Maximize your time

Photo by Ricardo Díaz on Unsplash

Time is the least renewable resource that we have. Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day. I recently started budgeting out my time the same way I do my money and it has helped me maximize it more and live more efficiently. Here are 3 things I do to maximize my time:

1. Use overlapping time

When I am going through the list of things I need to do on a day to day basis, one of the things I look for is overlapping areas. For example, I will soak the dirty dishes before washing them and while they are soaking I will start a load of laundry and put any clothes that have been washed into the dryer to dry. Doing this has helped me maximize my time cleaning up, so that things that can run on their own are going while I handle the things that require personal work.

2. Set boundaries

I block off time on both my personal and professional calendar to maximize my time that I spend working on things. Doing this ensures that there are no interruptions. Because it is very easy to get pulled into things both professionally and personally setting up blocks of time to get things done helps you focus, especially in professional settings. The other reason I do this is to protect my break and rest times. I always try to prevent myself from reaching a burnout state as much as possible because everyday is always very busy. From 2 side hustles, 2 jobs, and a variety of things to handle personally; it is very easy to become overwhelmed and let stress get in the way, So I focus on making sure that when there is a chance to rest and destress that it is protected, so that when its time to work we can put out the highest level quality of work that we can.

3. Set priorities

Everyday I set out my goals and intentions for the day. Somedays it is to catch up on house work where I will be using the strategy from section 1 a lot. Other days it is to really focus on my main and side hustles where I will use the section 2 strategy. But in both instances I have set priorities for the day. Doing this helps align what you are doing with the goals that you are working on. Because different things are important each day, I set my priorities accordingly and focus mainly on that days priorities. It helps keep me organized and allows me to focus better.

Time management is an important skill for everyone to develop. For me thinking about how to maximize my time using personal finance skills helped me make the most out of it and will allow you to get the most out of your day.