It’s already 9pm and I still haven’t had dinner!
Gahhhh! Not again!
Wait, let me just finish this last part….
OK! SENT! Phew…
While eating my maggie mee, I keep thinking to myself…
If only I had 30 hours a day, that would allow me to hustle through just a bit more.
You know… Gary Vee is my inspiration… hashtag HUSTLE.
Finally, I would get some workouts in and have the time to flip through the book I bought last new year – the “Four Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferris…
Ya you know, been trying to learn how to be less busy from that book but it’s been a struggle to get past the first two chapters for the last 12 months… How ironic.
Does the above sound like someone you know?
Or perhaps you’re impressed by my mind reading ability to see through you without knowing you in person?
Too many people in this day and age are falling victim to “Busy”.
Yeap, it’s like a monster eating away your work, your health, your self care, your family time and things that could’ve been put more attention to.
To the point that, the “Busy” badge is being glorified because successful people are always busy at work… right?
As much as this phenomenon seems out of your control, but here’s the part that most people might not expect to hear.
YES! You have total control of it!
Here, you’ll reveal the 3 hacks…
that are actually going to make a difference even if you’re a busy mum, serial entrepreneur or anyone that needs to juggle work, family and self.
Hack #1: The Mindset Shift
Without this to begin with, nothing else will ever help.
No amount of tricks, techniques or mobile apps in the world will ever create miracles.
The illusion of being “One Task Away” from the free and easy time we strive for has been tricking us into thinking we just need to KEEP DOING.
And that’s been happening for the longest time, am I right?
In life, we have to accept that:
- It’s impossible to have nothing to do. (you can try to work towards that but let me know after)
- Knowing what not to do. (probably just as important as checking off a to do list)
- Not everything needs to be done ourselves. (pay others to do and buy back time, your sanity matters)
- Don’t say YES to everything. (because you would have to say oh no no no when you can’t deliver on time or on par with standards set)
- Not everything is equally important and urgent. (use the Eisenhower matrix https://www.eisenhower.me/eisenhower-matrix/ to segment your to do list)
I can pretty much guarantee that, even if you only manage to deploy one of the tips above, life will start opening up.
And now, we are ready to go deeper.
Hack #2: Reviewing your day
Have you ever looked back at what you did the whole day and realised nothing much had been done?
But wait, you were busy weren’t you? But how come?
Oh… once again, I’m going to impress you by listing out things you do that are causing you to “leak” time left right center… without knowing you in person!
Ding… ping… ring… 
You responded to them within a heart beat and every now and then, there’s also this notification that sounds like this…
“Shopeee”!
Do you ignore it? Hardly right? Did you turn it off? Most likely not?
Lunch time comes.
In fact, the planning of what to have for lunch took place amongst your peers way before lunch time until you have a majority decision to go somewhere with a
- 20 minutes drive and park (they serve great coffee though)
- 20 minutes to settle in, order and wait… (it’s worth the wait)
- 30 minutes to eat, exchange bits and pieces with your colleagues, chit chat… (building rapport at its best)
- 10 minutes to decide whether to have some burnt cheesecake for dessert and order right after
- 20 minutes to drive back (battling food comma)
- 20 minutes to finally recall what you were working on (can’t believe I was watching cat videos before I left)
Ding ding… Who’s that? Let me check.
STOP THERE!
That’s what I meant by your time is “leaking” left right center earlier on
By now, you know what’s the culprit and therefore doing a review of your day is essential at any time you feel like you’re short on time while things are not being done as you would like it.
Hack #3: 90 minutes work blocks
Wait… where was I again?
Staring blank at the screen with multiple tabs trying hard to recall which tab was the one.
Sounds familiar? And that kinda repeats throughout the day… and night.
According to Gloria Mark at the University of California, Irvine, people in the interrupted conditions experienced more stress, higher frustration, more time pressure and effort.
No wonder busy people don’t just look busy, they’re everything mentioned above… just saying.
The moment we don’t set a short duration for highly focused work, the more likely we are going to think we have the whole day, even whole night… (for those that love to take work home).
And therefore, the thinking goes…
“It won’t hurt to respond to text messages, emails and going on socials, if not, when do I get to do that?”
Then, the complaints of not having work life balance follows. #truthhurts
Here’s the good news.
Are you ready for a tried and tested way of becoming highly productive so that you can still have a life, reactivate your gym membership, watch Netflix with zero guilt?
Here’s what I would like you to do:
1. Begin to create blocks of 90 minutes during your work hours.
2. Break time exists when the 90 minute block ends and it is up to you to decide when the next block kicks in.
3. You’re recommended to have at least a 5 minutes break between blocks of 90 minutes for the health of your eyes if you’ve been staring at screens.
4. A 15 minutes break is ideal as it will give you time to stretch, make a cup of coffee, a trip to the toilet and catch up with all the texts or calls.
5. You will mute your phone, ignore all texts, phone calls and have your bladder emptied and be hyper focused.
6. If work requires texting, try get it over and done with over a quick call. Or schedule a quick meet later if it’s not urgent.
7. You’re most likely going to perform at your best across four blocks of 90 in one day, meaning a total of 360 minutes of solid work rate to crank out maximum output. That’s 6 hours not including breaks.
Conclusion:
Close your eyes, picture that from this point onwards, you’re living a life of calm, focused and joy simply by applying what you’ve read through above?
Being busy is no longer an identity you’re attached to or something you fall victim to…
What will life bring you more of? What more will you achieve?
