Happy Belated New Year! Even though it is already halfway through January, my “new year” is just starting, because the last two and half weeks have disappeared in a haze of nasty-virus-induced sleepless nights, hacking fits, and goopy eyes. Lovely. It’s kind of ironic that my first non “The Splurge/Steal List” post of the year is about how to get more done, because frankly, I’ve gotten NOTHING done for the last few weeks. Before “the crud,” we spent almost two weeks making great family memories at the lake around Christmas and New Year’s (read about that here). I’m pretty much the poster child for how NOT to start your new year. Anyway…

In addition to interiors, there’s this whole other area of my life that I’m really passionate about that I haven’t shared much about here on the blog… Personal development. Adam and I figure we only get one shot at life on earth, so we should try to live it to the best and fullest that we can! I’ve debated for months about blogging every once in a while about self improvement. It’s a new year, I’m excited about learning and improving, so I’ve decided it’s the perfect time to share with my readers who may want to learn and grow with me.

So with that long introduction, I’m excited to share about something I’ve been working on lately… How to get more done in a day! If you’re just here for decorating advice and gorgeous budget friendly finds, feel free to ignore this. No hard feelings, I promise.

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How to Get More Done in a Day

This post is in no way coming from a place of expertise. I’m always working to improve my time management skills, because as a stay at home mom/business owner, I set my own schedule. It’s WAY too easy to fall down a rabbit hole of time wasters with no one but myself holding me accountable, but here are a few tips and tricks I’ve found that help me get more done in a day. I hope they can help you too!

1. Get Off Your Phone

Have you ever installed one of those apps that track your daily phone usage? A few popular ones are Moment, Checky, and Menthal. When I first downloaded Moment around this time last year, I was horrified to discover that I spent an average of FIVE hours per day on my phone. Yes, you read that right. And yes, I am embarrassed to put that out into the blogosphere! To be fair, that includes time spent listening to podcasts and music, and I do run two businesses from my smart phone, but still.

I have absolutely no scientific data to back this claim up, but I’d bet that time spent mindlessly picking up your phone and checking social media, watching YouTube videos, or online shopping is the number one time waster for most people. When I made the conscious decision to spend less time on my phone, it took a while to break the habit of picking it up (and I still fall into that sometimes), but eventually my productivity skyrocketed. Imagine all the things you could get done if you reclaimed your lost phone time. You could read a book, declutter a room, spend more time with your family, or even start a business!

2. Turn Off the TV

The average American watches six hours of video per day, including TV and online video, yet most people claim they are “busy” and don’t have enough time to do all the things they need to do. Trust me, I so understand the feeling of exhaustion and just wanting to sink into bed at the end of a long day, but if you have big goals you are working on and feel like you don’t have the time to accomplish them, that TV time can definitely be invested on activities that move you forward in life. A few months ago, Adam and I decided to turn the TV off during the week, and we’ve replaced that time with books, conversations, working out, and even sleep. We really do get more done in a day when we don’t devote so much time to television!

3. Time Block

I recently read 15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management: The Productivity Habits of 7 Billionaires, 13 Olympic Athletes, 29 Straight-A Students, and 239 Entrepreneurs by Kevin Kruse and I cannot recommend it highly enough! Kruse mentions that a high percentage of items on “To Do Lists” never get done, and if you really need to accomplish something, you should put it on your calendar. Having items on your schedule means there is a set time in your day set aside for that specific task, resulting in much higher probability of actually doing it. 

I purchased this super affordable weekly appointment calendar (usually available in more colors, but they are school year planners, so the other colors must be gone – I also paid two times more, but worth every penny!), and once I started time blocking everything out, I was amazed at how much more focused and productive I became! Having a set time scheduled and deadline for when you need to move on to the next task really works! I highly recommend reading the above book for more details, but my basic method is putting everything non-negotiable on the schedule (school drop off and pick up, kids’ activities, meetings) and then scheduling the things I need to get done around those. Don’t forget to schedule in drive time… In my life, that’s a good chunk of my day!

4. Focus

Various studies over the years have proved that multi-tasking is a LIE. Humans are not created to be able to focus on two different tasks at once. Multi-tasking is a word that was created to describe the ability of computers to rapidly switch back and forth between two tasks. Read more about this in the phenomenal book The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan.

When you have a hard task that demands your full attention, FOCUS on it. Don’t flip back and forth between tasks. Each time you switch tasks, you lose momentum and it takes a bit of time to regain your footing, which actually makes you more inefficient, and tasks end up taking longer. 

5. Multi-task

It might seem like the complete opposite of what I just said, but certain tasks don’t demand our full attention, such as doing the dishes or folding laundry. A great way to get more out of your minutes and get more done in a day is to listen to podcasts or books on audio while you complete those menial tasks. Turn your down time into a university of sorts, where you can spend that time learning or putting positive input into your brain. I love to listen to podcasts and business audio while I’m driving and folding laundry!

6. Use Timers

This tip to get more done works really well with time blocking. Set a certain amount of time that coordinates with your time blocking schedule to work on a specific project and power through. The deadline keeps you focused and you get more done. If the task isn’t done when the timer goes off, move on to the next item and schedule another block of time to finish the first task.

I hope some of these tips have helped you out! What is your favorite tip to get more done in a day? I’d love to hear your productivity hacks in the comments below!