Do you find yourself having a hard time trying to stay productive and wasting too much time? If that’s the case, these 11 tips to stop wasting time will help you make the most out of your day.
Getting distracted and being unable to focus happens to the best of us, specially when there’s so much happening around us at all times.
When you have so much to do, you can become distracted by so many things from phone calls to watching television.
However, all of these distractions can really make you unproductive, which is why it’s important to learn how to overcome those obstacles.
11 Tips To Stop Wasting Time
If you want to make the most out of your day, these 11 tips to stop wasting time will help you:
Tip 1: Avoid using social media.
We are all guilty of spending countless hours on social media and the best way to become productive is avoiding it completely.Easier said than done, right? This tip is perhaps the most useful yet most difficult one because studies show that the brains of heavy social media users look very similar to those of drug addicts and gamblers.Just like any addiction, it takes time to get over and recover, you have to be patient and trust the process.On the other hand, if social media is your job or you simply don’t want to avoid it, by setting limits and knowing how to manage it without over-consuming content, it can still make a huge difference in your productivity levels.
Tip 2: Make yourself accountable.
The first way to stop wasting time is to tell a family member, friend or co-worker that you’re going to get something done.
Then, when they ask what your progress with it is, in say 2 hours (or the time you think it needs to get it done), hold yourself accountable and get the job done straight away instead of becoming distracted.
Tip 3: Focus on one thing at a time so you don’t multitask yourself into exhaustion.
Yes, a lot of us do it but guess what? Multitasking doesn’t actually work, and it causes mental exhaustion.
If you work from home, avoid having so many windows, if you’re trying to work out how to design a website, then close all windows and focus solely on designing that website.
Don’t start writing an email to your friend in the same window and then doing research for an article in a different window.
Also, close all unnecessary tabs, it’s distracting and gets confusing when too many are opened.
If you start working on multiple projects at the same time, you’ll end up completing none of them.
Concentrating on one thing at a time is the most productive path and the one that will help you stop wasting time.
But in this day and age, we are bombarded with distractions which can be hard to focus on anything for more than a few minutes; this is especially true when working from home where there are so many things fighting for our attention.
Having said that, it’s important to try and focus on one thing at a time so you can get the most out of your work day.
If you’re unable to focus, here are 5 best ways to build focus, and once you have built focus here are 29 Tips To Improve Mental Focus.
Tip 4: Set goals when studying or working that require a certain amount of time to be spent on them.
When you’re learning something new, set yourself a goal that says how long you have left to complete it.
If you have to learn 20 pages in 2 hours, then make sure that in those 2 hours your read all 20 pages instead of reading less than 10 and taking a break every 5 minutes.
It’s the same with work, if you’re getting paid for an hour then make sure you work that hour and don’t spend half of it talking to your co-workers.
You’ll be thankful of all the free time you’ll have to do whatever you want just by implementing goals with a time limit.
Tip 5: Set a time limit on everything that’s not work related.
That includes playing video games, watching TV shows and hanging out with your friends, that is if they’re wasting time too.
Remember, everything that we do in life requires a certain amount of time an energy so by setting time limits, it helps us organize our time and energy to better invest it.
Tip 6: Don’t let yourself be distracted.
If you want to stop wasting time then there needs to be nothing around for you to be distracted by.
This means closing all of your browser windows, tidying up your room and making sure that you have nothing planned for the rest of the day so that there is no chance of being distracted from getting work done.
You’re going to have to play with this one a bit until you find the perfect balance as it’s going to be different for everyone.
Tip 7: Take regular breaks.
Get up out of your seat and stretch every hour or so, and even go as far as moving to a different location if you’re not really getting anything done.
The point of this is that your body needs to be physically active because it improves your energy levels and endurance.
But keep the breaks short, 30 seconds to a minute is enough to give you that quick break to get back to work.
Doing this helps not only your brain relax but also make sure that you’re not working yourself into the ground all day.
If after implementing breaks you’re still having difficulty focusing and getting things done, make sure that on your days off you spend them the best way you can to avoid mental exhaustion and burnout.
Out of ideas on how to spend your days off? Here are 19 Best Ways To Spend Your Day Off.
Tip 8: Find the perfect environment.
If you want to stop wasting time then you need to find the best environment possible because your environment influences your mood, behavior and motivation to act.
For some people working from a coffee shop might work best while others prefer a quiet office where there is nothing to distract them.
You’re going to have to find the perfect distraction-less environment for yourself and then get started with your work right away to see what environment suits you best.
Once you’ve found an environment that works for you don’t change it or let yourself be distracted by anything in it, because that’s the quickest way to make sure that you don’t get any work done.
Tip 9: Change your environment entirely for one day a week.
If you get bored easily, sticking to one environment might not be the best approach, if that’s the case changing your environment entirely for one day a week will help you stay productive.
Make sure that you’re not in your home office, the local Starbucks or the noisy office where you usually work. Instead, find a place completely different and go there for 8 hours (yes, even your lunch break).
This is going to keep things interesting and make sure that you don’t get bored of doing everything all of the time in the same environment.
It’s also going to make sure that you get your creative juices flowing and start thinking about things from different perspectives; which is perfect if you want to be more productive.
Tip 10: Don’t spend too much time working on a task.
Regardless of your work environment or what you’re working on, you need to make sure that you don’t spend too much time doing the same thing over and over again because you’re going to get frustrated really fast.
This makes a huge impact when completing tasks because spending too long on a certain task, holds you back from doing things more efficiently.
Set a timer for when you’re working on a task, this will make sure that you complete the task within the set timeframe, this ensures that you don’t get stuck in the same task for hours.
Even if you don’t get the task completed, the clock is there to remind you that it’s time to move on and that you’ve stirred your brain enough for now.
Tip 11: Take time out of your day to do absolutely nothing.
This is one of the hardest things to get used to in this entire guide because most people are so busy that they don’t have time for this kind of thing. Even when they’re not at work, there’s always something else that needs doing.
We’re going to challenge you here and say that you need to take 2 hours of your day and dedicate them entirely to doing absolutely nothing.
It sounds crazy, but it’s actually one of the most brilliant things that you can do as long as you do it at a time when no one else is going to bother you.
Two hours where you’re not supposed to be working, you’re not allowed to check your email and your definitely not supposed to be watching the clock. You need to forget about everything including time itself.
At first, this is going to be incredibly hard but once you get used to it, you’ll love how much your productivity goes up when these 2 hours are in place.
You might want to read a book, go for a walk or just zone out from the world completely. Whatever you do, just make sure that you’re not doing anything productive because what we want is for your brain to relax and come back even stronger.
Just like anything in life, implementing all of these tips at the same time is impossible but starting with one and progressively incorporating one by one as you move forward is the way to go.
Remember, it’s all about taking little steps at a time and making things happen!
