How to get more time in 4 simple steps

As you read the headline there’s part of you that is craving a way to get more time so you can get more done. There’s also a part of you that knows that you can’t get ‘more’ time. So let’s focus on getting more out of the time you have.

Getting more out of your 168 hours a week has four important steps, budgeting, blocking, bartering, and buffering.

Step 1: Budgeting - list out your weekly activities and allocate a budget of time for each. This includes work, home, travel, health, wellbeing, hygiene, sleep, and recreation activities. If you find all your activities add up to more than 168 hours you will need to cut back some time allocation or drop some activities. Keep what’s important and aim to budget 90% of your time (149 hours) to allow flexibility in your week the 17 hours you have left over will go to ‘Buffer-time’.

Step 2: Blocking - in your weekly calendar block out your activities starting with the most important things first. Just start with big blocks such as the time you’ve allocated for sleep, work, or home time. The big blocks set your boundaries to contain the activities within your allocated time budget. Once you have the big blocks, you can set smaller blocks within them. Things like setting a block of time for checking emails, important project work, or regular team meetings.

Step 3: Bartering - you will need to use bartering to manage the inevitable flexibility needed to get things done. Think of each of your blocks of time as having significant value. When a demand comes for you to give up or shift one of your blocks to accommodate someone or something else you have to choose to give up something valuable. This is the time for you to barter. If work demands you take an hour of your family time what can you do to barter back that family time later in the week? Bartering takes courage, resolve, and acknowledgment that your time is valuable. If anyone wants some of your time what value will you put on it and what will you barter for your time?

Step 4: Buffering - Life is dynamic, always changing, forever uncertain. Buffer-time gives you flexibility to allow for shifting and changing in the moment without upsetting the rest of your schedule. Buffer-time can be used in 15-30 minute blocks. Put buffer-times around your meetings. This stops others from booking you in back-to-back meetings. If you buffer well you should have 10-17 hours of time in small blocks to build flexibility into your schedule.

Try out these four simple steps, budgeting, blocking, bartering, and buffering. Let me know what it does for you. 

Does it allow you to get more out of your 168 hours each week? Or does it simply remove the stress of thinking that you don’t have enough time?

Budget-Block-Barter-Buffer. Get more out of your time and enjoy your time more.

#timemanagement #stressmanagement #worklife #mentalhealth #wellbeing #resilience