Work Less and Achieve More!

Have you ever wanted to have thirty-six hours a day because twenty-four is not enough? The deadlines for given tasks and projects seem too close that you cannot finish on time. The worse, unbalanced lifestyle enhances stress that makes you unhappy and miss the beauty of your life. However, you're not the only person with twenty-four hours a day, the busiest people with the busiest schedules on this planet have same exact amount of time. They're good at time management because they know how good time management makes their life better.

Wouldn't it be nice if you finish your project or task before given time, so you can take a rest or grab a cup of coffee? When you manage your time wisely, you'll have more leisure time for yourself. More than that, you'll not be over stressed again because you know exactly what comes next (for the most of time). The best part is, you'll have better work and life balance which will give enough time for you to spend with your loved ones or practice a hobby.

If I've got you convinced, let's take a look at how to effectively manage our valuable time with these four proven techniques.

The first and the most effective technique is to plan your day in advance. Think about what you're going to do tomorrow from today and write it down. Of course there're several methods that you can plan your day. For example, journaling; many successful people keep a journal, journals are already made for planning purposes, so it's easy to plan your day with a journal. As a matter of fact, after I started to journal, my life has changed a lot. For me, journaling does more than planning the 'tomorrow' because it helps me to track the whole year. That means, journaling will give you the most accurate analysis of the year and you'll be able to see your development, also correct your mistakes for the next year.

Another way to plan your day ahead is to have a to-do list. It's simple, easy and makeable in no time, simply you write what to do for the day. To-do lists can be in your journal as you wish. To effectively make a to-do list, you should put your tasks in time-blocks. Think about any task that you need to do; writing an essay, hitting the gym or preparing for finals. Whatsoever your task is, put specific time periods for specific tasks. For example, study for an hour, by doing this you force yourself to finish your study in an hour, as a result, you avoid distractions.
But wait, how do you guess an estimated time for particular task or activity? If you're unsure about how much time you should set for a task, then you simply test it. Set your stopwatch (you've it in your phone if not on internet) and stop it when you get it done, now you know for how long that specific task lasts. While doing that, you must avoid any distractions like social media or phone calls, remember, you've got limited time to finish your task.

Second, since time management is all about having the best out of your time, prioritizing is the key. "If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first", said Mark Twain. Do your most important tasks first, which is generally in the morning. After you're done with it, do less pertinent tasks. By doing this your workflow gets more organized and helps you to be more sufficient.

Third, take your time, take regular breaks. Without enough rest, you cannot be productive. You can arrange your breaks with Pomodoro technique which was developed by Francesco Cirillo. Basically, you work for twenty-five-minute block and have a break of five minutes. However, I modified this technique for myself and you can do the same because this's like a template that you can use.

You can use this amazing template in two ways, here is what I did, first, I changed the time blocks, for me it is forty-five-minute work and five minutes of rest. On the other hand, when I write, I make the outline first, after I'm done with the outline, I take a rest of ten minutes, then I start writing. As you can see, you can change the time blocks or you can adapt it to yourself as task based breaks. Because in particular tasks, for me it's writing, you get really focused and you're in the flow, so you don't want to stop. After completing four cycles like these, take a longer break of twenty minutes. Again, use it as however it suits you.

The last one, have a morning routine and wake up early. How do you start your day? Do you check your smart phone and go through social media or make your bed? If you're on your phone, then you're wasting your time. Here is what happens, I tracked how much time I spend on social media in mornings and it was approximately thirty minutes. Instead of spending thirty minutes on social media, I started to use that time for myself, the improvement was incredible. If you don't believe me try yourself!

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2 Hours in the Morning Will Put You in 2% Club!

Do you set up yourself for failure every morning? If you hit snooze over and over again, yes you do, yet you didn't know till now. Two years ago, I was in your situation. It was my dream to be a successful person, you know, kinds of people who always look motivated and get things done in no time. I always knew waking up early would change my life, but the problem was not waking up early, it was sleeping early.

As you can relate, I thought I didn't have what it takes to have an amazing morning routine that over a couple of years it will transform to a success story. It was just a dream that I wanted, yes it was, not anymore!

Are these statements familiar to you?

• I'll wake up early tomorrow.

• I've slept late, so I should sleep more.

• I don't do anything useful in the mornings anyways, so why should I wake up early?

• I'm just not the right person for growth and success, I lack the discipline.

If you relate to one of these or all and are nodding your head, this guide will definitely save you from the struggle.

I'll not even mention agonizing impacts of wasting your mornings because you're living them. Let's start with the benefits and how those benefits will change your life in better way.

The first and the best one, waking up early will give you mental strength. Probably, you're saying, "I wake up early every day for work/school and there's no mental advantage!". Okay, I've got a few questions for you: what do you do when you wake up? Go through your emails? Or social media? Or in rush to be on time for your work/school? Another question: what do you do for yourself? To have mental strength, you should work on yourself. According to a study contacted by the American Psychological Association having a good routine in the beginning of the day will reduce your depression, anxiety and stress. More than that, it will increase your satisfaction level which will become happiness.

Second, a good beginning routine will provide you physical benefits. For instance, I do a hundred pushups after I wake up (of course it's not the only exercise I do during the whole day), which skyrockets my energy for the day. I'm not suggesting you to do pushups, you can practice yoga or even go for a walk. Another physical benefit of having a good morning routine is consuming less calories. I made an experiment with a group of twenty people, ten of us slept late for the next month, on the other hand, the rest slept early. As a result, late sleepers ended eating more because when you sleep late you get hungry that's why you tend to eat more which over the years become obesity.

Third, a good beginning always provides spiritual rewards. Visualizing your success does give you inner peace. I remember myself visualizing working as a freelancer and making enough money to travel while working. And that gave me enough motivation every day to work towards my ambitions, thus, my relationships with people became better both at home and at work. When you work for what you visualize today, in some time you'll make it reality. Of course, practicing visualization is not the only way to have inner peace. Meditation, journaling or listing what you're grateful for will help as well.

Of course, there're many other benefits of waking up early, but in my opinion, those which are above are dominant to other benefits. What else will you ask for if you're mentally strong, healthy as a model and peaceful with yourself, right?

I hope you're ready to build your own amazing morning routine! No, don't say, "but I'm not a morning person". Everything starts in your mind, so change your mindset and be positive on waking up early. "Beliefs we've that are so deeply embedded that we don't even realize they guide our attitudes and behaviors", said author Ramit Sethi. In simpler words, what you believe is your reality. So, you better start believing the you're an early bird.

Your morning routine doesn't start in the morning; it starts the night before. Here are five things you need to do to develop a habit from 'Habit Starter Checklist' written by Rob Norback. First, always remind yourself the habit that you want to create, in this case it's waking up early. Second, break it down to small pieces to make it easier and doable, make a decision of routine in regards to your new habit. For example, what activities you'll include in your morning routine. Third, know what rewards it will bring to you. How I did this, I wrote how creating and following a morning routine will make my life better on a piece of paper and read it every day. Fourth, visualize your success with your morning routine. Finally, record the progress, it will definitely encourage you to keep going.

If you're having issues with sleeping because of stress, anxiety and uncertainty (worrying about future) of future, like I had in the past. I highly recommend you to write down negative thoughts like these on a piece of paper, then fold it and tear it apart, finally throw it away. By doing this, you kick out your negative thoughts from your head and you physically do something to them which is extremely relieving.

Other helpful activity to relax before sleep; deep breathing, silence your inner voice, so it won't be bothering you; think about good things, read a book, write diary or look forwards to an amazing night sleep. There's no a certain way to get relaxed before sleep, you can find which one works for you by trying them.

It's time to chase your dreams and since day starts in the morning, you need to have a good morning routine. Start off with encouraging yourself, I believe this is the first thing you should do in the morning. 'Today is going to be the most productive day of my life' this is what I say to myself when I wake up. You can find different ones for yourself such as 'I'll be on my best today', you got the idea.

Every time I wake and encourage myself, I get out of the bed and start doing pushups right away, of course, there're plenty of other exercises you can do. For instance, sit ups, walking, jogging, even dancing, do whatever you want to for approximately twenty minutes that fills you with energy.

Cold water is the enemy of sleep if you can take a cold shower then go for it, however, if not, just wash your face with cold water. Feel awake? Now, tell what you're grateful for, you can make a list of it if you wish. Here is what I am grateful for:

• Being able to wake up

• Living the life that I've always dreamt of

• Exercising

• Yummy breakfast

• Friend

• Going to cinema and spending a great time with my partner

• Being able to finish my projects on time

Read them all out loud (of course, yours will be different), by doing this you hack your brain that you're a successful person, therefore, more achievements coming for you today.

Take your time when creating your morning routine, creating my current morning routine took two years for me. At the beginning, I set up my alarm clock to 5 a.m. and I believed that it'll give me more energy and productivity. By contrast, it gave me nothing but sleepiness, when you do something gradually your chances of success are more likely. Let's say you normally wake up at 6 a.m. next day wake up at 5:45. Then, gradually continue to your wake up time goal with setting your alarm clock 15 to 30 minutes earlier. In short, start small, be persistent and you'll achieve your goal wake up time.

As I've said before, take your time, I didn't build my winning morning habit in a day but in two years. Don't put too much to your morning routine when you're at the beginning, I did that mistake. I read books, meditated, exercised, worked; however, it didn't fulfill me with happiness and I thought of giving up many times. Build your perfect morning routine gradually, for example, exercise, after exercising becomes a habit read a book after exercise. You don't get the whole building in a day, you build it and it takes time.

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How do they do so much in a day?

I'm sure we've all had occasions when we've looked on in awe and wondered, perhaps out loud, how someone's able to fit in as much as they do. While we're still pondering tonight's dinner menu they may well have been to the gym, organised the food shop, made several important calls, volunteered at a local charity and completed an important piece of work.

How do they do so much?

- Being organised is the key to getting things done. Without organisation things can become too random, dipping in and out of tasks with very little focus or planning. Lists can be an efficient way of introducing order and method, so enabling things to be sorted by degree of urgency.

- Some things are too big or complicated to tackle in one go. Input or a contribution may be required from a third-party, so being efficient is about passing things on quickly so that each person can tackle their part. Keep an eye on what's going on and where individual tasks are up to.

- Delegating is a valuable tool in a busy life. Being precious and insisting on doing everything yourself may feel like an important position to protect, but not everything needs to be jealously guarded. Let others help, share in the story and maybe come up with new, even better ideas. It motivates everyone when they're included as part of the team.

- Don't wait for everything to be perfect before you start. There's no need to practice-run every possible scenario or set of circumstances in advance. Often things come together well enough once you begin. Allow your mindset to be flexible and receptive to different possibilities and enjoy where it takes you, unless it's one of those times when it's essential to follow very specific criteria.

- Double up. Some social arrangements could, under normal circumstances, potentially be combined. Eating out, seeing a show or concert and catching up with friends may successfully maximise your time and create almost a party atmosphere. Equally business networking combined with a game of golf pulls together two areas of life, as does exercising or enjoying a hobby with family or friends.

- Hire help. Certain routine or mundane tasks like ironing, cleaning and gardening may be worth outsourcing. It may be worth paying good money to free up your time for other things. Equally, tasks outside your area of expertise may be better done by someone else, rather than having you spend hours agonising over your accounts, admin or design work.

- Learn to say 'no' appropriately. When we work for ourselves or are new to a location, are keen to fit in and be accepted it can be tempting to say 'yes' and agree to everything. Sometimes we need to review what we're already committed to, or we may run ourselves ragged, trying to accommodate everything and everybody.

- Take regular breaks and recharge. A twenty-minute break gives enough time to eat a healthy snack, hydrate, maybe get outside for some fresh air. Often people find that they then return to work with a clearer mind and renewed enthusiasm for the job in hand.

- Remember to give yourself credit for each achievement. Rather than systematically working your way through your list, instead pause to appreciate each stage of the journey, every task completed.

And sometimes might it be relevant to ask yourself why you do so much, why you allow your time to be so fully occupied. Some people are constantly busy because they need to be in control and are loathe to pass on work to others for fear it may result in them being cut out of the loop, it may allow others to be seen to do a better job or have their mistakes and shortcomings discovered.

FOMO, fear of missing out, having something to prove, trying to be indispensable, not wanting to let go of the reins and filling every second with meaningful activity can all create their own stress.

But then, there are those people who are eager to try everything that's on the menu, can't wait to sample every option that's on offer. Whilst not wanting to dampen their enthusiasm too much, it's also important to take time to rest, savour, rehearse and make the best choices for you. Enjoy doing one thing at a time. You can always return another day and try a different delicacy.

Susan Leigh, counsellor, hypnotherapist, relationship counsellor, writer & media contributor offers help with relationship issues, stress management, assertiveness and confidence. She works with individual clients, couples and provides corporate workshops and support.

She's author of 3 books, 'Dealing with Stress, Managing its Impact', '101 Days of Inspiration #tipoftheday' and 'Dealing with Death, Coping with the Pain', all on Amazon & with easy to read sections, tips and ideas to help you feel more positive about your life.

To order a copy or for more information, help and free articles visit http://www.lifestyletherapy.net

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