Once you set your goals for the day, focus your time on the most important goals and make everything else wait. There is something called decision fatigue, so you want to deal with the most critical issues when you're rested and thinking clearly. Once you finish your priorities for the day, you can sift through what's left to do. Make an inventory of activities that you do regularly such as washing clothes, buying groceries, walking the dogs, buying clothes, maintaining your car, etc. If you want to dedicate time to your priorities and have the budget for it, outsource as many tasks as you can to others. If you don't have the budget, then multitask the less important things to do. Wash clothes when you shower; when you cook, cook large amounts that can be eaten over several meals; listen to audiobooks while you exercise or drive; drive outside of traffic hours, and use your driving time as office hours to make and receive calls.
Cut out non-productive activities such as social media, news, television, disputing with others, or shopping for unnecessary consumer goods. The needs of other people can occupy too much of your time, and if you allow it, they will. If you're short on time for the secondary activities, get a virtual assistant or find other ways to outsource the activities. Put all utilities, mortgages, credit card bills, and whatever other bills you have on autopay with paperless billing, so you spend as little time as possible on bills. When things come up that need to be done, complete them immediately if possible and remove them from your to-do list. For example, when the mail comes, have checks, stamps, and mailing labels ready to pay and send whatever needs to be at that moment. This saves you time having to go back and forth looking for bills, forgetting to pay for items and getting charged late fees.
Don't get stuck on low-level activities that don't add much value to your life. I have a friend who’s always chasing her tail and struggling to survive. She has college degrees in mathematics and biology, and has extensive experience, but struggles to survive economically. Whenever I talk to her, she’s always busy and running around trying to get things done. However, if we talk about what she's doing, the activities seem trivial, such as, “I have to drive across town to return something that cost me two dollars and broke.” This can be forgotten or shelved until you actually have a reason to go to the store again. Or, “I'm going to small claims court for someone who stiffed me for twenty-five dollars.” Filing the case costs thirty dollars; she argues that it's the principle and not the money. I understand, but if you're struggling to make money and you're going to miss a day of work to be in small claims court, then even if you win, you lose because of the investment in time and lost productivity. Or, she'll drive across town to wait in line for one to two hours to get half off a hamburger on Tuesdays, to save two dollars. If you're spending your brain time thinking about these types of activities, then you’re going to result in low productivity for your life overall. Be smart, think about how you're investing your time, invest it in the most productive activities. This will set the tone for how you spend your time overall.
You can't do everything, so let things go that are not worth your time. Remember time is your most valuable asset and you cannot produce more of it. So spend it wisely on something that’s important to you, because you can never get that time back.
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