10 “Minute” Tips to Gain More Hours

The following guest post comes from Jon Tse, of jontsejontse.com.

How many times have you wished that you had just one more hour in a day to play video games, finish a project, or pursue a hobby?  We all have tasks that need to be done every day, and only in our spare time can we indulge in our interests.  However, it is the way in which we go about accomplishing these tasks that can be streamlined into an efficient manner.

As a full-time college student, this resonates a lot to me.  Between juggling classes, homework, extracurriculars, work, and LA traffic, I was having a hard time performing well in the classroom while finding free time to decompress.  I didn’t want to live at the library, but I still wanted to get good grades.  Therefore, I became very interested in increasing my productivity and maximizing every hour. Safe to say, I’m in a good place right now thanks to these tips:

1. Obey the 80/20 Rule – The 80/20 Rule allows you to spend your time efficiently. This rule states that 80% of our results come from 20% of our actions.  If we can identify correctly the 20% of our actions that leads to 80% of our results and expand/nurture them, it is very easy to gain more results.  For example: you’re a salesperson who has 100 clients.  Twenty of your clients make up 80% of your commission.  So what do you do?  Instead of only giving them 20% of your time, give 30-40% of your time making sure they’re satisfied with you and your product/service, and use the leftover time on your 80 other clients. After awhile, step back and see if you have increased your results.  If not, reassess which 20 clients are earning you the most commission and redirect most of your time and effort to them.  Rinse and repeat.
2. Eliminate Distractions – Facebook and Twitter can be the bane of our existence, or not.  If you’re trying to concentrate on a task at hand, silence your phone, close your laptop, and start working.  These simple actions may be difficult to do, but your friends’ status updates will still be there in an hour.
3. Say No – A big problem in not having enough time is having too much on your plate.  Focus on getting the essential things done, and done well, before adding more.
4. Wake Up Early- This is a very easy way to gain more time.  By sleeping earlier and waking up earlier, you replace a few distracting hours at night with a few peaceful hours in the morning. It is also an effective way to eliminate distractions, too.
5. Develop a Routine – When you set aside a chunk of time to get things done, not only do you prevent an accumulation of last-minute tasks, but you can also accomplish a lot on a consistent basis.
6. Use Technology – There’s an abundance of productivity tools that can help you out.  I haven’t tried out many, but one that I do swear by is Google calendar.  At the end of your day, you can consolidate all the tasks/events for the future on your laptop.  When you’re on the go, you can sync Google calendar to your phone so that you can view your schedule anywhere.  It’s much easier than carrying a planner around.
7. Organize – Steps 5 & 6 both allude to organization. Whether it is your room, your work, or your life, being organized saves time. Maintaining a calendar, especially one with time chunks delegated to organizing, is a great first step.
8. Find a Suitable Work Environment – I’m not saying you shouldn’t work in front of the TV, but you should work in the environment which is most conducive for you.  For me, I enjoy working at coffee shops or libraries.  I enjoy the ambient noise and the occasional croissant.  The trick is to get up and go there.
9. Don’t Multitask – While you may be under the illusion that you’re accomplishing two things at once, it might not be the case.  By singletasking, you will be able to produce high-quality work in less time. As a bonus, you may find yourself enjoying and/or understanding the task-at-hand more.
10. Decompress – Focus and quality of work start to diminish if you don’t take a break.  To ensure that you are working at your best, take a five to ten minute break every hour.  After you’re done with your work, chill out to your heart’s content.

Now comes the hard part.  What do you do with this extra time?

About Jon Tse: Conquering every single day, Jon is a big fan of productivity, time management, and all things interesting.  He blogs at Jontsejontse. So, drop by, subscribe, and let him know what you think about his insights.  You can get his RSS feed here.