In addition, we are working well beyond the normal workday, bringing our office with us in the form of a smart phone or other PDA strapped to our hip – ready for action the moment it beeps.
We seem to have a false belief that more time spent working equates to increased productivity when it is actually the opposite. Productivity refers to the amount of output (results) per unit of input (time and energy). This is accomplished through efficiency – accomplishing the same thing or more in less time.

If we were to work for shorter periods of time and get more done, we would be increasing productivity through increased efficiency. This is accomplished, not by working more hours, but by making better use of the hours we work.

With fewer hours to accomplish a task, we would experience fewer self-interruptions, give less attention to trivia, and tend to say no with more regularity. We wouldn’t have time to surf the Internet needlessly or stare out the window or overindulge in coffee during the scheduled work hours. With less time available, we would be more apt to be creative, prioritize, delegate, and ignore the trivia that would normally distract us from our goals.

https://www.taylorintime.com/blog/

Pockets of time hold extra minutes, an extra cushion of comfort. This cushion is easy to develop. It is about extending the time it takes to accomplish a task, drive a certain distance, or get things done.

Ample pockets of time is rush prevention. Rushing increases stress and decreases productivity. By establishing a cushion of time within your daily schedule, you avoid being late and eliminate disappointing yourself or someone else.

The great motto, “Expect the Unexpected” is a valid time management mantra. No matter how well you plan your time, unanticipated detours throw you into a tizzy. The only thing you can control is yourself, not others. So, expect that stuff will happen and build in pockets of time.

These pockets are intended for situation you can control. Use them where it makes sense, where it fits.