Most people think that to get more done in less time, you just need a good to-do list and to manage your time better. I used to think that too, but once I figured out the secret to actually getting more done in less time, I’ve been able to get rid of stress, stay on schedule with my work, and relax, knowing that my productivity is higher than ever.
Here are the three key things I focused on: managing my energy, getting focused, and using my time efficiently.
In fact, the most important resource you have is your energy. All the time management techniques in the world won’t help you if you’re not managing your energy correctly. Here’s an example:
Have you ever had a day where you woke up feeling rested and refreshed?
Chances are you blew through your to-do list in half the time it normally takes you and you felt super productive.
But, what if you woke up tired because you didn’t sleep well?
Cue extra cups of coffee, feeling sluggish, and pushing off work until tomorrow when you hope you feel enough mental clarity to tackle it. Am I right?
This is why I always focus on managing my energy first. Once you have your energy dialed in, then you can fully take advantage of time management techniques. However, even if you have the time, if you’re too tired, you still can’t perform at your highest level.
So, step 1 to get more done in less time is to pay attention to and work with your energy. This means lining up your more difficult tasks with your higher energy times of day and fueling your body and mind with the right things so that you can have more energy.
Which brings us to the second thing that will help you get more done in less time: getting focused. After energy, our attention and ability to focus is the second most important resource we have.
You know those times when you feel scattered and you keep bouncing between 8 different projects? You may have a lot of energy, but you’re kind of like a whirlwind. You move a lot of stuff around, but don’t actually really get much accomplished.
This is what a lack of attention and focus looks like. Without enough focus, we lose the ability to effectively channel our energy and turn it into the outcome we are looking for.
To help get focused or stay focused, it’s important to limit distractions like visual clutter, phone notifications, and other things in your environment that draw your attention away from what you’re trying to accomplish.
In addition, bringing our mental focus back to the present using mindfulness techniques like the 1 minute energy reset helps us train our brains and further strengthens our attention muscles.
Finally, the third thing that’s important for productivity, and it’s the least important of the 3, is time management. There are a lot of different techniques and methods out there to help you get more done in less time, but the best one is simply the one that works best for you.
