Don’t you hate losing that hour every Spring? I know I do but I also love the extended daylight. For about 3 days I will look at the clock incredulously about how late it is. Are you normally good with your time management? Would you say you are more proactive or reactive? Meaning, do you spend more time answering emails, returning phone calls, attending meetings, and putting out fires….or do you make the necessary time to actually be innovative, creative, and productive?
Try these 2 strategies to get back that valuable time you lost AND MORE…
1) For one week, don’t leave your outlook/email program on all day.
Turn off the “push” feature on your phone that alerts you with every single email. Only read your emails 3 set times a day: Once when you first get into the office, once after lunch, and once at the end of the work day. Limit yourself to no more than 2 hours of total email reading/responding time. If the thought of this makes you nervous, build in a few extra hours here and there so you will at least attempt to minimize your availability.
2) Get up earlier.
Do you wake up before the alarm? Are you well rested? My guess is only a small percentage of people can say yes to these 2 questions. I know, I know…I love to stay up late too, but I hate that feeling the next day of being rushed all day when I’m running a little bit behind because I did so. If you hit the snooze one too many times, or leave your house 10 minutes later than normal, it affects your whole day. Getting up one hour earlier each day can probably add 2 extra hours of productivity (at least) for most of us.
Will you take the challenge for one week? How about 2? How about 21 days in a row?
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Arvell Craig On March 12, 2014 at 5:23 pm
Good ideas Tracy! Thanks!
I’ll shoot for the option 1… but don’t get mad if I don’t reply instantly to your emails now! 🙂