Time Wizardry: 5 Ways to Create More Hours in Your Day
In the hustle and bustle of modern life, time often feels like a precious commodity in short supply.
As a life coach, I frequently encounter individuals grappling with the challenge of juggling compressed time frames (hello school hours!) and lengthy to-do lists. The truth is, time is finite, but how we manage it can make all the difference in our productivity, fulfilment, and overall well-being.
There are a million productivity planners, spreadsheets, apps etc but everyone’s daily routines and responsibilities are different, so that doesn’t feel like a particularly helpful place to start.
However, in this series, Creating More Hours in Your Day, we’ll look at some tools and techniques that help you be more focussed and intentional with your time, thus creating greater scope to achieve more in your day.
NSDR or Yoga Nidra
This might seem like an odd one to include, but let's face it, if you’re sleep deprived, being productive and focused is a real struggle.
If during the day you need to be re-energised and are short on time (and you’ve already had too much coffee), try a yoga nidra or Non Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) protocol.
These short mediation sessions are designed to allow your brain to access delta waves which are responsible for healing and restoring your body during deep sleep. Activating delta brainwaves during yoga nidra allows your mind and body to rest while you're awake. Even just a 15 min session can help you feel refreshed and able to push on with the rest of your day.
This one is my go to but also Andrew Huberman has several NSDR guided sessions which are also very effective.
Habits: Our Scaffolding System
Habits are defined as “usual way of behaving : something that a person does often in a regular and repeated way”. Have you ever considered what are your regular or repeated behaviours? Are they helping or hindering your ability to get more done or reach your goals?
Habits expert, James Clear (author of the New York Times Best Seller “Atomic Habits”) says “You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems”
So what systems do you currently use to build the scaffolding that supports your goals? Habits are a great way of streamlining tasks, delivering on your long term goals, with minimal time or effort.
To make a habit work, it needs to have 4 steps:
Make it obvious (what is the cue?)
Make it attractive (what is the outcome you want/ crave?)
Make it easy (what is the task you need to complete?)
Make it satisfying (what is the reward?)
I applied this to one of my long term goals. I was always forgetting to take my vitamins yet I know taking them regularly benefits my health and vitality in many ways, so I created this system:
Make it obvious - keep vitamins on kitchen bench where they are visible when making breakfast (also getting it out of the way first thing in the morning)
Make it attractive - I want to be healthy for my longevity, family, work etc
Make it easy - the vitamins are right next to the water glasses cupboard and kitchen tap
Make it satisfying - I can only have my morning coffee once I have my vitamins
I’ve gone from constantly trying to remember to take my vitamins (and maybe taking them every second or third day) to doing this habit system nearly every day and I don’t even give it a second thought. It takes minimal brain power and if I do forget, I just make sure I get back on track the next day. As James Clear says ‘Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit’
What could this look like for one of your goals?
Radical Focus
Distractions and procrastination are great thieves of time. And don’t get me wrong, I love a good scroll through my social media but ultimately shifting the needle on your goals takes focus and effort. Fortunately we are in control of both of these things!
There are plenty of great apps and techniques for helping you stay focused but one technique that I love to use is Radical Focus. You can read more about it Be Kind to Yourself and Get More Done with Radical Focus! here but here it is summary:
Get super clear on the one task you’re going to achieve in your Radical Focus session
Decide the length of time for this task
Eliminate all distractions - close down tabs, email and phone notifications etc
Ensure you’re comfortable and have all your need to focus - light, music, room temperature
Focus on your one task for the allocated time
Keep a distraction log - this is key! - have a notebook beside you while you work. If you get distracted with the thought of another task or idea, write it down then get back to your task. You can attend to the list after your time finishes
Having the notepad next to me has been a game changer! So instead of texting that person that has just popped into my head or that recipe I meant to look up, I write it down and follow up on it after my Radical Focus session is finished.
Not Eating Your Frog First
Many of us were taught that to get more from your time, you want to put your time and energy into the toughest, most difficult task of youe day (ie your frog) first (thanks to the popularity of the book Eat Your Frog First by Brian Tracy)
Research now shows that this approach can actually make you feel daunted, create anxiety and procrastinate more!
Try this instead! Choose a couple of really basic admin like tasks as your first tasks of the day (needs to be work related! I know how tempting it is to start cleaning the house when you want to procrastinate) and get some momentum in your work THEN tackle your biggest task.
The anticipation of completing the smaller task will give you a little dopamine hit which then gives you momentum to complete the next task.
Progress > Motivation > Progress
Click here for more on the neuroscience of procrastination.
Exercise
Not all of us are able to (or want to) exercise first thing in the morning. And the best time of day to exercise is when you can do it consistently. However the boost of cortisol we get from exercising in the morning helps you feel more awake and in turn allows you to be more focused and productive.
A 2019 study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that morning exercise improves attention, visual learning, and decision-making.
In the study, participants completed a round of 8-hour days of prolonged sitting with and without a 30-minute morning walk on the treadmill. On some days, they also took 3-minute walking breaks every 30 minutes.
The days with morning exercise were associated with better cognition throughout the day, especially when paired with regular breaks.
For more on the benefits of morning exercise see here
So if you’re struggling with getting through all your to-do list or simply trying to carve out some time to work on your personal goals, try some of these techniques to magically bend time and get more from the same 24 hours we all have.
And if you’re finding it hard to keep yourself on track with you managing your time and achieving your goals, please get in touch with me.
