Getting The Most Out Of Your Day

A Step-By-Step Guide

In a world where time is the most precious commodity, we understand the importance of making every moment count. Below you’ll find my set of practical tips, insightful strategies, and a method to structure your day to help you squeeze the most out of your 24 hours. Whether you’re a busy professional, or someone simply seeking to enhance your productivity, this blog is your guide to enhancing your daily routine with more efficiency and fulfillment.

SEM Manager, Emma Adkins, speaking to the Agency at REW HQ

Time Management Strategies

You wake up on weekdays to non-stop chat pinging, a mountain of to-do lists, and countless emails. With all the responsibilities you have at work (plus feeding your fur baby, if you work from home), how do you get the most out of your day? 

The key is time management, which may seem simple but can be challenging in practice. In this era where we easily get distracted and with gradually shortening attention spans, perfecting time management is a must. Some of the obstacles that prevent us from being a time wiz are: 

• Multitasking - Multitasking is a valuable skill for time management but can be a hindrance when it becomes overwhelming and stressful. When practiced incorrectly, it can affect your quality of work, which would require revisions and consequently mess up your timeline.
• Unexpected tasks - Additional tasks can ruin your plans if you don’t know how to adapt and revisit your priorities. 
• Interruptions - Whether you’re working at home or in the office, there are various disturbances, such as unexpected calls, an emergency, a power outage, or even your fur baby giving you those puppy-dog eyes. 
• Low motivation - Unfortunately, there are moments when you may find yourself with little to no motivation. This can be due to various reasons like illness, burnout, stress, and boredom. 
• Procrastination - We’re all guilty of this (I won’t plead the Fifth), but it becomes an issue when it’s recurring and uncontrollable. 
• Perfectionism - While this is not necessarily a bad thing, perfectionism may hinder time management when it makes you focus on just one thing at the expense of your other tasks. 

Don't forget to make time for things that matter - like connecting with clients!

Elevate Your Time Management

Practice these strategies to level up your time management skill:

Prioritization

Not all tasks are created equal. You’ll need to judge which tasks are more urgent and have the most impact on your overall objective. Once you prioritize your assignments, you’ll know how to spend your energy and time efficiently. 

Make a List

We can all be scatterbrained sometimes, but making a list can ensure we don’t forget anything and we can keep track of our progress.

Set Boundaries

Time management is also about achieving balance. Set a time for working, taking breaks, and socializing. Drowning yourself in work and neglecting the other aspects of your life can burn you out in the long run. Stick to a healthy and sustainable work schedule so you can finish your tasks correctly and on time.

Delegate

Don’t carry the world's weight on your shoulders and learn to delegate. You have a team working with you so trust them to accomplish their work and focus on the things that only you can do.

Block Your Time - Take Control of Your Schedule

Imagine being in the zone and then realizing you have a meeting to attend in five minutes (What timing!). Take the reins on your schedule and block off some time when you can focus on your work undisturbed.

Group Similar Tasks Together

Working on a presentation deck and then jumping to lead follow-up? It’s easier to accomplish similar tasks first instead of switching from one completely different task to another. When you create your to-do lists, group them in a way that makes sense to you so you can finish them quicker. 

Deal With The Difficult Tasks First

Difficult tasks generally take longer to complete, so it’s better to start with the easier ones. This way, you can check off more things on your to-do list, motivating you and giving you a sense of accomplishment.

Know Your Rhythm

Do you have certain times of the day when you're more motivated to work? When do you feel like you're running out of gas? Everyone has their rhythm, which you have to adjust accordingly. Schedule your work on hours you’re more productive and take your breaks when you usually feel unenergized. 

Communicate

Being successful with your time management strategy doesn’t only rely on you but also on your teammates. Communicate with them about why you’re unavailable from 2 pm-3 pm, or why you are unable to join that meeting (They will survive, I promise). When they understand your work approach, they’ll be able to provide you with more support.

Time Management Exercise

As with most things in life, practice makes perfect. 

Here’s an exercise that you can do to polish your time management skills:

• Write down your daily activities from waking up to bedtime
• Divide up your day into hourly blocks
• Label each block with a heading:
  • On fire (most productive)
  • Cruise control
  • Distracted
  • Slowing down
  • Tired (least productive)

Once you finish this exercise, use the information you’ve gathered to best structure your day so you can hopefully build a more efficient and effective day.

Conclusion

As we conclude, remember that getting the most out of your day is a journey, not a destination. It’s about continuous learning, adapting, and finding what works best for you. I hope that the insights and strategies I shared in this blog will serve as a catalyst for your personal productivity goals. We’re all given the same amount of hours each day, how you maximize them is truly where the magic happens.

I would love to hear your thoughts!

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