Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
I don’t have time. How often do we say this? What do we mean?
Time is an interesting concept.
Time is invisible.
Sometimes it can go fast.
Sometimes it goes slowly.
How much time do we waste and not even realise it?
Have you ever kept a record how your time has been spent?
What we do know about time is that it’s a limited resource. You only get so many hours in the day. And once we’ve used the time, we can’t get it back. We should be protective how we use or share our time.
We should be using our time to focus on what matters most to us.
We’ve read some brilliant books on ideas and tips of how best to use the precious limited resource we call time.
BOOK 1—
Make Time, How to focus on what matters every day, by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky.
The book is very good and is packed full of tips. Here’s a couple of snippets from the book:
Highlight: Start each day with a focal point
The first step in Make Time is deciding what you want to make time for. Every day, you’ll choose a single activity and prioritise and protect it in your calendar.
Lazer: Beat distraction to make time for your highlight
Distractions like email, social media and breaking news are everywhere, and they’re not going away. Keep your phone away from you or turn off all notifications.
Energise: Use the body to recharge the brain
To achieve focus and make time for what matters, your brain needs energy, and that energy comes from taking care of your body.
Reflect: Adjust and Improve your system
Finally, before going to bed take a few notes, work out which tactics you want to use or refine and which ones you want to drop.
BOOK 2—
Getting Things Done: the art of stress-free productivity, by David Allen
We were first introduced to the principles of this book at an event for Anya Hindmarch’s Labelled product range Launch. The idea is clear, your brain is not designed to keep so much information in, and it be easily retrieved. So how can we use tools to help us? The person running the workshop told a story about a man leaving the house for work and his wife asking him to get some baked beans. He kept thinking about the beans all day so he wouldn’t forget, he was thinking about it in meetings, during focussed work, at lunch, when he left the office. But when he got home, he returned without the beans. Despite using up valuable brain power all day on this very task, he forgot.
The book is about using the power of a good list, lists that can help you organise your thinking, tasks, and priorities. Ensuring your using your best time and energy on the tasks that need it the most.
The book will help do the following.
Apply the ‘do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it’ rule to get your in-box empty.
Re-assess goals and stay focussed in changing situations.
Plan and unstick projects.
Overcome the feelings of confusion, anxiety and being overwhelmed.
Feel fine about what you’re not doing.
BOOK 3—
Deep Work. Rules for focussed success in a distracted world, by Cal Newport.
What we love about this book is its simplicity. Make time for deep work. Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. The book identifies the problems and challenges we have and gives clear actionable advice.
We realise that ‘Deep Work’ is something achievable, in our company, we let other team members know when we’re doing deep work, so they’re not disturbed. It makes us think better and use the time more effectively.
There are some amazing tips in these books but ultimately it’s about doing what works for you.
Remember, time is precious, waste it wisely.