Time Management Hacks so Good That They Feel Like Cheating

Have you ever felt like not sleeping at the end of the day because you just realised that another 24 hours have passed and you think of doing all the tasks that was scheduled for today, well tomorrow.

That feeling to having 0 seconds to do the same tasks for which you had lot’s of time is terrible but how can we really make the most of time?

This happens when you don’t use your time smartly and slowly it get’s out of your control like a free bird. There’s only one way to make the most of the limited time you get. Make time your slave and here’s how you can do it:

You need to do justice with planning. I’m a big fan of speed and I like to move fast but in last few months I've learned the opposite the hard way. My brother always says that “Direction is more important than speed.” I realized that’s true after disagreeing for a long time.

Spend sufficient time in planning. Be patient while planning and go slow but when planning is done and you’re satisfied, go all in and execute at god speed and be impatient in execution. This quote from Abraham Lincoln sums it up:

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I’ll spend four hours to sharpen the axe. — Abraham Lincoln

**TII Rule: Tracking. Investigation. Inventory**You need to ask these questions: What things you procrastinate? What things you do fast? What is required? What is not required?

Define 5 high profile jobs for yourself and stick to them. We usually have a bunch of things to do when we start the day and if you work hard, you end up doing most of it but have you ever felt being less productive even after working hard? This happens when you work hard outside of your productive zone. It’s very important to define 5 high profile jobs for yourself and you need to spend 80% of your time in this zone. Keep questioning yourself throughout the day that am I in my high profile zone?

Classification of time Time should be classified based on the kind of life you want to live. It’s very important to give time to different aspects of life. Some of the most important categories for me are: Self development time, Social time, Entertainment time, Meeting time, Health time, Mentoring time, Oasis time, Reading/Learning time, Family time, Travel time.

**Set goals and work in milestones**It’s very important to set long and short term goals. Make time accountable for every seconds spent. Set weekly and monthly goals and reward yourself when you achieve them. Every milestone achieved gives motivation to achieve the next one.

**Figure out what throws you off schedule and kill it!**Whatever pushes you out of your productive zone, identify and kill it! You need to convince yourself to take immediate action on whatever disturbs your most precious asset. All of these are distractions for your slave at work. These distractions may be Emotional, MLC and business problems, Front of nose chaos or health problems.

**There are more than 24 hours in a day**Yeah! That’s true! You can cheat time and get more time than you would expect. Here are some time stealing practices you must adopt:• Spend less time on calls talking to friends.• Stay away from gossip monsters.• Get qualified assistance to do different tasks.• Restrict Social media time and stay away from getting hooked to them. • Spend enough time for planning. • Find a mentor because learning from those who’ve been wrong is the best strategy than to fail for experience and then learn. • Reduce your travel to minimum.

**Partners for life**The best way to do things effectively is to find a partner for all different activities like a have a partner for self development, health, knowledge, business, language or coding. It’s the best way as you compete with people who are best in each of these things.

L.A.S.A- Learn. Analyze. Strategy. Attack. This is the best approach to do a task. First you need to learn about the task, then analyze the resources and time which is required to do it, then create the best strategy for effective results, finally be impatient and attack to nail that task.

**Say “No” to things**The most effective way to do something is not doing it at all. You need to try your best to say no to everything that comes your way. Do things that are only required and can’t be ignored.

**Use of technology**Assign tasks that someone else can do for you. Most of the times the best person to do it these days is technology as it’s 100% most effective and productive and you’ve control over it. Keep yourself updated and adopt technology in everything you do, example- use productivity apps.

**Ask questions and execute**In the end, the only thing that matters is results! Keep questioning all the time and make time accountable, it’s your slave. Improvise non-efficient things and take immediate action.