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How often do you find yourself wishing for more time? While you can’t add extra hours to your day, you can create the illusion that you have more than enough time to do it all. This is where daily planning techniques add so much to your life. As Jim Rohn says, “Either you run the day or the day runs you.” Keep reading to discover 10 powerful and proven daily planning techniques. Use them to master your minutes, stretch your hours, and make each day a win. 1. Prioritize your to-dos Not every task on your to-do list is completed equally. It’s the 80/20 rule where 20% of the tasks will contribute to 80% of your impact. If you have an overwhelming to-do list and little chance of getting everything checked off, start by prioritizing. Get clear on which tasks will move the needle the furthest and focus on completing them first. Your Weekly Action Plan can help with this. Once all your to-dos are logged, use the PRIORITY column to indicate the importance of each task. You could use a code to help with this. For example, ‘1s’ are top priorities, ‘2s’ are important, ‘3s’ could be delegated, while ’4s’ shouldn’t be on your list at all! 2. Allocate time needed When you have a lot on your plate it’s easy to overestimate what you can do in a day. This can slow you down. When you start out super optimistic only to realize there’s no way you’ll complete it all, your motivation plummets. You can prevent this scenario happening by getting realistic about what you can achieve in any given day. A super simple way to do this is to decide [in advance] how much time you think each task needs. For example, you need an hour for your yoga class, 2 hours to write a blog, 90 minutes for that sales presentation, and 45 minutes to get on top of your emails. When you can see how many minutes are required to complete each to-do, you can take on the right amount of tasks. That’s enough to stretch you a little, but not too many that you end up drowning in overwhelm. 3. Leverage deadlines If you’re the kind of person who thrives under pressure, deadlines can help you get stuff done. Instead of working from a to-do list alone, pin down when you want to get each task finished. It’s a simple planning exercise that helps eliminate Parkinson’s Law. This states that tasks will take up the time window you give it. So if that blog should only take 2 hours, but you give it four - that’s how long it will take! With deadlines marked down, you force yourself to focus and work at a pace. You also force yourself to stay on track. It’s a simple, yet powerful daily planning strategy that will help you get more done. 4. Practice zero white space In terms of managing your deadlines, working to a zero hours calendar is the perfect way to do this - it’s something your Self Journal’s daily timeline is designed to help you do. Zero hours simply means leaving no white space on your timeline. At first this may sound overwhelming - that’s until you realize that you can incorporate breaks, relaxation, and fun stuff into your plan as well. Time is your most precious, non-renewable resource. When you budget your time in this granular way, it becomes a lot harder to waste it. When you allocate specific timeslots to different tasks, you’re less likely to squander your minutes. This is why zero hours scheduling is a daily planning practice that helps top performers get top results. 5. Plan EVERYTHING When your work keeps you busy or your business takes up most of your time, it’s easy to lose your work-life harmony. Work is the default priority and so gets your most focused time leaving everything else for the leftovers. Most of us will have to work stupid hours and long weekends to deliver some projects. But when this pattern becomes the norm rather than the exception, not only do you risk burnout, but life can get very one-dimensional. That’s why your daily plans should include everything you want to do - not just work stuff. Plan in your yoga class, coffee with friends, meal prep time, reading, social media, Netflix binges - in short, everything that you want to see in your day. Remember, what gets planned gets done. 6. Keep plans in front of you The best plans keep us focused and driven throughout the day. That’s why I recommend you keep your daily intentions in front of you - because you can’t ignore what’s staring you in the face! Use a tool such as your Weekly Action Pad to keep your weekly plans top of mind. Then map out your day in 30-minute chunks in your Self Journal. When you know what you need to do now, next, and later you reduce decision fatigue. Instead of wasting valuable minutes in between tasks, you can move seamlessly from one to the other. It’s a simple, but effective way to sharpen your focus so you can get more done in less time. 7. Make it a habit Your habits are those things that you do on autopilot. As such, they require minimum conscious thought. Instead, you just do it! As you can imagine, good daily habits can profoundly impact your life. It’s as Sean Covey says, “Depending on what they are, our habits will either make us or break us. We become what we repeatedly do.” So if you’ve not already, make robust daily planning a daily habit. It can be tricky to train yourself to build a new habit. We’re human and we like our comfort zones - which means we resist change [even change that’s good for us!] The good news is you can hack habit building with a habit tracker such as the Habit Roadmap. Simply check off each day that you successfully plan your day. You’ll quickly build a winning streak that you won’t want to break. Do your habit enough times and before you know it, it will become part of who you are. 8. Plan tomorrow, today Be honest now! How much time do you spend each morning figuring out your day ahead? If you’re not careful, you can easily spend up to 30 minutes getting your head around your priorities and dropping into your work zone. Imagine how much more productive you could be if you were able to hit the ground running - diving straight into your first task the second you sit at your desk rather than faffing with a plan. It’s for this reason that some time management experts advocate planning tomorrow, today. It only takes a few minutes. There’s another advantage too. When your brain knows what’s coming up, it starts to process and come up with ideas - especially when you sleep. In other words, plan in advance and you could start the day with a rainbow of fresh ideas. 9. Reflect We’re all different, which means some daily planning techniques will work like rocket fuel for you whereas others will fall flat. The only way you can figure out the difference for yourself is to reflect. So take time to get clear on the planning techniques that light a fire and drain your energy. You don’t need to spend long. Just take a couple minutes at the end of each day and week to figure out what worked for you - then tweak. It’s the power of marginal gains. Make a series of tiny tweaks over time and you’ll deliver compound results. 10. Use a daily planner Your brain has a finite amount of bandwidth. What’s more, your brain isn’t designed to remember a ton of things. Instead, it’s better at problem solving, idea generation, and creative thinking. So don’t steal bandwidth unnecessarily by keeping your daily plans in your head. Instead, get them onto paper. This powerful practice will help you work smarter for a number of reasons. It reduces decision fatigue - because you don’t have to think about what’s coming up. It also keeps you focused by reminding you what you need to get done. You can also gauge whether or not you’re on track by comparing where you are in the day with where you wanted to be. A tool such as the Self Journal can help with your daily planning: - The daily timeline lets you get granular with your day in 30 minute chunks - The ‘today’s targets’ section ensures you’re focused on your priorities - The reflection space helps you pull out your wins and learnings Bill Gates said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” Daily planning techniques help to keep you accountable to what needs to get done so you can move the needle in a pace and direction that suits you. Don’t risk making it up as you go along - you’ll waste a lot of time. Instead, leverage these powerful daily planning techniques. It’s an easy way to check off your to-dos, win the day, and ultimately achieve your goals. Which techniques will you try?

Whenever my workload is piled high and I start dropping balls, I silently wish for more time!  It makes me feel better in the moment. If time is the reason I’m behind, I don’t have to blame myself. But of course that strategy isn’t working so well for me - you probably feel the same way! However much we want it or wish it, we’ll never get any more hours in our day. But that doesn’t make us powerless to the situation. You can’t create more time, but you CAN create the illusion that there’s more than enough minutes to do all the things that matter. Which is exactly what the 10 simple strategies in this blog can help you do.  So get busy implementing and discover how you can work with time to get everything done, stay sane, AND fit in all the things you love.  1. Working harder is NOT the answer Have you noticed that we live in a society that values hard work? We’re taught if we work hard at school and hard in our careers, we’ll get our rewards. This is belief is so rampant, working stupidly long hours has become a badge of honor!  But it’s a habit that steals fulfillment because it leads to burnout. Worst still, you don’t necessarily get any more accomplished.  You don’t have to work harder to get the life you want. Instead, you’ve got to learn how to get more out of each hour you have. This means figuring out how to work smarter - so you can get more done in less time.  Approach every day with this mindset and see how things shift.  Ask yourself how you can get the best results in the shortest amount of time. Be open to new ways of working and not only will you become more efficient, but you’ll create time to do it all.  2. Set goals  When your to-do list gets out of control, the days blend into each other and life feels as though it’s running away from you.  Goals provide a daily compass, which helps you prioritize and get clear on what’s most important to you.  With a goal, you’re less likely to take on things that don’t matter to your bigger-picture ambitions. You’ll also find it easier to say no because it will be clear to you which opportunities are right for you - and which aren’t.  When your to-do list is influenced by goals, it’s going to be less cluttered. You’ll want to do more of the things you have to do and you’ll be more enthusiastic about your workload too. (Ever noticed how it’s far easier to plow through a ton of stuff when it’s things you enjoy?)  So use goals to focus your day, cut out the clutter, and make sure your time is spent wisely. You’ll feel in much more control as a result.  Looking for a tool to help set and achieve your goals? Check out the Self Journal. 3. Use a planner It’s great to be spontaneous, but if you have a pile of things to do, you can’t afford to leave your day to chance. An ad hoc day is never going to deliver the same level of productivity as a planned one.  So become a planner. Make it a habit to plan your day from start to finish. That way you’ll always know what you need to do, where you need to be, and how long you have for everything on your plate.  With a clear and realistic plan for your day, you can just crack on with making it all happen.  Clear targets will keep you focused (and motivated). You’ll have less decision fatigue because you’ll know in advance what you have to do. You’ll also feel in more control because instead of the day running you, you’ve taken control.  It’s a surefire way to get more done in less time.  4. Plan tomorrow, today How long does it usually take you to get into the swing of the day?  You might be at your desk at 9 am, but are you hitting the ground running, or is it 20 minutes or longer before you’re really doing anything productive?  Finishing up your day planning for tomorrow means you can maximize your time to get things done. Arrive at your desk with a clear plan of action and you won’t faff or drain your energy trying to decide what to do next.  Instead, you can get your head down and get that first task done and dusted in super quick time. 5. Schedule the things you don’t want to miss  Feeling guilty because you don’t spend quality time with your kids? Feeling out of shape because you never get to the gym? Eating food that doesn’t inspire you?  We’re all guilty of it!  In comparison, when was the last time you missed an appointment or a meeting that was scheduled in your planner?  When something is planned and diarized, it gets done. You make the rest of your day work around this commitment by planning everything else around the non-movable part of your day.  So why not apply this same principle to the things that matter most in your day (and your life)?  Schedule in that gym class. Turn playtime with your kids into an appointment. Make cooking a date with yourself. This simple action will achieve two things:  • Firstly, you’ll actually have time to do all the things (and you’ll feel so much better as a result).• Secondly, you’ll still get everything else done because your personal appointments will serve as deadlines that cultivate focus and motivation  6. Prioritize what’s on your plate You know that ridiculously long to-do list that’s stressing you out?  Take a look at that list again and be brutal with yourself.  What on that list absolutely MUST get done? And what can you ditch?  More often than not we take on way more than we need to (and more than we can cope with). But with limited time, you have to focus on what really matters and get in the habit of saying NO to the rest.  It can be hard, but you’ve got to give yourself permission to be more precious with the time you do have. So don’t feel guilty for saying no. Instead, use that 2-letter word as a tool that frees up your energy, time, and focus to work on the biggest levers. You’ll get more done, finish earlier, and you’ll feel so much better about yourself as a result.  7. Don’t give tasks an open window  Deadlines are really good for getting things done!  When you’re up against a wall, somehow you dig that little bit deeper so you can pull it off. But that’s not all. As well as applying motivational pressure, deadlines also force you to finish a job in a realistic amount of time.  Without a timeframe for a task, Parkinson’s Law is going to make an appearance. This law says that work will expand to fill the time you give it (now you know why that blog, which should have taken a couple of hours, actually took all day!)  So use deadlines to drive efficiency. If no one has given you a deadline, give them to yourself. You’ll finish things quicker, freeing up time for all the things you don’t currently get a chance to do.  The Weekly Action Pad can help! 8. Use a timer  We squander so much time because we’re simply not aware of where it’s going.  It’s a little like a crazy shopping spree! When you’re handing over physical cash, you can see your purse getting lighter. But with a credit card, you don’t see the balance notch up - until it’s too late!  It’s the same with time.  If you’re not mindful of where your time is spent, it will slip through your fingers.  So get a timer in your productivity toolkit and use it to keep yourself accountable to time deadlines. It may be an old-school tool, but as far as productivity goes, it delivers huge results.   9. Empty your head  Just like your supply of willpower, your bandwidth is also finite.  You can’t maximize your productivity when your mind is full of unrelated thoughts. You need deep focus to do your best work, which is why it pays to empty your head onto paper.  • Relying on your memory to remember your to-do list? Get it into a notebook instead.  • Worrying about something? Try journaling your way to a solution.• Distracted thinking about a task you need to do (that you’d rather not do?) Either schedule time to do it, or get it out of the way now.  Do what’s necessary so you can focus fully on the task at hand. It’s a smart way of working that will help you get the job done quicker.  10. Own your wins (even the small ones) When you never feel on top of your work, your confidence takes a knock. When you don’t have time for all the other things that are important to you, it’s hard to feel good inside.  The conversations you have about yourself have a huge impact on your performance, your productivity, and your self-esteem. So get more aware of how you speak to yourself.  Are you your biggest fan or your worst enemy? Do you beat yourself up when things go wrong, or do you encourage yourself to find a different way? If you believe your best is never good enough, you’ll soon lose motivation. You may even tell yourself ‘why bother?’ [And what’s that going to do for your productivity?] In comparison, tell yourself you’ve done a good job and consistently acknowledge your achievements (no matter how small), and you’ll spark even more motivation to keep going. That's why we created the Win The Day Pads. Yup, mindset matters a lot when it comes to making the most of your time.  You can’t get more time!  But you CAN get more from your time.  All it takes is a few simple tweaks and you can transform your daily output. So train yourself to work smarter to make your time go further. Not only will you stay on top of your workload, but you’ll free up more time for the things that you love.  It’s the key to a happier life :-)

“Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.” - A. A. Milne It’s not uncommon for to-dos and commitments to feel overwhelming. When your life is moving faster than you can keep up, a sense of unease can weave its way through your body - and that doesn’t feel good!  In turn, stress starts to bubble up as you begin to worry about when you’ll get everything done - and who you should aim to please first.  But here’s some good news… We often think lack of time is the core problem. It’s not! It’s not the amount of time you have that matters. It’s what you’re able to accomplish in the time that you do have.  This is where organization counts.  If you’re always reacting, you’ll find yourself on the back foot - and that’s frustrating because you’ll feel like you’re always playing catch up.  But take back control of your life by organizing what you can, and you’ll free up bandwidth, time, and energy. In turn, you’ll feel more spaciousness, freedom, and peace of mind.  Best of all, organization doesn’t need to feel rigid and routine. Find the tactics that work for you, and you might actually create the space you’ve been craving.  Here are FIVE tips to try.  Get it out of your head!  You’ll be surprised how much bandwidth and energy you eat up through overthinking.  When a laundry list of things you have to do [and people you have to please] is constantly swirling around your head, the intensity starts to rise. In turn, it’s harder to think straight or focus which means your productivity plummets even further.  One of the best things you can do for yourself is to get everything out of your head and onto paper.  • Make a to-do list. • Jot down things you have to remember and do in your journal or notebook.  • Capture dates on your calendar • List out your errands With words on paper, your brain no longer needs to hold all that information - because it can trust you won’t forget. Best of all, you get the pleasure of a dopamine hit every time you check something off! [Don’t underestimate the power of this.] With the help of pen and paper, you get to reclaim headspace, focus, and energy and redirect all those resources onto tasks and activities that really do move the needle.  Not only will your brain [and your life] feel more organized, but you’ll find the overwhelm will dissolve a little too.  Leverage your schedule Your schedule provides an invaluable insight into your life. Chances are the things on your schedule get done. With that in mind, are you using your calendar/planner to its full potential?  Whether you use a Self Journal, a Self Planner, or a calendar, these tools are incredible for organizing your time and your life.  Instead of leaving things to chance, make space for them - not just meetings, but date night, playtime with your kids, phone calls to the people you want to feel close with. Schedule in time to make your meals, go to the gym, or do the exercise class. Make time for your to-dos AND make time for the fun activities, which light you up.  The more diligent you are with the way you allocate your time, the more organized you’ll feel [and the less stress will show up.] Prioritize your tasks There are so many things you could do.  But not every task is created equally. Some tasks act like levers to trigger a big impact. Other tasks are more inconsequential and while it might feel good to check them off, they don’t make a big difference to your life.  When organizing your tasks and your schedule, take a moment to assess your priorities too.  Focus on the rocks.  Then prioritize your workload using a tool such as the Weekly Action Pad or the Eisenhower Matrix.  The Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful time management framework that can help you categorize tasks and make your workload more manageable. You can grab the PDF download here. Organize your goals As humans, we have an inherent desire to continually get better. It’s one of the reasons we always have a desire for more. It’s not that we’re not satisfied. Instead, it’s your growth needs calling! You don’t arrive at your final destination when you break through that glass ceiling! Instead, a whole new plain of possibility opens up for you.  This is why who you become as a result of going after your goals is just as important as the goal itself.  The journey along the way shapes who you are - because goals force you to get out of your comfort zone, face your fears, and step into a bigger and bigger version of your best self.  This is the real power of goal setting… When you set goals, you create a context of what’s important and where you want to go. Through the process of developing a goal, you decide what’s important - and what’s less so. In this way, goals become a compass that helps you figure out which tasks to do - and which to drop.  So don’t leave your goals to chance.  Instead, figure out the action steps you need to see through to move the needle in the right direction. Set yourself a deadline too because it will create the urgency to move.  And remember, it’s not the giant leaps alone that make the difference.  The momentum you create through your daily habits is equally powerful because consistent actions ignite the compound effect - which leads to exponential growth. For more tips about organizing and setting goals, watch this training video. Organize your thoughts and ideas Are you the type of person who has a million and one ideas?  Our ability to think, innovate, create, and problem solve is one of the joys of being human. Ideas really can change your world. It’s as Jim Rohn said, “Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea.” The problem is a lot of our good ideas and insights get lost in the flurry of life. Ideas and insights are often fleeting… there one second and gone the next as a new thought loop kicks in. This is where notebooks become insanely valuable.  You can use them to capture your ideas as they show up - and then write through the chain of thought to see where an idea has the potential to lead.  Discover 20 ways to use notebooks to boost your productivity, creativity, and performance. Journaling is a process and practice that’s equally valuable. Daily journaling can help you organize your thoughts, strengthen your mindset, and help you understand the way your life is unfolding. As Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.”  For more journaling tips to boost your effectiveness, check out this podcast.  It’s great to be spontaneous and go with the flow. There’s freedom in feeling you can do what you want, when you want.  The challenge is to balance that desire while being productive and effective.  Fortunately, organization will help you get your ducks in a row - so you’re able to do more in less time… giving you the spaciousness inside which your best self can flourish.  You’ve got this!

When it comes to goals and becoming your best self, time is your most critical resource. Time represents potential. Each day you’re allocated another 1440 minutes to do whatever you like. Direct it towards the right things and magic can happen! But time management is tricky and life can make peak productivity feel elusive. Everything from distractions, to stress, chaos and confusion can squander your time and keep you from your finish line.But that doesn’t mean things can’t change. The reality is your time is always in your control. And if you learn to master these three critical timescales, you’ll be well on your way to thinking bigger, achieving more, while you enjoy today. 1. 13 weeks “The trouble is, you think you have time.” Jack Kornfield How often have you set a goal and then NOT achieved it? Here’s a scary truth… you’re in the minority if you successfully take a goal across the finish line! Achieving goals is hard because there’s so much that can get in our way.Which creates a new question.. How can you stack the odds in your favor? One proven way is by working within a 13-week timescale. 13 weeks is the goal-setting sweet spot because this timescale is long enough to achieve something significant, yet short enough to fend off procrastination. When you give yourself too much time, it’s far too easy to procrastinate. Life happens and that means a finish line that’s years off creates too much space to delay and dither. It’s all-too-easy for that internal dialogue to talk you out of taking action. “I can do that later” is a persuasive argument when you have a truckload of tasks competing for your attention! You don’t get that procrastination luxury with a 13-week time limit because your deadline is always in plain sight. If your why is sufficiently powerful, a tighter deadline will force you to get focused and do the work that closes the gap.But that’s not all… Imagine how much more you could achieve and how much further you could go if you crushed an important goal every 13 weeks? In this way, the 13-week strategy doesn’t just increase your productivity; it’s also a way to quadruple your output every year. So if you’re looking for a fast-track to more success, 13-week sprints could well be it! 2. Win the Day “The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.” - John C. Maxwell Have you ever hit the pillow feeling super frustrated because you’re not sure what you actually accomplished - even though you were super busy all day long? Unfortunately, being busy is not the same as being productive. It’s possible to be snowed under and continuously on it, and still not move the needle. That’s because productivity is about working on the right stuff rather than any old stuff! If you’re constantly checking off the easy tasks or getting distracted by other people’s priorities, your goals won’t happen. Harsh, but true. Win The Day is a mantra that can inspire you to be more discerning about how you spend your 1440 daily minutes. Imagine how much better life would feel [and how you’d feel about yourself], if every day made a dent. You can achieve this when you’re clear on the bigger picture tasks that make a difference. Instead of fire-fighting or checking through a list of to-dos, get clear on what tasks matter. Then plan your day to ensure these tasks have your top priority and don’t get pushed. It’s so easy to delay your goals because other things shout louder. But you’ll forever be stuck in the pattern of “I’ll do that later” UNLESS you take a different approach. Remember, not all tasks are created equally. Pareto’s Law states that 80% of your results will come from 20% of your actions. Put Pareto’s Law to work and you could Win The Day. And if you Win The Day every day - you’ll also win the week, the month, the quarter, the year, the decade [you get the picture!] 3. 30 minutes "Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time." - Jim Rohn Time is not renewable. You can’t hit the pause button and you can’t rewind. Once the minutes have passed, they are gone forever. So why are we so willing to squander our minutes and give them so little meaning? While 13-week planning and the intention to Win The Day takes care of the bigger picture stuff, the biggest shifts happen when you master your minutes. And for this, 30-minute time slots are a game-changer. Instead of tackling your day as a whole unit, break it down into 30-minute sections. This granular planning allows you to approach your day like a jigsaw puzzle. When you know how long each task will take to complete, you can fit these tasks into your day to create maximum results. Parkinson’s Law is critical here! This law states that a task will expand to fit the time window you give it. In other words, if you give a 90-minute task the entire day, that’s how long it will take you! Zero-hours scheduling is a powerful technique that will help you stretch time - so you can get more done in less time. However, this isn’t about packing so much into your day that you soon burn out. Use your daily 30-minute timeline to plan EVERYTHING. Your daily plan should be a combination of work PLUS dedicated, quality time for wellbeing, relationships, hobbies, passions, meditation, learning, reading - whatever your best self needs to feel fulfilled. When it comes to your goals, time can be your best friend. You just have to figure out how to make the minutes work for you. Focusing on these three timescales will inspire a massive leap forward. And if you want to put these timescales to work, the Self Journal’s structure has you covered.

How do you build a life that’s fulfilling in all areas of it? A life with work success, fulfilling relationships, good health, and time to check off your bucket list? The short answer is you create work-life harmony [not balance]. This is the idea that over a period of time, you feel successful in all areas of your life. And it’s tough... Each life area has different demands, and your time is finite. What’s more, we live in a society that’s obsessed with work/business success. This means our ‘day job’ is often the focus of our greatest attention (while everything else gets the left-overs). This strategy works for a while, but in time it creates burnout, stress, and even resentment. So how do you ‘have it all’? The good news is you CAN! I’ll show you how in this article, so keep reading! 1. Define work-life harmony for you Work-life harmony means something different and looks something different for everyone. For sure, you can be inspired by other people, but don’t benchmark your success against theirs. Instead, benchmark against yourself. Here’s how to do it…      a. Make a list of all the areas of your life that are important to you. For example, work/business/career, relationships, finances, health, wellbeing etc.      b. Rate your success in each of area where 0 is low and 10 is high.      c. Write a few sentences to explain your score for each area. Your score gives you a quantitative baseline to work from. It’s your start point and a measure you can use to assess how your degree of harmony improves over time. Ready to create your baseline? If so, take the BestSelf Benchmark Quiz today and generate your BestSelf Score. 2. Define what a 10 looks like for you Once you’ve scored your current work-life harmony, the next step is to define what a ‘10’ [or your ‘BestSelf’] looks like for you. For sure, this definition will change over time as you grow and evolve, but for now, get clear on what your best looks like today: - What would your relationship look like? - What would be happening with your finances? - What bucket list items would you check through in your free time? - What would be happening in your business? - What does top-rated health look like for you? When you understand what a ten is for you, it’s easier to figure out what targets, goals, and tweaks you need to work towards to achieve harmony. 3. Know what’s achievable for your life Increasing your work-life harmony score isn’t an overnight project! Instead, it takes time and consistent daily effort. If there’s a lot you want to do, you can avoid overwhelm by prioritizing your actions. Remember, you don’t have to change everything at once, but you can change everything by doubling-down on the right actions. What’s more, you don’t have to focus on big actions only. There are lots of 10-15 minute daily rituals you can implement that could make a world of difference discover them here. To decide where to put your focus, ask yourself, which actions will make the biggest impact on your work-life harmony score? Prioritize these actions first. Don’t be surprised if you’re drawn to work on unexpected areas as your top priority. For example, you may want to build your business, but you’ll find it harder to succeed if your health is poor or your relationships are neglected. There’s a good chance these areas might top your list! 4. Remember to plan for harmony, NOT balance Time is your most valuable resource. To paraphrase Jim Rohn, you can always make more money, but you can’t make more time. Work-life harmony is dependent on how you budget and use your minutes over time. Remember… You don’t need to achieve work-life balance everyday. This isn’t an achievable goal. There are going to be days when work takes everything. For example, when you’re in the middle of a launch or when you’re solving a crisis. Similarly, there will be times when your relationship takes all you’ve got. For example, when it’s your partner’s birthday or when you’re on vacation. Instead, aim to create work-life harmony over time. In reality, this means: - Post-launch, scale back your business focus and invest more in your relationship - Post-vacation, use your rejuvenated, refreshed brain to inject more into your work In other words, worry less about the individual days and more about how things look over the course of a year, a month, and even a week. 5. Plan the bigger picture It’s easy to plan time for your career, work, or business. We live in a society that celebrates hard work! But is a career really successful if it means you have to sacrifice fulfilment in other areas of your life? Is that bigger business, top promotion, or million-dollar side hustle worth losing your health, your relationships, or your fun? The reality is you CAN have it all, if you plan it. Remember, what gets planned, gets done. If your calendars, planners, and schedules are full of work to-dos and commitments, that’s what you’ll accomplish. But add in bucket list items, date nights, work outs, family time, vacations etc. and you’ll create a richer life as a result. YEARLY: Use a wall calendar to explore what work-life harmony will look like over a year. For example:  - How much time will you spend on vacation? - What items will you check off your bucket list? - What do you want for your relationship? - What will you achieve for your finances? - How will you focus attention on your health? - Etc.  MONTHLY:  Use a monthly planner to decide what work-life harmony looks like this month?  - How will you create the right mix of work and play? - How can you create a diverse, fun, and fulfilling social calendar? - What bucket list items can you plan to check off? - What can you plan to make the most of your weekends? - How will you move the needle on your health goals? - What work commitments will you achieve? WEEKLY:  Use a tool such as the Weekly Action Plan to decide what work-life harmony will look like this week? - What are your health goals? - What are your top work/business priorities? - What can you plan to ensure your partner and family get the best of you? - What will you include to cut stress and avoid burnout? - What will you do for fun? - Etc.  6. Plan your day You can’t get more time, but you can create the illusion of having enough time. This is the power of granular daily planning. Instead of a to-do list, schedule each task to a specific time window - in the same way you would an appointment. With this strategy, you can use deadlines to inspire yourself to stay focus and finish up quicker. In short, you’ll have more time to use for other things. With more time to play with, you can plan your day for work-life harmony too. Instead of having a timeline that’s rammed full with work to-dos, you can plan for other tasks and activities to increase fulfillment in areas that currently get less. For example: - Make space for meditation in the morning - Schedule a journaling session before the team call - Plan a power walk or workout over lunch - Block out time to prepare healthy food - Schedule quality time in the evening with your partner - Allocate time to read - Even schedule time to do absolutely nothing! - Etc. With every minute used wisely, you can do more with less! And if you’re looking for a tool to help you do this, check out the Self Planner. Start to create your work-life harmony today Work-life harmony does take time and focus. When work pays the bills, it’s inevitable these demands will take your time and attention. But you can ensure every area of your life continues to improve when you plan for work-life harmony. And you can start that today. Remember, what gets planned gets done. Expand your planning to include ALL life areas. Include relationship, health, financial, fun, and wellbeing goals into your planning rituals. When everything from every area of your life is planned, it’s inevitable your benchmark score will increase. Over to you… How can you tweak your monthly, weekly, and daily plans to create more harmony?

If you never have enough minutes in the day to do everything you want, then you’re far from alone! When you have to-dos to check off, meetings to attend, and personal commitments to see to, you can feel as though you’re constantly chasing your tail. Good news! You can replace busy for productive and you can carry more than you currently imagine. It’s all possible when you discover how to manage time. Truth is, time is not as limited as we think - even if it feels that way. Each new day, you’re gifted 1,440 minutes. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from, you get the same amount as everyone else. It’s what makes time the great equalizer… and our most precious, non-renewable resource. You can’t stop the passage of time -- there is no pause or rewind button! But you can allocate and use your time in a way that makes your minutes stretch further. Here are five ways to do that. 1. Manage yourself - not your time The problem with feeling overwhelmed is it makes it hard to get started. Take today for example. I have a number of chunky tasks on my to-do list. I’ve got a team call to attend later and I’m also taking 90 minutes out to watch my daughter’s school show. When there’s so much on your plate, you can wonder where to start - and this decision becomes even harder when you’re handling tasks that will take a lot of you. If you’re not careful, you won’t start at all! Instead, you convince yourself that social media really is your top priority! It’s easy to squander time through distractions, procrastination, and overwhelm. Therefore, if you want to manage your time you can’t focus on the minutes alone. You also need to explore how you show up with your time. For sure, we all have off days and play days. Life shouldn’t be all work, work, work! But when you do need to be ‘on it’, it’s key you can cultivate the discipline needed to sit tight and get stuff done in a realistic timeframe. 2. Prioritize your tasks Not all tasks are created equally. Take a look at your to-do list now… What’s on that list, which can wait? Is there anything you can delegate? Better still, what items can you eliminate altogether? In addition, what’s not on the list that should be because you tell yourself there’s not time right now? It’s tempting to try and do everything and take on more than we can realistically handle, but we all have our capacity. Time management isn’t about quantity. It’s more about quality. There will be some items on your to-do list that will move the needle proportionally further than anything else. Make it your mission to constantly identify those tasks - and get them done first. Remember, that task won’t always be a work-related item. It could be clocking off early to spend time with your kids or making self care time so you can show up as your best. Focus on the significant stuff, and the smaller things often take care of themselves. 3. Use a timer to be mindful of your minutes What can you realistically achieve in 30-minutes? - The school run - Write a couple social posts - A workout or a yoga practice - A journaling session - A game with your kids - A sales call Often, we don’t get conscious of how much time individual tasks and activities need. It’s puts us on a collision course with Parkinson’s Law, which states that tasks will take as much time as you give them. That’s why a 2-hour blog post can take all day or a ½ day presentation can keep you up all night. How to manage time? Set time parameters for individual tasks. Work out how long you think each task will take to complete and pencil that timescale in. It’s good to stretch yourself so don’t give yourself too much wriggle room. But be realistic. If you make it too hard, your productivity will plummet (because you’ll get overwhelmed), and that pushes everything else behind. Then when you get to work, time yourself with a timer. This simple exercise helps you get more mindful of the passage of time. It will also increase your time awareness too as you tap in deeper to what you can realistically achieve in any given timeframe. 4. Set deadlines It’s good to be spontaneous and to go with the flow, but without accountability those precious minutes can float away. Deadlines help to keep you time focused - so less goes to waste. You can use deadlines to inspire you to figure out what you could do - and by when. With a finish line marked out, you have more incentive to keep going - regardless. Deadlines also encourage you to be more productive. They create accountability to yourself (and to those you’ve made promises to). When you feel you have to deliver by a set date or time, you can draw upon your reserves to make it happen. Too much stress can wreak havoc with your body. But a little bit of pressure can heighten your senses, draw out your best, and help you win the day. 5. Schedule your day Have you noticed that scheduled appointments rarely get overlooked? It’s hard to ignore that commitment in your diary, right? More than that, you also plan your day around those commitments - to ensure you can be where you need to be on time. Imagine what would happen if you applied this same principle to everything else on your to-do list. Instead of leaving tasks and activities to chance, you scheduled out committed time in your planner to get stuff done. Here’s a how to manage time example: - Write blog post: 12:30-2:30 - Power walk: 9:00-9:30 - Facebook live training: 11:00-11:30 This is one of the most powerful time management processes I know. It’s a practice that protects you from Parkinson’s law as well as leveraging the power of deadlines. It also allows you to set up your day to hit your priorities first - so you’re always moving the needle. When you can see how your day works on paper, it’s easier to get cracking. When your plan is out of your head and onto paper, you’re less likely to get distracted or procrastinate. Wondering how to manage time with a planner? We get it… There’s a lot you want to do and a lot you have to do! When you’re juggling so much, it’s always easier to plan it all on paper. With a realistic day mapped out, the stress and overwhelm almost melt away. It’s why you’ll love the Self Journal. Perfect for managing time, increasing productivity, and achieving goals. It will also keep you clear headed too - and that can make all the difference with a life that’s as busy as yours. So grab one today. You won’t regret it for a second.

Struggling to find enough hours in the day to get everything done? Stress piling up because you have too many tasks and too few minutes? It’s a common problem, but things CAN change. The purpose of time management is to help you work smarter so you can get more done in less time. And to help you approach your day with this mindset, here’s a list of 21 time management examples for high performance. Use these examples to streamline your day, boost your efficiency, and reduce your stress! 1. Make your master to-do list A key factor in your ability to work smarter (not harder) is being able to focus on the task at hand. If you have a million and one things rushing around your head at any given time, it becomes extremely difficult to focus. You start one thing, remember something else, and jump into that. As a result, your day gets fragmented and your time slips away. It’s much more effective to create a master to-do list. Download your brain onto paper so you don’t have to worry about remembering everything. With this list complete, you can free up vital bandwidth to invest fully in your projects, appointments, and get-togethers. It’s the smart thing to do! 2. Prioritise your to-do list. It’s true. A master to-do list can add to the overwhelm. When everything is written on paper, there’s no hiding or denying from what’s on your plate! Good news. You can push through to-do list stress by remembering that not every task is created equally. With a finite amount of time each day, you need to discern between the essential and useful items on your to-do list. You need to pin down the tasks you’ll do today, and those you’ll leave for another time. Be mindful that your priorities will shift daily. After all, time management is about more than getting work done; it’s about making more quality time for your life too. So get ruthless. What MUST be done, what COULD be done, and what can you SCRATCH.  Use these simple rules to get a handle on your to-do list and it will feel a lot more manageable. 3. Plan your day with a planner One of the most effective time management examples is the way you approach your day. Do you leave it all to chance, or are you rigorous in your time allocation to your top priority tasks? If you don’t own your time, you’ll lose it and one of the most effective ways to stretch out your day is with a daily planner (such as the Self Journal). Instead of working randomly through your to-do list, allocate the tasks you’ll complete to a specific timespan. Treat individual tasks like you would appointments, giving them a distinct time slot in your schedule. With a clear plan of how your day will map out, you reduce decision fatigue (saving more time). With the planning part taken care of, you can just get on with your day and get more stuff done. 4. Plan tomorrow before you finish today Do you plan your day in the morning before you start? Or do you plan the previous evening? According to some of the world’s top performers, today doesn’t end until you plan tomorrow. It’s easy to see why. Planning ahead gives you an edge. Instead of spending the first 20-30 minutes brainstorming your day in the morning, you can jump straight into action. Over a week, those 30 minutes saved each day could free up an extra 2.5 hours. There’s another reason to plan the night before. Your subconscious brain is a powerful tool. If it knows what’s coming up, it’s already busy processing and problem solving. Sleep can help with this too (ever noticed how you wake up with the answer to a question that’s been bothering you?) 5. Plan your week Plan each day, but also plan the week with a tool such as the Weekly Action Pad. Each Sunday, pull out your master to-do and pin down the tasks you must get done within the next 7 days. Prioritise each task, group by project/client/category, estimate how long each task will take, and write in your deadlines. With a weekly overview of what needs to happen you’re less likely to forget anything important. You’ll reduce stress too. With a clear overview of your deadline pattern for the week, you can allocate tasks accordingly to ensure you finish everything on time. Best of all, when you’re finished, you’ll find that daily planning is a breeze! Abraham Lincoln famously said, “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” It’s just one reason why robust planning is a powerful time management example. 6. Consider the positioning of tasks during the day We all have different patterns of optimum output. Some of us are better in the evening while others swear by the idea that the early bird catches the worm. Some simple time management examples include figuring out when you’re at your best. Once you understand your energy levels and how they fluctuate throughout the day, you can schedule your tasks accordingly. Here’s a useful code to try: - E tasks are ENERGIZING - N tasks have a NEUTRAL impact on you - D tasks are DRAINING Don’t try to do a draining task when your energy is already low. It will only drag you down further. Instead, schedule this task when your energy is higher - so you’ll have motivation to push you through. 7. Be realistic. It’s no use piling up your day with shed-loads of tasks if there’s zero chance you’ll get it all done. Falling short can knock your confidence, so don’t set yourself up to fail. Instead, be realistic in your expectations for the day and for each task. Feel free to stretch yourself, but don’t overly stress yourself. Instead, plan achievable days that move the needle, make you feel accomplished, and inspire you for what’s coming next. 8. Eat your frog first thing in the morning Following on from point 7, there will always be one task a day that you’ll dread. It may be a big task, a challenging task, or a boring task - something that causes you stress just by thinking about it! Whatever task this is, GET IT DONE FIRST THING. Leverage your willpower and morning energy to put a big, fat cross though the biggest challenge of the day. You’ll be amazed at the difference it makes going forward. For starters, you won’t have any headspace taken up by a task you’re worried about. You’ll also give yourself a high for checking off a biggie. It’s a motivational boost that will keep you driving forward. Be on the watch for simple, but powerful time management examples. This is one we strongly recommend. 9. Set deadlines. Sticking with the theme of planning out your day… Have you heard of Parkinson’s Law? It’s this pesky principle that states that tasks will steal however much time you give them. In other words, give a 30-minute task two hours and that’s how long it will take! You can counter this law by giving each task a time deadline. Estimate how long you think each task will take and allocate that amount of time into your daily planner. With clear time windows to work with, not only will your time go further, but you can use the pressure to finish in a ‘sensible’ time span to work smarter. 10. Practice the principle of zero white space. In a similar vein… don’t leave big empty gaps in your daily schedule. Instead, adopt the principle of zero white space. Time is a resource, just like money. If you don’t manage it well, you’ll squander it. Allocate your time to nothing and you’ll get nothing in return. But schedule in tasks, breaks, social media time, conversations, dates, and everything else you love and you may find that you have time to do it all 11. Work in Pomodoros. Resist the temptation to chain yourself to your desk for hours on end. Instead, work in 30-minute chunks. ‘Sprint’ at a task for 25 minutes, give yourself a 5-minute break, then dive back into another ‘Pomodoro’. Focus and willpower are all finite. Giving yourself regular breaks throughout the day sustains your energy for longer and helps you make more of your time. 12. Stop trying to multitask ‘Multitasking saves your time’ is one of the biggest time management myths of them all. IT DOESN’T. In fact, multitasking actually steals your time, drains your bandwidth, and makes you more ineffective. That’s because your brain can’t actually multitask. When you’re doing more than one thing at a time, what you’re actually doing is switching focus from one task to another (and back again). Each time you switch it can take up to 20 minutes to get yourself back into full flow. So get disciplined. Commit to working on one task at a time and you will finish quicker. Not only that, give yourself the space to focus on one thing and you’ll pave the way for deep work and sharper concentration. It’s the shortcut to higher quality in everything you do. 13. Figure out how to get into your flow. Not only do you do your best work when you’re in your flow, but you’ll work quicker too. When you’re in the zone, your mind isn’t distracted or tired. Instead, it’s on form and on point. A flow state is an effortless state. It’s when the ideas rush like water, words spill onto the screen, and momentum just builds and builds. It’s when hours pass like minutes and stuff gets done. In comparison, when you’re not in flow, everything is hard. Your head is a mush, ideas get stuck, and you just can’t get yourself going. As a result, anything takes forever! You can learn to turn on your flow state at will. There will be certain triggers, practices, and rituals that make it easier for you to tune in and turn your best on. Figure out these triggers for yourself and you’ll be able to leverage and use your time like never before. 14. Eliminate distractions. If your mind is being pulled from one distraction to another, it’s almost impossible to get into focus zone. Instead, you’ll have to keep stopping and starting and that means you can’t leverage the power of momentum. That’s why eliminating distractions should be in your list of powerful time management examples. This practice involves: - Switching off notifications on your phone and computer so you’re not disturbed by constant ‘pings’ - Putting your phone on silent or airplane mode so you don’t get disturbed. - Logging out from social media while you’re working so you don’t get sucked in. - Locking your door and telling people to not disturb you. Be aware of anything that’s likely to steal your attention and eliminate it. Give yourself focus, protected time to work and you’ll be racing through today’s tasks like there’s no tomorrow! 15. Systemize and where possible automate repetitive tasks. If you were to take the time to map out what you do each week, I guarantee there will be heap of repetitive tasks in the mix. Tasks that you more than likely do slightly differently each and every time! You don’t want to waste time and bandwidth doing unnecessary things over and over. Instead, look to see where you can free up time by systemizing repetitive tasks and building out processes. Critically map out each task and in doing so you can streamline, chop out the inefficiencies, and unnecessary steps, and save time. 16. Don’t try and do it all yourself. It’s tempting to try and do everything yourself. You may even believe that you have no choice, but that simply isn’t true. Be honest with yourself and you’ll spot tasks on your list that you’ll be able to delegate or outsource. A better question to ask is who can you hire to help? What tasks can you hand off in your home, at work, and in your business? You may not be able to turn back time but you can buy more time by investing in people resource. Get a cleaner or a gardener at home. Work with a VA in your business. Invest in your team and delegate more responsibility to them. And commit to spending a bigger and bigger proportion of your time in your zone of genius. You’ll naturally work smarter when you’re doing what you love. 17. Get organized. Ridiculous simple, but so worthwhile! How many minutes do you add to a task because you’re hunting around for your notes, trying to find your pencil, or sifting through a ton of files? Make it easy to get started by keeping the tools you need nearby and giving all your essentials a home that’s easy to find. Reduce clutter, keep a clear workspace, and keep things simple. Reduce the friction from getting started and you won’t waste bandwidth. Instead, you can invest your all into what needs to be done. 18. Have an ‘extras’ list on the go. Finished a task early? Meeting got cancelled? Got a block of time you didn’t expect? Sure you can put this unexpected time to good use by taking a break, reading a book, or going for a walk. You can also invest this time working through your extras list. This is simply a list of tasks you can do when you have spare time. With a task list ready to go you don’t have to think about what you could do. You can just grab your list and check something off. Simple, but powerful. 19. Start the day with gratitude to fuel a positive mindset Your ability to get your head down, focus, and get stuff done is partly a function of how you feel. If you’re motivated and upbeat, it’s more likely that you’ll crack on than when you’re feeling low and miserable! It’s why we recommend a daily gratitude practice. Start your day listing out three things in your life that you’re grateful for. These can be big things or small things (like the clear blue sky). Appreciate what you already have in your life and you can’t help but feel good. It’s a simple practice, but one that switches on a positive frame of mind that will empower you to do the work! 20. Use apps and tools. Apps and tools will help you reduce mental fog, speed things up, and organize your day. We’ve compiled a list of 37 of our favorites. You can download them for FREE at the link below. 21. See time management as something that evolves with time and practice. I’ve given you a ton of time management examples already. Implement all of these and you will be able to work smarter, not harder. You will get more done in fewer minutes. And while there’s plenty in this list that will deliver immediate results, time management is a practice as well as a skill. It’s something you can sharpen and build on every single day. So as you dive into these suggested strategies, remember to reflect on how well they work for you. What did you learn? How could you improve? How could you sharpen your day even further? Commit to becoming someone who’s able to master their time, and you will. Effective time management is a skill and a discipline - and that means it’s something you can sharpen with commitment and practice. Here’s to working smarter so you can get more done in less time. Over to you. What are your favorite time management examples? 

“If only I had more time…” How often do you say that to yourself? As a high achiever, you won’t be alone. With so much to do (and so much you want to do), you’ll often feel as though you’re up against it. The good news is life doesn’t have to be constant chaos fuelled by endless to-do lists and demands. If you sharpen your productivity skills, you can train yourself to get more done in less time. But don’t go looking for the silver bullet because there isn’t one. That’s because peak productivity is a combination of small practices that combine to skyrocket what you’re able to get done in a given amount of time. And with the 19 proven methods in this blog, you’ll have plenty to get your teeth into. 1. Work to goals Maximum productivity comes from working on the right things at the right time. It’s why goals are critical. They provide a constant compass, which ensures your time is ‘wasted wisely’. Without goals, you’ll be rudderless. This makes focus hard as you’ll be tempted by shiny object syndrome because there is no bigger picture to work towards. Create goals and you give every day more meaning and purpose. This helps unlock passion for what you do (because you know WHY you’re doing it). As a result, you’ll feel more inspired to get stuff done, efficiently. 2. Plan your week Instead of taking each day as it comes, maximize your time by getting your head around the week ahead before it even starts. Using a tool such as the Weekly Action Pad, you can create the big picture overview for the next seven days helping you structure your days for maximum output. Weekly planning gives you an edge. It ensures you’re not rushing at the last minute and it makes batching tasks possible (see no. 16). In addition, with your to-do list out of your head and onto paper, you’ll waste less bandwidth remembering freeing up more time to do the work. 3. Plan tomorrow, TODAY Do you hit the ground running or do you waste the first part of your day figuring out what you need to accomplish? You’ll free up more productive minutes if you plan tomorrow the night before. Not only can you crack straight on with what you need to do, but you’ll also give your subconscious brain time to mull over your upcoming tasks. Ever noticed how you go to bed with a problem or a project in mind and wake up with a head full of answers? It works! 4. Set targets Don’t underestimate the dopamine hit you get when you tick an item off as done. It’s strangely satisfying to be able to cross off a task and see the needle physically move. So leverage this by setting yourself daily targets. We recommend three. Pick the three tasks that if complete, will make the day a win for you - and then crack on and get them done. This simple practice gives your day focus and direction. And with the finish line clearly defined, you know exactly what you have to get done to cross it. 5. Listen to focus music Creating an environment that’s conducive to focused, deep work is a gamechanger. One tool to try is focus music - such as Brain FM. Brain FM is a tool that provides music for your brain. Designed to boost focus, relaxation and meditation, this tool can help you work smarter, sleep better, and even calm mental chatter. You’ll have experienced how music shifts your mood, but Brain FM takes this connection to a deeper level. Packed with music composed to maximize specific states, Brain FM stimulates your brain to deliver noticeable results in 15 minutes or less. 6. Prioritize A neverending to-do list gets super stressful. You stare at the list wondering how you’re going to get it all done. Pretty soon you’re overwhelmed (because it feels like an impossible task) and instead of churning through your tasks, you freeze. Here’s the thing… Not everything on your to-do list will be a top priority. There will be some tasks you can leave until later, others you can delegate or outsource, and others you may be able to scratch off completely. Always pull the biggest levers first. Remember the 80/20 rule where 20% of the work will deliver 80% of your results. Focus on those big impact tasks by drilling down and getting clear on what completed items will create the biggest win for you. Get those done first, that way - even if there are items left untouched -  you can end the day feeling accomplished and successful. 7. Use a timer It’s so easy to squander time when you’re not consciously aware it’s passing. A quick look at Facebook can easily turn into an hour of wasted minutes. It’s why we love hourglasses. As well as providing an opportunity to disconnect from digital, a timer allows you to physically see the passage of time. Set an intention for how long you want to work on a particular task and use a timer to keep track. It’s a practice that keeps you more focused and accountable therefore motivating you to work more efficiently. 8. Work in Pomodoros Your brain works best when you give it time to refresh and recharge. It’s one reason the Pomodoro technique works. Here’s how to do it: • Set a timer for 25-minutes• Tackle a task until the time runs out• Take a 5-minute break• Repeat Anyone can concentrate fully for 25 minutes knowing there’s a break at the other end. It’s far less daunting than forcing yourself to sit tight for hours on end. Better still, 25 minutes of concentrated work will deliver far more results than a morning of sloppy focus - you’ll see!   9. Beat Parkinson’s Law Ever noticed how a deadline forces you to up the ante and get a job done in a realistic amount of time? Without a set timeframe for a task, Parkinson’s Law will steal your day away. Parkinson’s Law states that work will expand to fill the time you give it (now it makes sense why that proposal took all morning rather than 30 minutes!) It’s how deadlines can drive efficiency. What’s more, if you get a job done quicker, there’s more time to crack on with others things clocking up an even bigger win for you. 10. Zero hours schedule Unallocated time is always at risk of getting squandered. So plan your day leaving zero white space. It’s not overwhelming like it sounds. That’s because as well as scheduling time for all your tasks, weave in time for the gym, for reading, for relaxing, cooking, chilling out with your loved ones and even doing nothing! Account for every minute of your day and you can have it all. 11. Cut distractions You’ll always be at your most efficient when you work on one thing at a time. Multitasking as a productivity hack is a myth. You don’t get more done. Instead, you water down your focus by forcing your brain to switch constantly from one task to another. So do whatever it is you need to do to concentrate on one thing. Log out of social media, switch off distractions, turn off your phone, and tell whoever’s around to leave you alone. It can take as much as 20 minutes to get back into your flow after you’ve been interrupted. Don’t waste time needlessly. Instead, protect your focus by removing the things that throw you off track. 12. Stop procrastinating You’ll always find a reason not to do the work now - especially when the task you’re tackling is hard, long, or boring. When you don’t feel like it or you’re in an energy slump, it’s extremely tempting to put it off for another time. But that’s dangerous. Not only do you squander time in the moment (that you’ll never get back), but you pile on more pressure for the next day. Procrastinate and you’ll either have to play catch up another time or settle for less because you’ve run out of time to do it all. Instead, build the discipline to get the work done when it needs to get done. Tackle the excuses that your brain tempts you with. Train yourself to sit tight and your productivity will soar. 13. Reflect Productivity is a skill and that means you can sharpen it with practice. So take the time to reflect on your methods and behaviors. Where are you slipping up? What are you doing well? Where are your opportunities to improve? Build this habit into your every day and you’ll unlock the insights you need to take your efficiency as far as it can go. 14. Be realistic When you have a pile of tasks to do it’s tempting to make a super long list - and believe it’s possible. But can you really crack through so much? The last thing you want to do is set yourself up for failure as that will only knock your confidence and drain your motivation. Instead, estimate the amount of time you think each task will take to complete. Next, tot up the total to get a better gauge as to whether you really can fit it all in. If you can, schedule using the zero hours principle (point 9). If you can’t, prioritize your workload to make the biggest dent possible. Then crack on. 15. Batch tasks You don’t have to take calls all throughout the day. You don’t have to answer emails as soon as they come in. You don’t have to prepare every meal on the day you’re going to eat it. You’ll make much better use of your time if you batch similar tasks together. For example, spend time on a Sunday evening preparing veg for the rest of the week rather than doing it every night. Schedule 30-minute slots at the beginning and end of each day to handle your emails. Book all your calls on one day instead of scattering them throughout. Plan all your content creation into a focused slot. Batch and you won’t waste energy and focus switching from one task to another. What’s more, because you’ve created focused time, you’ll get the work done quicker. It’s a smart way of working. 16. Systemize and automate What tasks do you do on a repeated basis? Which of these could be handled by an app or streamlined with a system? Reduce what you have to do on a daily basis and you’ll free up time and capacity to work on more of the higher leverage work. 17. Work to your energy levels Every day, you wake up with a finite amount of willpower and focus. You need to use this energy wisely if you want to maximize the work you’re able to get done. To help you do this, figure out what time of the day you’re at your peak - and then use that time wisely. One way to do this is to classify your tasks as draining, energizing, or neutral. You’re more likely to knock out a draining task when you’re high in energy - and an energizing task can help boost your motivation when you’re feeling low. Think strategically about what tasks you place when and it can make all the difference to your output.   18. Say NO Is your to-do list weighing you down because you’ve taken on more than you can handle? If so, it’s time to set up some boundaries and protect your time. This involves becoming aware of your limits and protecting them by saying NO. You don’t have to explain yourself. 19. Eat your frogs According to Brian Tracy (who wrote the book Eat That Frog), your frog is: “Your biggest, most important task, the one you are most likely to procrastinate on if you don’t do something about it now. It is also the one task that can have the greatest positive impact on your life and results at the moment.” (p. 2) You’ll create a big productivity breakthrough if you identify your frog each day - and tackle it first thing. Here’s why... Firstly, even when you’re not focused on that task directly, you’ll be thinking about it. Especially if it’s something you have to do. As a result, that frog steals your bandwidth and drains your energy (how do you feel when you’re dreading getting started on a task that feels big!) Secondly, get that task under your belt early, and you’ve already clocked up a big win for the day. You’ll get that boost of motivation because you finished, which will fuel you to go further than you would have done if you’d left it for later. Thirdly, your daily willpower is finite. Try and tackle a frog when your energy and enthusiasm are low and it will take you 10 x longer - guaranteed! So every day this week, schedule your day to get your frog out of the way first. It’s a habit that will help your productivity soar. Time is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter who we are or where we live, we ALL get the same 24-hours a day. It’s what you do with that time, which counts. How you choose to invest your time will directly impact the quality of your life. So invest your minutes wisely. Commit to mastering productivity so you can get more done in less time. It’s a skill that will keep giving back in your career, your business, your relationships, and in yourself.