URBAN ASSISTANT UN-BUSY YOUR LIFE: QUICK GUIDE #2
Is your life a constant battle against the clock? It doesn’t need to be that way - read our Quick Guides to find out how you can stop racing against time.
Eight ways to find hidden time By Claire Lane
One of the key things I teach my clients is that they have more time than they realise. The key is simply finding it! Here are eight quick ways to seeking out that hidden time. Finding time for real work - One of the biggest killers of actually getting the real work done is meetings - productive and effective meetings are quite rare - so cut the number of meetings you have each week, and make a commitment with yourself to replace those meetings with actual work (not with other meetings!). Set aside a time (as you would for a meeting) to do specific pieces of work. If the topics for your meetings are essential, see if you can either shorten them (shortening meetings is a great tool to getting more done in less time) or deal with it over the phone or in an email. Finding time to review business reports and documents -‐ rather than looking for big blocks of time
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to read entire reports, ask yourself if you need to read the entire thing in great detail, or could you just scan the contents and then read only relevant sections? Try reading just the start and the end -‐ to get the gist of it. Another way is to delegate to someone else -‐ if you have junior members of staff ask them to read things in detail and provide you with a high-‐level summary. Not only will this save you time, but it will also provide them with valuable training. Finding time to stay on top of industry and business news -‐ pick one source of news (eg an industry magazine -‐ the best one) and stick with it. Take it everywhere with you, so that you can read it in ‘dead’ time, i.e. in a taxi on the way to a meeting, or waiting for a client. Eliminate the other news sources -‐ don’t read multiple articles from different sources on one topic. Read the news headlines on billboards around town whilst you’re on the move. Listen to news radio in the car or whilst doing mundane chores.
URBAN ASSISTANT QUICK GUIDE #2
Eight ways to find hidden time By Claire Lane
Finding time to exercise -‐ instead of waiting for a block of time in which to go to the gym (and finding that you don’t have time for it, and then procrastinating, and then giving yourself a hard time for not losing any weight), try going for a brisk walk at lunchtime; maybe you could even meet a client, supplier or business associate and go for a walk together! If you use public transport, get off the bus one or two stops earlier than normal and walk the rest of the way. If you need to find time to exercise and spend more time with your kids -‐ set up a mini-‐Olympics event in your backyard instead of taking them to the movies.
an appointment with yourself and stick to it. Pick a book to get you engrossed, so that you don’t lose concentration and get side-‐tracked onto something else. Carry your book everywhere, so you can read whilst waiting for things. What about listening to audiobooks in the car, so you can ‘read’ whilst getting around?
Finding time for grocery shopping -‐ instead of making a dedicated trip to the shops (which can often take two hours out of your day), try picking up the shopping whilst you’re on the move, to save time on travelling to and fro. You could take it in turns to go shopping with friends or Finding time for friends -‐ look out for ‘dead’ time, such as neighbours -‐ give them your standard list, get him to get the travelling or waiting, and call friends for a chat. Look for shopping this week, you’ll do his next week. other opportunities where you can double-‐up on tasks, such Finding time to run errands -‐ if you have teenagers, this as exercising and meeting a friend at the same time. If you one’s easy -‐ simply ask them to pick things up or drop them find it difficult to get all your friends together at the same off while they’re out anyway -‐ on the way home from school time for social events, due to conflicting ‘busy’ schedules, try doing what I do with my friends -‐ at the start of the year is a good one (note: they may need a quick reminder by we set up once-‐a-‐month dinners (we call them Open House SMS!). Teenagers are always coming and going, and they’re Friday) on the first Friday of every month. We take it in turns usually near the shops. to host. There are two rules: (1) the host provides the dinner, but it has to be simple (no point getting stressed If that’s not enough to convince you that there’s plenty of about fancy dinners); (2) the date never changes, even if hidden time just waiting to be found, consider these someone can’t attend (if you start changing the date, you’ll snippets: be waiting months before you can all get together) -‐ so it’s very casual in that the people that can make it come along, Various reports suggest that we spend 653 hours of our lives waiting for trains, six months of our lives in queues, and the people that can’t don’t feel guilty about not being 20 weeks on hold, 11 full years watching TV and five months able to attend. complaining. I’m sure you can think of a few ways in which Finding time to read books -‐ if you’d love to read more, you can use all that time more effectively! Just think what but have never found the time -‐ try scheduling a time, make you could get accomplished.
Want to un-busy your life? Follow these simple steps for great results!
Want to know more?
Urban Assistant helps businesswomen un-busy their lives and squeeze more hours out of their day. T: 0439 419 211 E: info@urbanassistant.com.au Read the blog for more tips: www.urbanassistant.posterous.com
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