12 Smart Habits That Will Save You Time

hey everyone and welcome to top think today we're  going to learn about twelve smart habits that   will save you time now let's begin number one  Parkinson's Law way back in the 1950s an author   and historian named Cyril Parkinson developed  a theory that changed the way we manage time   his idea which he called Parkinson's law affected  all kinds of administrative operations around the   world his law basically states that work expands  to fill the amount of time available let's say you   have to write a few emails normally this would  only take half an hour but what if that's all   you have to do today well Parkinson's law tells  us that a small amount of work can take far more   time than it's supposed to as long as that extra  time is available since Parkinson published this   idea several other theorists have added to his  work one observed that your responsibilities   don't just expand they also contract when time  is limited another explained that extra time   delays productivity by giving you an excuse  to fall further behind over the years studies   have both validated and invalidated Parkinson's  law it's become a sort of controversial subject   however this research has revealed some important  facts about the nature of efficiency for example   you can increase productivity by reducing the  total number of hours that you spend working   each week when working around 40 hours over five  days people find an efficient balance between   time and production but as their hours increase  their efficiency starts to plummet the same work   will take longer because they have more space to  fill by getting in the habit of putting a cap on   your work week you can save yourself from wasting  hours of your time every day number two forgetful   housing how many mornings do you spend frantically  looking for your phone or your keys not only is   this a frustrating way to start off the day  but it's also a surprisingly large waste of   time luckily there's an easy fix you just start by  creating or setting a site of place in your home   you might pick a drawer a countertop or a box on  your coffee table it doesn't really matter what it   is as long as it's memorable so from now on that  place will hold all the important items that you   need when walking out the door in the morning  anytime you want your keys wallet glasses or   phone you can find them right there just think  of it like a house for your belongings yeah as   long as your items are inside their little home  you know exactly where to look that means less   stress and less wasting time just make sure you're  consistently putting your items back in their home   at the end of the day otherwise you're going to  start losing things even more often but if you   can incorporate this trick into your daily routine  you can swing by grab everything you need and be   on your way in just a few seconds number three  tracking your chores the next time you're doing   chores or going through your to-do list just track  exactly how much time it takes to do each activity   this won't actually save you time at first but  it's a simple and effective way to win the war   against procrastination well let's say you're  taking out the trash it's an annoying chore that   you have to do pretty regularly even though you  know deep down that it doesn't take very long you   put it off anyway you stall by watching videos or  scrolling through social media you're essentially   wasting time just to save yourself from something  that you're going to have to do either way so what   should you do instead when you take out the trash  time yourself it might only take you 90 seconds   to remove the bag take it outside and put in a new  one that's 90 seconds out of the 16 hours that you   spend awake and active every single day by Framing  it in this context it becomes a lot harder to   justify procrastination what that means is less  time spent putting off your responsibilities as   an added bonus you'll notice yourself paying  more attention to how much time you're wasting   on those little things throughout the day number  four dissolving clutter clutter isn't just messy   to look at it's actually a major distractor when  you're trying to be productive it distracts you by   creating neural competition which naturally grabs  your attention this is especially problematic for   people who have trouble focusing the presence  of clutter pulls their attention away from   their work and it just ruins their concentration  it'll take you significantly longer to get the   same job done because your brain is distracted  by unnecessary stimuli just try spending a few   minutes at the end of the day organizing your  room or your desk and that way when you sit down   to work you can be as productive and efficient  as possible number five morning hurdles when's   the best time to tackle your most important tasks  for the day many successful people overcome that   hurdle first thing in the morning this habit  was actually popularized by Ernest Hemingway   who used to write as soon as he woke up this  change to your morning routine will spare you   from hours of procrastination later in the day it  also increases the pace of your work because you   know your most challenging task is already behind  you number six consistent follow ups anytime you   delegate a task to someone else get in the habit  of following up whether it's an email or a phone   call just take some time to confirm whatever it is  you just talked about consistently following up is   what's called a preventative time-saver you spend  a little bit of time now to save yourself a lot   of time in the future imagine you just met with  someone about a project that you're working on   you ask them to turn their section in on Monday  but they thought you said Friday so when Monday   rolls around the work isn't even close to finished  suddenly you have to dedicate a huge chunk of your   time to this part of the project all because of  a simple misunderstanding to spare yourself from   future stress just dedicate a few minutes after  every meeting to send a follow-up number seven   internet restrictions everyone knows that the  Internet can be a massive time waster but not   just because it's entertaining the Internet  makes it surprisingly difficult for people   to keep track of time you're so focused on the  thousands of interesting stimuli on the screen   that you forget to pay attention to the clock your  brain is just jumping from one short-term reward   to the next you know if you're not careful hours  can fly by in the blink of an eye so to keep this   distractor from taking over your day just make  a habit of limiting your internet usage number   eight tackling immediate issues if something's  going to take less than 15 minutes just do it   right away don't bother putting it off or writing  it on your to-do list these tiny responsibilities   while they just aren't worth scheduling they're  just going to clutter your day with random busy   work so as soon as someone asks you for something  just get it done whether it's sending an email or   forwarding some documents immediate action  is almost always the most efficient strategy   that way you have one less thing to worry about  as the day goes on number 9 dead time have you   ever noticed how many small pockets of time just  pop up throughout the day well let's say you have   an hour-long meeting at noon then an important  phone call at 1:15 so what do you do with that   15-minute gap in between well most people will let  it go to waste which is why these tiny increments   are often called dead time on its own dead time  doesn't seem that important but each 5 10 or 20   minute break really does add up at the end of  the day you might have spent hours just waiting   around doing nothing you can easily fix this  by choosing how you'll spend your dead time at   the beginning of the day you'll be amazed at how  much you can get done in the space between your   normal responsibilities number ten embracing  predictability you don't need to be creative   or spontaneous with every single thing you  do some things are better left predetermined   especially when it's something that you do all  the time eating breakfast that's a good example   you can save time by eating the same healthy meal  every morning it'll always taste great and give   you energy so like a good thing it takes much more  time to change your routine than it does to repeat   it so don't be afraid of a little predictability  number eleven social meals instead of watching TV   while you eat use your meals as an opportunity to  socialize social interactions are something you   should do almost every day and not just because  they're enjoyable but also because it's good for   your mental health eating happens to be a great  excuse to bond with the people around you so you   can maximize the efficiency of your meals by  eating and socializing at the same time number   12 batches of errands you can save yourself  quite a bit of time and money by doing your   errands in batches well let's say for example  that you need to run to the store buy some new   shoes and get some money from the bank what's  the most efficient way to get these errands   out of the way well a lot of people decide to do  them one by one they drive to the store and then   they drive home a couple hours later they go pick  out some shoes and then head home again and they   do the same thing with the bank and without  realizing it you manage to make three small   errands take up an entire day instead cluster  your errands together find an area where you   can do all three so you can knock them out in  one sitting this strategy takes significantly   less time and will free up the rest of your day  to do something more productive hey thank you   for watching top think and be sure to subscribe  because more incredible content is on the way

Channel: TopThink

Views: 347,021

Keywords: daily habits, success habits, smart habits, habits that will change your life, how to save time, habits of successful people

Id: ebu0qMrS0JA

Length: 10min 42sec (642 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 02 2019