3 Favorite Time-Saving Tips
This is a busy time of year. With the start of school and the beginning of going back to the office, it’s hard to fit everything in. Doesn’t it make you feel like you are always running out of time to get things done? You can manage your time a little more wisely, no matter how busy your life gets! Here are 3 time-saving tips to simplify your life.
Take a few minutes before bed to organize for the next day.
Check your calendar, make a list, make your breakfast and/or lunch, and layout your clothes. Your mornings will be much smoother, and you will feel more in control.
Do things that energize you!
Make an appointment with yourself. We tend to forget things like exercise and downtime when we get busy. It seems like such a luxury when there is so much to do, but scheduling time for something enjoyable will make you more productive, happier, and less stressed.
Don’t be afraid to delegate.
If you are procrastinating on some tasks maybe it’s time to delegate them to someone else. Hire help or ask family members to pick up some of the slack during this busy time of year.
You can manage your time a little more wisely, no matter how busy your life gets! Here are 3 time-saving tips to simplify your life. Click To Tweet
Are you afraid to start an organizing project just to be overwhelmed or lose motivation in the middle, to be left with even more chaos? You are not alone. That’s the fear of most people who don’t have time to allot to a big organizing project.
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Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
Janet Schiesl
Janet has been organizing since 2005. She is a Certified Professional Organizer and the owner of Basic Organization.
She loves using her background as a space planner to challenge her clients to look at their space differently. She leads the team in large projects and works one-on-one with clients to help the process move quickly and comfortably. Call her crazy, but she loves to work with paper, to purge what is not needed and to create filing systems that work for each individual client.
Janet is a Past Board Member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals and a Past President of the Washington DC Chapter of NAPO were she has been named Organizer of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.
These are great tips, Janet. In fact, I do them regularly. I don’t feel like I am ready to finish the day until I have thought about what I want to do tomorrow. It settles my mind so I can truly relax and unwind in the evening. I have 2 dogs and have to walk them separately because they are both big and strong. So, I get plenty of exercise every day – rain or shine!
A dog (or two) will do that! I also review the coming day at the end of each day and then again at the beginning of the day. It keeps me focused.
I have to admit I am a little afraid to delegate. I find that what is important to me isn’t always as important to others, and I run the risk of the “ball dropping.” For example, once I asked both my husband and son-in-law to turn on a slower cooker while I was at work. Didn’t happen.
At the same time, I know that I cannot do it all. I have learned that when I do need to delegate, I’ve got to help the other person succeed so neither of us ends up feeling bad or disappointed. For instance, if I need my husband to turn on the slow cooker now, I stay with him until he has set an alarm on his phone to do so.
Good advice. I learned to delegate by finding the tasks I don’t like to do and letting someone better qualified do them. BookKeeping was my first business delegating experience and I’m so happy I did.
Some tasks are harder to let go of than others, but I’ve been trying to delegate a lot more. It really is liberating!
Yes it is! I just answered Seana that I delegate tasks I don’t like doing. It’s freeing to not have those dreaded tasks to do.
Great tips! I love that you mentioned “Do things that energize you”, we all forget that when we get busy with life. Thanks for sharing!
Yes. I have to get back to exercising. It does energize me, but I don’t especially like doing it.
Great tips! I regularly organize my next day before closing down for the day and I am getting better at delegating.
My weakest area is doing things that energize me. Thanks for the reminder.
I’m with you Jonda. Me too!
Three solid tips! If I didn’t check my calendar for the next day before bedtime, I wouldn’t be prepared for some of my non-routine morning appointments. In addition to the things you listed, I need to know whether or not I need to set a wake-up alarm.
I’m an early riser, so didn’t think of that. I do need to remind myself if I have a meeting (or something) in the evening. I’m usually a couch potato at night.
So smart! Your first tip is the only way I can survive my life. I’m SO not a morning person, so literally everything I need for my next day, from my breakfast dishes to my clothes to work bag to my GPS for where I’m heading are all set up before I can consider going to bed. I’m so useless in the first hour after I wake up that literally eating and grooming are the only things I trust myself to do before my brain finally turns on (about 90 minutes after rising). Just the idea of leaving anything to do the next morning makes me itch!
Unfortunately, it’s not in the budget to delegate the few things I really hate doing, and there are no family members to whom I can delegate. That said, I’m a huge believe in delegation!
I love it when after years of training a family member will do a shared task (like emptying the dishwasher) so I don’t have to do it. It’s a win!
I’m a morning person, but I still like to plan my next day in the evening. As I age I have realized that I like moving slowly in the morning.
These are solid “time” tips. Number one and two I regularly do. I could be better at delegating. Nice to know there’s always something to learn and improve on.
Fun how all of us organizers have a hard time delegating.