Cheat Time – Get More Done and Enjoy Your Life
As you have heard repeated over the years, time is the most valuable resource any of us have. I've been told many times that I can't get more of it but that is a lie. I may suck at a lot of things but ask anyone who does any work with me and they will tell you I somehow magically get a lot done in a very little amount of time.
TRUTH: There are a lot of ways to get more time
Money can't buy happiness, but time does make happiness, and money can buy time.
With a few simple tips you can cheat time. I do.
Here Are 8 Ways to Make More Time & Happiness
Playback Control
We all consume media right? TV shows you watch, videos online, and for many of us audio-books. I consume all of these things faster than most people because I speed up playback.
For audio-books I use the Audible app where I can increase playback speed as much as needed. I can listen to most books at 2X speed without any trouble. That is half the time to read the book.
When I watch TV shows or online videos I try to do so in Google Chrome and I use this extension to speed up playback: Video Speed Controller
Trust me, the latest episode of Blacklist is just as good in 25 minutes as it is in 40 minutes. For you binge watchers just imagine getting through an entire season of your favorite show in 2/3 the time!
Outsource Everything
Outsourcing tasks costs money… but it makes time. If you can spend more time doing the things that you are best at then your bottom line revenue should increase exponentially. In order to make the time to do things that make you a lot of money; you need to spend a little money to pay others to do everything else.
RESOURCE: Guide to Outsourcing Stuff Worth Less than My Time
Batch Activities
There are things you probably end up doing every day that waste your time. The process of beginning and ending the task are the same regardless of how much volume there is. For example, consider listening to and returning voicemail. If you check 1 voicemail message per day it might take 5 minutes. Instead if once per week you check voicemail you will have 7 total messages but instead of taking 35 minutes it will take less than 30. (Think I'm crazy to only check voicemail once per week? Resource: Making Voicemail a Tool of Productivity [Script])
What else do you do frequently that could be batched into chunks less frequently? Checking email, processing returns (a big one for me), accounting, making phone calls, home DIY projects, errands, and much more.
Stop Reprocessing
What is reprocessing? Essentially wasting time looking at something multiple times before taking action on it. You probably have emails in your inbox right now that you have read 3+ times and still haven't dealt with. If you can create a process by which you don't give anything your time and attention until you are ready to tackle the task and complete it, delegate it, or delete it; then you will save a ton of reprocessing time.
Exploit Shortcuts and Move Faster
I spend a large amount of my day in front of a computer. A lot of that time is spent typing things. On average I bet I am just hitting keys on my keyboard about 90 minutes a day. I type 95 Words Per Minute (WPM) where the average adult types only 40 WPM. That means my 90 minutes of typing each day would take the average human adult 3+ hours. If you are in front of a computer as often as I you could probably save yourself about 5 hours a week if you invested 30 minutes a week into improving your typing speed.
In addition to just typing faster you can save a ton of time by becoming more expert in software you use. Knowing shortcuts and the best tricks to Outlook, Gmail, PowerPoint, or whatever your daily tools are can have a tremendous effect on your time.
Start Saying No
You have probably heard this before. People will ask you for a lot of things. Start saying no to those things that are less important than your family or whatever thing it is you are trying to make time for.
Bio-Hack & Buy Health
Each year you probably lose several days of productivity outright to being sick. In addition, there are probably many more days each year where you get substantially less done than you should because you don't feel as well as you should.
Time is lost when you aren't performing optimally. This is another instance where some better health related decisions can buy you time. Eating better, exercise and all the other things you already know about can dramatically increase your productivity and limit down time. In addition to the amount of time you “buy” right now, you are also literally adding years to your life which is another amazing consideration of making more time.
Resource: Eliminating the Common Cold From Life
Hack Travel Time
For work or for leisure travel is a part of your life. For some of us it is more frequent a part than for others. Travel is a perfect place to make more time in life in a few different ways.
- Don't travel in ways that will kill your energy and reduce your health. No point in getting there early if it is going to take me 12 hours to recover from the trip.
- Time in the car or time on the plane can be very productive with a little bit of planning. If you are going to be outside of WiFi then plan in advance tasks that can be worked on and completed without WiFi… or without a computer at all. I often batch my phone calls for days when I know I have some car time.