“If only there were more hours in the day! Heavens to Betsy!”
I’ve said it. Chances are, so have you. We’d all love to have more time to do the things we like (or need) to do. We also understand that since it’s unlikely that Obama is going to somehow make the day longer, we’re relegated to finding the time ourselves. The nerve.
Truth is, while a 36-hour day is aways off, it’s actually not all that hard to carve out a single extra hour for yourself. I’m so confident in this idea that I’m going to refund the price of this article to anybody who cannot successfully implement one of the following time management ninja moves before 24 hours has expired.
1. Do something during your lunch hour – For nigh upon a year, I played video games during my lunch break at work. Several of us in the office did it, so there was a social element to the whole thing – plus it was a freaking blast. What wasn’t so much fun, though, was coming home after work and having a whole list of things I wanted to do and not enough time to do them. So, a couple of months ago I decided that I would spend my lunch break doing something productive. Usually, this involves reading about something I want to pursue or cranking out blog posts. I miss my TF2, but being able to start off my night with a blog post already written is a pretty frickin’ good feeling.
2. Turn off the damn television – I won’t belabor this one. If you watch television recreationally, then you have absolutely no right to bitch about not having enough hours in the day. Period.
3. Sleep an hour less – I know, I know, it’s so not cool to suggest that people sleep less than they should. Whatever. I sleep far less than I ought to, but my creative itch gets scratched and my tasks get done. It definitely catches up with you and you should make allowances for getting some extra shut-eye on the weekends or something, but tapping away at the keyboard (working on something that you’re totally pumped about) at 1:00am when you have to be at the office at 7:00am is exhilarating.
4. Make better use of your commute – If you ride some type of public transit, you can do anything at all and you should be doing some epic shit because us freeway knobs would love to have 2 hours of uninterrupted time per day to do whatever the hell we liked. If you drive a car any sort of distance to and from work, you have a whole blob of what is probably under-utilized time to get all sorts of crap done. Make phone calls, listen to lectures or audio content related to that business you’re hoping to start, whatever. Just don’t zone out in traffic listening to crappy radio when you could be brainstorming your next awesome project with your partner over the phone or talking to your kids.
I honestly can’t overstate how useful that last one can be if you do it right. My favorite way to pass my 45 minute drive home from work is letting my brain go wild (while maintaining a sane consciousness about the driving – don’t worry). If I have an idea, even if I can immediately identify it as a crappy idea, I dictate it into Dragon Dictation and send it into Evernote. Rinse, repeat – for 45 minutes every day. Epic shit will blossom from efforts like this.
Even with an extra hour in a day, you’re not going to have time to do everything you want to do – this is fact. What you can do, though, is look at how you spend chunks of time like these and ask yourself “what else could I be doing that would get me closer to world domination or a sweet new pair of khakis?” I think you’d be surprised how plentiful are the times of day that go misspent. Find them and spend them wisely.
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And then after 25 days, maybe have a day off to compensate?
Totally! I'm obviously not advocating workaholism or anything like that. I
could teach university courses on slacking off
Still, I have such a huge ass list of personal projects and goals that, most
days, peeing away a couple of hours unnecessarily is just tragic. Whether
your schedule or commute dictates it or not, so many of us have little
blocks of time that are spent on frivolity instead of doing really cool
stuff. I'm just sharing what works for me.
Thanks for reading!
I eat lunch at my desk.
I stopped watching TV, except for sports.
I woke up at 4:45 this morning.
I live 2 miles from my office.
I still have only 24 hours in my day.
I want my money back Brett.
I do not accept personal checks.
That is all.
It’s funny that this article pops up today – last night was the first time I have ever said that I wished there were more hours in the day. However I need that extra time for sleep! I’m definitely feeling the health consequences from missing out on sleep.
The money has been deposited into your checking account! Also, the bank told
me to ask if you need a refill on your checks
Awesome article! I started using things like you suggest years ago to be more productive and it totally works to make you less stressed and happier. Now? I use the same ideas but apply to being completely selfish one hour a day – a useless novel, walk with the pups, trying a new recipe, etc. I guess I'm allowing myself to take that time back to compensate as one of the other comments suggested!
PS – just started using Evernote and I'm hooked – LOVE it!
Ha! No, I think I have enough checks to last me for…well, forever. Can't remember the last time I used one actually.
Don't spend too much time on the internet!
Some great ideas here, but *please* don't talk on the phone while driving. Whether or not you're using a hands-free device, talking on the phone while you're driving is like driving drunk.
Nice post… any idea for those of us who works straight through our lunch break as it is and already sleep too little?! I do need to start using my commute time to dictate awesome ideas though
I'd suggest not working quite so hard and take advantage of the lunch break provided to you by Federal law
Spending time on the Internet doesn't always mean you're wasting time. I spend about 12-14 hours per day on the Internet and very little of that time is spent doing unproductive things (unless relaxation is the goal, then I can wander aimlessly with the best of them!)
That's the flip side, I guess. You (meaning “people”) know when it's time for you to take a sanity break – if you've got your workflow and schedule that dialed in, you have my respect
(Check out today's post – it's about Evernote)
Agree. The only thing you should be doing when driving is driving. That's not down time.
I really enjoyed this! I stay at home with my daughter so it isn't exactly applicable, but good food for thought anyway. I linked to this on my weekly roundup, post is under my name.
Hey, let's put a mini fridge in the bath room. Don't sit there reading a magazine, let's reload while we are unloading, eh?
In New York State, using a cell phone while driving will get you a nice traffic ticket (as will any other type of “distracted driving.” PS: Watch the profanity if you want to be taken seriously.
It's illegal even with a hands-free device? Didn't know that!
Sorry that the profanity bothers you.
Of course it's different from person to person, but in general, lack of sleep will catch up with you. It's a myth to think it can be reclaimed on the weekend. You might get more hours, but they will end up being less productive hours, and your overall outlook on life will suffer.
The comments about multi-tasking while driving are irresponsible and should be retracted (with apologies, since you don't even understand that using a phone is illegal in SEVERAL states – and pending in many others). Studies have shown that driving while multi-tasking renders a driver incapacitated in the same way as DRINKING and driving. Many people have been injured and and killed because of this, and there is a groundswell of emotion and discussion about it throughout America. I don't think that “getting more crap done” is worth killing someone – yourself or someone else's loved ones. Please do the responsible thing – get yourself educated about this topic and CHANGE your comments.
This is idiotic. Are you seriously encouraging more overtired people to take to the road and not concentrate? No one can multitask effectively, and on the road you are in charge of a killing machine. While you are talking to your kid on the phone, you might take someone else's kid away from their parents. It isn't productive to be overtired and trying to complete 2-3 tasks at a time. Sleep what you need, take time to exercise everyday (maybe with your kids so that you can spend that quality time with them instead of a phone call) and be present with every task you do, that is the key to productivity, not cramming a whole lot of stuff into one life, that just creates mental clutter.
First, congratulations on making Lifehacker. http://ow.ly/11bVm
I always wanted to know somebody on Lifehacker, but Gina's being really unreasonable what with the restraining order and the police surveillance.
Second, not to be a nag, but take it from experience: lack of sleep will mess you up, sooner or later. Even if you're a badass former Marine who learned to deal with sleep deprivation (and other forms of incapacitation) from the best, even if you used to drive 25 hours at a stretch with few ill effect, even if you always tended to get only six hours of sleep when you could sleep all you wanted. Very bad things can happen to the sleep deprived. I have totaled a truck; narrowly avoided hitting a cop in the oncoming lane; awaken to find myself hurtling at 70 mph in a media toward a river in a fully loaded 26' U-Haul truck; and other not-so-fun adventures. (Not to mention forcing my wife to drive 1600 miles in ten days because I couldn't do more than 20 without dozing.) And while it might seem sweet that your doctor might give you a script for amphetamines, it truly sucks to need them so badly that they have no effect beyond keeping you awake … for a little while.
The moral is: pay attention. If you have any, any of the symptoms of excessive sleep deprivation, take a nap, call it a night, whatever.
(Oh, and the part about catching up being a myth: Scientific American says you can pay off “sleep debt” [http://ow.ly/11cdV], but not with just a few hours on the weekend. Plus there are changes in the type of sleep you have. So work late or start early … but expect to pay for it later.)
STAY OFF THE PHONE WHILE DRIVING!!!
It is dangerous and puts everyone else at risk from your stupid behavior.
so the whole point of getting an extra hour out of the day is to sit on your ass and write a blog? if i had kids, i would spend that extra hour a day with them or doing something to improve the lives of others around me, not sit and type away about how i wish i had more time…
btw, i squeeze every absolute minute of my day due to school,work,actual projects, girlfriend, health. i need sleep so i sleep the extra hour and get more done in 23 hours
I've been using tip #3 for about a week now. For years I've wanted to tackle a tumblog project on geek culture, but full-time grad school and a part-time job made it difficult to carve out the time. But I've been getting up between 5 and 6 a.m. this past week so that I can plug away at diligentgeek.com.
The amazing thing is I haven't struggled that much to get out of bed. Though I'm also a bit sleepy, I'm also excited about the work, enough so that I stumble my way to the computer screen.
The real question is whether I'll still be at it three months from now.
The 'sleep less' suggestion is lame. You even admit you don't get enough sleep and yet you advocate even cutting that back? You're setting yourself up for a creative burnout.
I'd add listening to audio books or podcasts while commuting.
“If you drive a car any sort of distance to and from work, you have a whole blob of what is probably under-utilized time to get all sorts of crap done.” I take serious issue with this advice. It's not under-utilized time at all, UNLESS YOU ENDANGER OTHERS BY WILLFUL DISTRACTIONS. It's time that should be spent concentrating on what you're doing, NOT multitasking. It's time spent on keeping yourself, and everyone else on the road with you, safe.
This is bad advice. It doesn't take much searching online to find plenty of evidence that driving while on the phone is as bad, if not worse, than driving drunk. Don't even start in on texting.
you can “listen to lectures or audio content related to that business you’re hoping to start” thats not illegal
Great Idea. I get up an hour early, so I can sleep on my commute. Does that count as using my time wisely?
Hang up your phone and concentrate on the road, a**hole.
I must agree with Suzie and Kris. Mr. Kelley, what you propose for driving is incredibly dangerous and potentially lethal.
A good friend of mine was partially paralyzed in a car accident as a result of the other driver being distracted while on the phone and driving. He'll never walk again.
Please, don't advocate driving and talking on the phone, and for god's sake, don't do it yourself. You could destroy your own life or someone else's.
I agree. People who talk on the phone while driving are self-important assholes! Most people can't drive as it is. Don't encourage them to become worse drivers.
I have to disagree with the cellphone-haters. I use a cell phone with a hands-free device and have never caused an accident in the 12 years I've owned them. However the woman who slammed her minivan into my stopped car, totalling it, was chatting merrily with her kids who were in the back seat. That said, I've already found ways to save time: put all the wash into one load and set the temp to cold, a programmable coffeemaker, audio books on my MP3 player (including foreign language CDs), steel-cut oats in a slow-cooker and plugged into a timer (hot breakfast all ready!), carry a folder of to-read items or a nail file/buffer combo when I have to wait in line, cook advance batches of pasta and rice… It just takes a little creative thinking.
Playing the devil's advocate here, though I agree with you — if you're going to hustle, you have to MAKE the time. No moaning about lost time if you're watching television — even running on the treadmill is better than being idle if you're going to watch the tube.
The only thing I'd say (and your point about sleeping one less hour each night) is that over time, your body may adjust to this, but in the beginning stages, be prepared to lose that saved time to illness. A fit mind and a fit body are much more beneficial to someone who's trying to be effective with their time. Take care of yourself first. The rest will follow.
Many Japanese doze off on the train when heading off for work, and I was one of them – until I read your article! I'm now doing stuff which I always did at home, like brainstorming, reading and studying. I think No.4 works better with those who use public transport more often.
First I would like to point out that one simple way to get more time is to work (for money) less. The level of automation present in society could in theory provide much more leisure than we enjoy, if only people demanded it. Putting a priority on personal and societal enrichment at the expense of greater consumption is a cultural change I heartily support. We need to all be more honest in that most work is dull and not very important and the reason people put up with it is a combination of herd instinct, fear, greed, boredom; not good things in general. I'm not claiming that there is anything wrong with loving your work, only the obvious fact that most people don't. We should be more honest about this.
More practically, one thing I've found that has freed up tons more time and improves productivity is the realization that after sitting on my butt in a cubicle all day, I actually feel like doing chores that require being on my feet in the evenings (cooking, cleaning, hygiene, etc.). It actually feels good to do dishes and pack my lunch. This allows me to put off being concerned with with such chores during the weekend when its a pain to have do such things. I also noticed that its also a good time to do deep thinking and planning while I work on chores.
gergeous thank you sir
please keep on making calls while you drive. so maybe we´ll have the good luck of gettin you out of this world, but please don´t kill anyone in the process
the best way to close all your objetives is geting and schedule and use it
you have to separete your areas: personal, family, work, transport, etc
and asign time for each one.
the most important task is you.
i awake 9 am and get slepp at 11 pm. i am a sales men and always acomplish my sales target, in fact i obtein 10 to 15% more each month.
by one simple rule. i always say no to more work than i can handle.
my boss was not happy with my desicion (no more work than i can handle), but when he sees the results (MORE SALES) he was happy
i have no kids but i can take my nephews to their music classes, and i use my lunch time for that …….lunch
sorry for the english, but i am not goning tu use my lunch time, bed time, etc for lerning. i will find time for learning in my working hours.