Achieving your goals in an hour a day
Work smart, not hard... It’s a simple phrase that packs revolutionary wisdom that could totally transform the way the vast majority of people live. Instead of putting in ten, or even twelve hours a day at the office to get through your work, be more efficient… and get twice as much done.
This is the work philosophy that 21st Century society is slowly but surely adopting. Life shouldn’t be about the number of hours you log at the office and thankfully, there is a growing focus on quality of life; such as pursuing dreams, fulfilling goals, and spending time with friends, family, in nature, and away from your work life.
For many, the idea of chasing dreams remains just that: a dream. The biggest excuses for this tend to be “there aren’t enough hours in the day” or “I’ve got too much work to do.”
This results in our passions and true potential remain ignored.
The problem is that there is a lingering perception that we need to dedicate 100% of our time and efforts to achieving a goal when in fact, some of the most astounding feats were achieved over time by people who steadily chipped away at the task, rather than dedicating their “all day, every day” to it.
If you create time and space for yourself to work on your passion or on goals that are important to you – regardless of what they are – you’ll eventually achieve them. Moreover, you’ll become good at getting things done!
If you had to be honest, you’re probably only spending four hours a day actually performing meaningful tasks and contributing value to your organisation. The rest of the time we’re sending unimportant emails, doing unimportant tasks ourselves instead of delegating, allowing a lack of process or systematisation to waste our time, getting distracted, having conversations with colleagues, playing around on social media, and more. Even commuting and getting stuck in traffic is precious time wasted.
Here are five ways you can clean up your day and earn at least one hour of free time every day:
- Stop wasting time on emails that aren’t related to you – unsubscribe from distracting email newsletters and special offers. Instruct clients and colleagues on who they should be contacting if their correspondence is irrelevant to you.
- Stop wasting time on chit-chat and socializing – stay off social media, turn off your personal phone if necessary, and if you’re only gossiping with colleagues as a way to avoid working, stop.
- Stop wasting time on unimportant tasks that could and should be delegated elsewhere. Attack your most important tasks first and ensure that your support is in place to tackle less important tasks.
- Stop wasting time on unimportant tasks that could and should be delegated elsewhere. Attack your most important tasks first and ensure that your support is in place to tackle less important tasks.
- If possible, stop wasting time sitting in traffic - rather take public transport and spend the time in transit productively by working through emails, doing research, and any other tasks you can do remotely. You might also find that public transport gets you there quicker. Alternatively, if possible, find out if you can work remotely (at home) for at least part of the week.
If you do all or some of the above, you’ll probably find yourself achieving the same amount of productivity in three to four hours. Now, imagine if you could repurpose the remainder of the traditional workday to pursuing your own goals and passions and spending quality time with children, family, and friends?
Challenge yourself to get as much done in an hour as possible and you’ll see the full extent of your productivity. Perhaps that will be all the convincing you need to work smarter and not harder and dedicate your precious time to the things and the people you love.
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