If I had a pound for every time a working mum bemoaned how they wished there were more hours in the day, I’d be writing this from a palatial villa somewhere far away with iced cool drink in a tumbler.
Not that it’s always an invalid comment, sometimes, we could all genuinely do with more time to work through all the projects we need to complete.
But if we all took a look at the little time-wasting activities we’re doing, we’d be able to claw back at least some of that time.
1. Not delegating
If you keep trying to do everything yourself, you will either fail at it, or take a lifetime to get to where you need to be. Start delegating – to family members, colleagues, and your employees. If you don’t have anyone to delegate to, it’s time to outsource.
This won’t break the bank if you do it wisely – delegate those small tasks that take you forever to complete and increase as your business can afford more. This will free you up to focus on the things that are important to you, your family and/or your business.
2. Procrastinating
Stop putting off for tomorrow what you can do today. If you focus on the problem, how much you have to do, how much you have to do etc, you won’t be actually be doing much more than thinking about the work. Start doing something and you’ll start clearing your to-do list.
3. Not getting organised
The state of your desk at work or in your home office says a lot about your state of mind and how organised you are (or not).
If it takes you a few minutes to find important paperwork on your desk or on your laptop, then you aren’t organised enough. Get some folders, and create folders on your computer to start organising important documents and files, so you can save time – every minute counts.
4. Not doing your research
It’s great to want to dive into a new project and start getting things done, but have you done your research? If you haven’t, then you’ll get caught short at some point because you haven’t got enough information.
It’s better to get all the information you need beforehand and then get started. You’ll be able to make informed decisions that way, which will be much more productive and motivating in the long run.
5. Worrying
If ever you find yourself staring blankly while worries take over your mind, learn to recognise when you’re doing it and snap put of it.
Worrying doesn’t achieve anything positive – it only makes you feel worse when a simple chat with someone could change it.
