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We are our habits. If you choose your habits poorly, you’ll always struggle managing your time. If you choose your habits wisely, you’ll find you feel much better about how you use your time. Unfortunately, most habits can be very difficult to change.
Do you find yourself frequently yelling at others when they make a mistake? The reality is that a habit that has been ingrained in you your entire life can take weeks, months, or even years to significantly change. While doing so would be a worthy endeavor, in today’s post we’re going to focus on quick wins.
To me, these are the ultimate productivity activities. Choose an activity from the list, do it one time, and you’ll continue to enjoy a pay off again and again (sometimes forever!). If getting the highest ROI possible on doing things that will make more time for you sounds appealing, you’re going to love this list.
#1 Remove Your TV From Your Bedroom
Do people still watch TV? I’m only half-kidding here. In all seriousness, cutting back on TV is something most people would benefit from. While I have a nice television in my apartment (it was included with my rent), I’ve never used it. In fact, I would have preferred they didn’t give me this TV so that my room would be less cluttered.
While you may consider selling all your televisions, or never watching TV to be extreme, the least you could do is remove your TV from your bedroom. Without a television in your bedroom, you’re less likely to binge watch before bed. This will save you time. You’re also likely to fall asleep easier; this saves you time as well.
If you feel watching less TV would create a void in your life consider listening to audiobooks.
#2 Turn Social Media Notifications Off
A phone that’s always beeping and giving social media notifications is incredibly distracting. Cal Newport, the author of Deep Work, has even recommended quitting social media altogether. Going all-or-nothing is one way to beat social media addiction and make more time for you and the things that are truly important to you.
Another option, however, is to simply turn off social media notifications on your phone. Who can resist checking Instagram after seeing that someone interesting has followed you? You’re less inclined to repeatedly check your social media accounts if you turn off push notifications on your phone.
Even better, however, would be to delete the apps off of your phone completely. This is a great option if you believe social media is important, but you find yourself addicted to it. By allowing yourself to use social media only when you have access to a desktop/laptop, you’ll find it simply won’t be possible for you to check it as compulsively as before.
#3 Unsubscribe From Mailing Lists
This one is simple. Most of us are dealing with cluttered inboxes. Cut the noise. Choose the 2-3 mailing lists you value most, and remain subscribed. Go on an all out purge on the rest. You’ll be amazed at the amount of noise and distractions you’re able to eliminate in doing so.
#4 Choose to Live Below Your Means
While this may sound more like a way to save money than time, it’s actually relevant for both. The reason being is simple — time is money. Minimalism, especially on large purchases can save you thousands of dollars each year.
Let’s assume your time is worth $20/hour after taxes, and you need to choose an apartment. The basic apartment is $600 and the luxurious apartment is $1400. In this scenario, choosing the luxurious apartment will require you to work an extra 40 hours each month (an entire workweek!).
That’s not to say it’s wrong to live somewhere luxurious or purchase nice things. It’s not. It is important, however, to consciously ask yourself whether the time expense you incur as a result of a niceer lifestyle is worth it. Sometimes it is, but often it isn’t.
#5 Automate/Cancel Your Bills
This idea is fairly self-explanatory. Automating your payments can save you a fair bit of time if you have many types of payments you must make each month. Just be sure to remember to cancel the subscriptions or services you no longer use!
#6 Purchase a Quality Mattress
Sleep is essential. If you’re not sleeping well, you’re losing time. This could be directly (from having to spend more time in bed to compensate), or indirectly (your capacity to work productively is diminished).
Either way, having a quality mattress will go a long way in supporting your efforts to make more time for you. If purchasing a mattress isn’t in the cards, another option would be to buy high quality blackout curtains.
Humans are sensitive to light (check out this wiki on the pineal gland for more information). Blackout curtains can reduce the amount of outside light that makes it into your bedroom and increase the quality of your sleep. This leads to you having more time whether directly or indirectly.
Conclusion
It isn’t overly difficult to make time for you and the things you value most. It will require your conscious effort, however! These are 6 of the highest ROI activities I’ve ever done in my life in regards to regaining my time. Try them out, and see if they’re just as beneficial for you!