Short on time? Claim it back.

We’re all seemingly short on time these days. You probably barely have time to read this, so I’ll keep it as brief as possible.

To get time back, you need to claim it back. Take action — and control.

An impossible photo of time at a standstill. Taken from PxHere.com.

But don’t then fill it with more work! Look after yourself, relax, do something that helps your brain cope with the stresses and strains of modern life.

So, at work, if you’re trying to juggle multiple activities, claim your time back by following these 8 important steps:

1. Assess your current workload

• Consider your tasks in terms of urgent vs important (the Eisenhower Matrix).
• Sort tasks into ones that you must do now, those you could defer, delegate or simply spike.
• Delegate: could you hand something off to a team member or colleague? Are they working at capacity or could they help out? Do they want to?!

2. Invest time in your team

• It might seem like an oxymoron, but by spending a little more time in the short term upskilling your team members, you would reap the longer-term benefits of being able to hand things off with more confidence to them in future.
• They would get to see how to complete the task; it helps develop and empower the team member; enables future completion of tasks; and ultimately frees up more time for you.
• (This one isn’t just for people managers; you could also help to develop a more junior or newer member of the team.)

3. Block out your diary

• I put “KF” — Keep Free — in my calendar so people don’t see it as free time for them to fill up with meetings (as it invariably isn’t free time).
• Use that time for walking, stretching, thinking, innovating, eating, drinking, or, of course, actually doing the work you’ve picked up in multiple meetings.
• Consider scheduling ‘Focus Time’, a concept built into Office 365 / MS Viva these days to give you time marked as ‘do not disturb’ in your calendar.

4. Schedule your own tasks as meeting time

• It’s your calendar and your time. Use it for your work rather than leaving the virtual door open for others to butt in and steal that precious, uninterrupted block of meeting-free time.

5. Focus deliberately

• Focus. Switch off email and other digital distractions (see Deep Work by Cal Newport).
• Avoid trying to multi-task, which doesn’t actually exist.
• Use those blocks of “KF” to ‘go dark’ and complete your work tasks more efficiently.

6. Say “no” more often

• “You’re so helpful.” Stop it. You don’t have the time. Saying “no” is important.
• Don’t accept every meeting or every request for help on a project. If you’re at capacity, say so. Or could you delegate?

7. Take breaks

• It might seem ironic that do get more time, you should take breaks, but you need time to smell the flowers, switch off, let your brain rest, etc.
• Go and think about nothing, exercise, stretch, do whatever you need to to unwind.

8. Decide what you want more time for

• It’s perhaps a silly question, but what will you do with all that new-found free time in your calendar?
• If it’s to do more work, question that with yourself. You’re not a machine.