How to Get More Value From Necessary Tasks and Chores

Getting back time is all about having more time to do the things you enjoy in life. This means that you stop spending time working in the office and you cut back on washing up and commuting.

 

Instead, you’re going to try and start spending time doing things you love such as being with your family, watching great TV and pursuing your personal goals/projects.

 

But the way you go about this might be a little different from what you expect. Forget all the strategies you read about that tell you how to save ‘ten minutes a day’ or ‘an hour a day’. These cut off a little time at best and few of us stick to them.

 

Instead, ask yourself how you can get more value out of the time you’re currently using up. That means doing two jobs at once, or just enjoying the time you’re ‘wasting’ that little bit more.

 

Read on to see what on Earth I’m talking about…

 

Multitasking

 

One of the best ways to get more from your time is to multitask. You can’t multitask with jobs that require your full attention and creative awareness. But any job that can be done ‘mindlessly’ can be paired with any job that doesn’t require use of your body.

 

For example, you can catch up with correspondence or make important admin calls when you’re driving (if you have a hands-free system), when you’re walking to the shops or when you’re washing up! By doing two jobs at once, you free up one ‘slot’ to use yourself later.

 

Making it More Fun

 

At the same time, you can also multitask to make a boring job fun or rewarding. For example, if you’re washing up then why not watch your favorite TV show at the same time? You’re getting just as much out of that time and now washing up isn’t as dull.

Another great strategy is to do things with friends. Staying in touch and maintaining correspondence takes time. So instead of worrying about fitting it in, why not turn a boring job – the weekly shop, your workout – into something you can do with a friend?

 

If you commute on the train, then you can absolutely make more use of this time. How about using it to learn a language, read a great book or even start setting up your own side business using a laptop?