Becoming Time Rich Is The New Sexy & How To Do It!
Chances are you are here because you’re short on time and want to know how to get more of it.
The truth is though, you can’t. (Sorry to disappoint). We cannot increase the hours you have in the day, but what we can do is to be more smart with the hours we do have, and find ways to spend them well.
I will walk you through the steps that will help you to have the freedom to pick up some of the books that have been collecting dust on your bookshelf and finally read them. To clock off in time to have dinner with your family. To get stuff done without burning out or stressing around. To write the book that’s waiting to be written. To cook nourishing meals to fuel yourself.
Literally all the things that have been on the backburner for too long and that you ultimately can live a life without regret and a sense of “I’ve done everything I wanted” and more.
The process that we will go through today, includes 3 steps. You will find some extra steps in the guide that will help you to go deeper and really get the hang of it.
Step 1: Do a time audit
As with everything before we just dive straight in, we need to create some more awareness about how you are spending all your time right now. If you don’t know what is eating away at your time freedom, how on earth are we supposed to create more of it? Exactly, we don’t because we can’t.
So the very first step at this point is to spend some time on finding out what exactly you do day in and day out. This is where you will need to be very honest with yourself. It’s not about shaming and blaming, but rather holding up the mirror and recognising “Oops, that’s where all my time goes!” To find that out, we will conduct a 1-week audit, in which we will track your time on everything and anything you do. Yes, that includes when you sleep, eat, chat to your colleagues, answer emails, scroll on your phone, go for a walk, train, read, get that third cup of coffee and so on.
It may sound daunting at first but it’s 1. Necessary and 2. Only temporary. So here’s a screenshot of my personal tracker so you can see what that might look like. It doesn’t need to be complicated, so don’t overthink it. All it takes is to write down what you do for how long. It’s as simple as that! Prepare a table with a column for each: Date, Day, Start - End Time, Duration and the Activity and get tracking.
Noting all of that down, also gives you insight into your behaviours and whether you’re able to focus on one thing for a long time or not. If not, then you might benefit from the pomodoro technique to give you cues as to when to work and have a break. But more on that later.
When you get tracking for the next 7 days and begin a task, start the timer, when you’re finished stop it and record the time and activity, Equally if you need to take a break, ideally track that too for more accuracy or pause it and resume when you’re back. When you start another task, restart the timer or note down the start time again in your tracker.
Once you track your activities for a week you can start categorising them roughly into for example “Work”, “WellBeing”, “Breaks”, or “Social Media”. This gives you a first idea, on the main categories you spend most of your time on. However, this step is not a must - It’s simply for better understanding, but not needed to move forward with the next step.
Step 2: Get your priorities straight!
Now that you know what you do, spend your time on it’s time to sort your activities and get clear on what really is a priority. Take your list of activities, and sort them into the time management matrix.
The 4Ds of time management is a technique that helps you prioritise your tasks and activities efficiently according to whether they are important and urgent, or not. It can also help you to ensure that your time is allocated effectively to activities that align with your goals and priorities. The four Ds stand for "Delete," "Delegate," "Delay," and "Do."
Here's a breakdown of what each D means exactly:
Delete: Any activities that are not essential (meaning they are not important nor are they urgent) and they don’t contribute significantly to your goals. These are the ones worth considering to be eliminated to free up time for what really matters.
Delegate: Tasks that don’t need to be completed by you and can be done by others, especially if they do possess the necessary skills and/or expertise.
Delay: Activities and tasks that are not urgent and can be done at a later time without compromising deadlines. This will free up time (and peace of mind) for things that need to be done ASAP. In addition, it will prevent you from doing everything all at once, as you rather focus on one thing at a time.
Do: Whatever needs to be tackled immediately and is of importance. This involves taking decisive action to complete tasks that align with your goals and require immediate attention.
Step 3: Take Action
No change will come from doing the same thing over, so in order to actually free up time, you got to follow through with your findings of step 2. Delete, delegate, and delay what you can and for whatever is left we need to dive into effective action taking. So, I want to share with you two hacks that will help you to be more efficient with your time, and not jump from one thing to another as you try to multitask.
Hack 1: Time Blocking and Batching of Tasks
Time blocking and task batching are powerful productivity techniques that help you manage your time more efficiently. Time blocking involves dedicating specific blocks of time to different tasks or activities throughout the day. By creating a schedule that allocates focused time to particular responsibilities, you can minimise distractions and enhance concentration on each task.
Task batching, on the other hand, involves grouping similar activities together and completing them in one dedicated time block. This approach maximises efficiency by reducing context-switching, allowing you to streamline your workflow (and allow your brain to get into full focus-mode).
To implement these techniques, allocate specific time blocks for similar tasks (like podcast recordings or copy writing your newsletter) in your calendar. Repeating a similar pattern will also help you with staying consistent. For example, every Saturday we edit podcast episodes and create the accompanying reels for them.
Hack 2: Energy management
While time management focuses on efficiently allocating hours to tasks, energy management is centred around optimising your personal energy levels throughout the day. It emphasises tackling high-priority tasks during periods of peak energy and creativity.
To best use energy management, start by identifying your natural energy rhythms—whether you're a morning person or more productive in the afternoon or even a night-owl. Then align crucial tasks with your peak energy periods and reserve less demanding activities for when your energy naturally dips.
To keep it sustainable, make sure to have breaks and plan in activities that replenish your energy, such as short walks or mindfulness exercises.
Doing this will help you to balance your energy levels, enhance overall productivity and will help to prevent burnout. Yes, there will be times you might need to work hard in your “low-energy periods” - but the key is in not making that your norm.
So head over there, and start earning back some time to become time rich again. I can only say from my point of view that my life changed when I learned that time is the only currency I can never get back.
When I was burnt out, I spent literally all my time in a job that had me wake up feeling miserable and depleted every single day. I was working from early to late, until I completely ran out of energy. That’s when I promised to myself that from now on there will be no more day I wake up feeling like that. Any additional day I feel shit is one day less that I could feel great and wake up with joy and excitement about the day ahead. Time is the only currency you will never get back, and being time rich means spending the time you do have, doing things that are aligned with your mission, spark joy, meaning and impact, and that you will remember with warm fuzzy feelings in your heart rather then regret and pondering on “what if…?”
Taking action is what propels us forward to create and live those dreams of ours. As there is only so much we can do in our time, it is even more essential to spend our time well and efficiently - working with a coach on your goals can not only save you time but also to enjoy the journey even more!
