Yesterday, I delivered my third speech at a Toastmasters meeting. I spoke for 7 1/2 minutes on tips I recently learned on how to create more time. A member of the audience told me that she hurried to take notes, so here is my speech if you want a recap. I think many people will find it useful too!
When people ask why you don’t pursue your passions, do you find yourself saying that you don’t have the time or resources amidst your busy life to do them?
The truth is, most people living in urban areas will lead relatively busy lives. Whether you are a full-time student, homemaker, employee, or entrepreneur, you share something in common inasmuch as the fact that your role is “full time.” This means most of your day is taken up to play your role, leaving you the remaining time to run and live your life.
The problem however, is not that there aren’t enough hours in a day. Everyone gets 24 hours regardless of age, race, or financial status. So why do some people seem to have more time than others? The answer was recently revealed to me in a book entitled the 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss.
Today I will share 3 rules from the bestseller on how to create more time for yourself. By the end of my speech, you will have more insight on how you use your time and be equipped with the tools to begin improving the quality of your life.
Rule #1 Never Do Anything You Don’t Have to Do
Don’t be a sucker! It would be silly to be busy doing things that don’t need to be done, and here are some ideas on how to practice this rule.
1. AVOID MEETING IN PERSON as much as possible
For example, if you can answer a question via email, don’t offer the answer via a phone call, and if you can discuss something over the phone, don’t offer to meet in person. Practicing avoidance could save you as much as 2 hours of unnecessary time spent on preparation and traveling.
2. ELIMINATE UNNECESSARY TASKS that you are doing on a frequent basis that can be done by less effort
For example, don’t give your attention to questions that can be answered by an FAQ list on your website. Set up a website to address any questions people may have about your services and you’ll find you’ll be doing less work.
3. AUTOMATE REPETITIVE & REDUNDANT TASKS
For example, where there are e-payment options, set up standing instructions for recurrent bills like utility charges, credit card payments, monthly subscriptions, and others. If you avoid showing up at the payment counter, you can save as much as 1-2 hours for for every bill you need to pay. You can also automate your life by delegating tasks to other people to do on your behalf.
Rule #2 Batch-Process Repetitive Tasks
The key to creating more time is to process some of the things you do in “batches,” and you do that by scheduling specific times for these activities and sticking with it. Here are some ideas…
1. BATCH-PROCESS YOUR EMAILS
Make a commitment to check your emails twice a day instead of every time you hear your inbox chime. Set up an auto-responder to let people know you only check your emails at set times like at 12pm and 4pm. If immediate attention is part of your service, get a good assistant to process your emails for priority and urgency, and keep him/her as your only point of contact.
2. BATCH-PROCESS YOUR ERRANDS
For example, you can buy groceries once a week instead of picking a few items every day. Just to illustrate, If you take 10 minutes to travel to the shop, 10 minutes to shop, and 10 minutes to travel back, you save 2.5 hours if you shop 6 times a week.
3. BATCH-PROCESS YOUR PHONECALLS & USE VOICEMAIL
Set up your voicemail by recording a custom message stating that you can’t come to the phone right now, that you check your voicemail everyday at a specific time, and that the best way to reach you is to email you. If urgent, let your recording inform the caller to contact your assistant. You don’t need to pick up the phone every time it rings, unless you’re expecting the call.
Rule #3 Get Assistance
Whether they are robotic or human assistance, the gist of outsourcing is to get help that is cheaper than what it cost you to do the task yourself. Here are the three types of assistance.
1. SYSTEM ASSISTANCE
Use websites and software tools like Salesforce, Google Voice, Evernote, iCal and Outlook to help with scheduling, screening calls, documentation, and task automation.
2. PHYSICAL ASSISTANCE
Hire a human assistant who could assist you in common tasks like answering phone calls, emails, running your errands. You may think only CEOs can afford help but even a student can get physical assistance. For example, a housemate can pick up groceries for a fee of RM$5, which will save the student an hour to use as study time.
3. VIRTUAL ASSISTANCE
If you find that having a physical assistant is not the best solution for you, look toward virtual assistance for things you may require help with. Websites like YourManInIndia and Elance are among the online services that offer virtual receptionists, secretaries, concierge, marketing, and many other services for as little as US$5 US dollars an hour to start.
To recap, here are the 3 rules again.
Rule #1 Don’t Do Anything You Don’t Have to Do
Rule #2 Batch-Process Repetitive Tasks
Rule #3 Get Assistance
The English writer Thomas Fuller once said, “He lives long that lives well; and time misspent is not lived but lost.” I believe that if you apply these three rules right away, you will improve your quality of life and create more time to do the things you love.
