While the rest of the world is on a 9-5 schedule you might not be and for you the rest of the world is hard to keep up with. While it might seem like a negative it is actually a positive as you can really get more done while the rest of the world is doing what everyone else is doing.
The best times of the day to get anything does is either early in the morning or late at night. If you are a mid day worker or night worker this can be perfect for you. Shopping is a breeze from 9-11am or 12am-on. No lines no parking issues. No problems period. The gyms are dead, the roads are clear and everything is a breeze.
Being able to juggle your time so that you are most productive is the key to managing your time. It makes sense that the real time savers are doing the things you do daily at a time when other are not also doing them. A supermarket run time is cut from 3 hours to 1 when you shop while everyone else is home sleeping. Your workout is much easier when the machines are available and there are no lines.
There are no hard and fast rules, but here are some guidelines to keep in mind:
- If it needs to be done in the next fifteen minutes or so, task-switch. Otherwise, focus: When you’re in a constant rush and under pressure, it can feel like every little thing is an emergency. However, not everything is critical. If you have three tasks to accomplish and they all need to be done in the next fifteen minutes, try to rapidly switch tasks. Otherwise, focus on one part until it’s done, then move on to the next.
- If you can, run it in the background while you do other things: Running a washing machine takes five minutes to start and it can do an hour of work while you do other things. You can check your email while you wait for video to render or code to compile. If a task can be done in the background, schedule them so that you have something to do while they run.
- Accomplish tasks that are physically near each other at the same time: Whether you’re working on a set or getting something done in the kitchen, the more tasks you can get done while you’re physically in the area, the better. When you’re doing one thing at a location, in a room, or at the computer, ask yourself what else you can get done while you’re here.
While all of this might seem like common sense its usually easier to do once you sit down and plan out your day and activities. There is a saying that goes if you fail to plan you plan to fail and that can;t be more true as most people wing it day to day. Not know where and when they can do each task they take them as they come in. Using the tips above can help you to add more order to your life.