Category: Organizers

Who doesn’t need more time? Most people complain because they don’t have enough time to get the every day tasks completed, why do you think we have so many fast food restaurants, super quick pre-made food, and all these time-saver-ways to do things? I don’t know how it got to be this way but to counteract the problem, here are 5 tips to help you get more free time.

1. Take a Breather – Take a step back to take a good look at you life with some perspective. Block off a half a day or a whole day if you can. With this time, take a look at your life and ask yourself, is it what you’ve always wanted? What things actually fill up your day? What things could you drop or minimize to make more time?

2. Declutter your Schedule – Weed out your jam packed schedule. Find the stuff that’s not so essential and cancel them. Postpone other stuff. Leave big blank spaces in your schedule.

3. Learn to Say No – You cannot say yes to everything, you will never have free time. Get protective about your time, and say “no” to everything but the essential requests. Click here to learn the gentle art of saying no.

4. Wake up earlier – Using this time to do things like, exercise, walking, reading. Early in the day works well simply because there’s not much going on to distract or interrupt at this time of day and it doesn’t interfere with family time.

5. Consolidate errands – Try to do all errands on one day, and plan out an efficient route. Most people will save at least an hour a week in total.

Disasters, natural or man-made, often come without warning. Having these supplies and details in order ahead of time will help you weather the storm with less stress.

Know your area – Check ready.gov for what to expect in the area you live.

Create a basic emergency kit – Include the following: Water(have 1 gallon per person, per day, for 3 days); can opener; battery-powered radio; flashlight; extra batteries; moist towelettes and garbage bags(for sanitation); local maps; first-aid kit; whistle; wrench or pliers and dust mask.

Make a to-go bag – Create a small version of an emergency kit with essentials like nonperishable food, water and a small first-aid kit.

Know your evacuation route – Have more than one option for getting out of town quickly.

Designate family meeting spots – Pick an area near the home to meet in the event of a fire. Choose another spot that is in the region, in case everyone is scattered and can’t get home. Have a third spot that is out-of-town, should your family have to evacuate separately.

Select an out-of-town contact – Name one family member or friend who can serve as a point person if your immediate family is separated.

Make a list of phone numbers – Everyone in the family should have a list of important contacts that they keep with them at all times. Include your office numbers, childrens schools, day care, doctors and close family members.

Write down important personal information – On the same phone list, under the doctors numbers, note any medical conditions you or anyone in your family has. You can print out a template listing all of this info at ready.gov.

Know the emergency plan of your children’s schools – Make sure and get all the information from your children’s schools as to where they go when they are evacuated and where you can pick them up.

Have a family meeting – Make sure everyone in your family knows and understands your emergency plan. Talk about the meeting spots, fire safety, and escape routes.

Adapted from REAL SIMPLE

Over at Marc and Angel Hack Life I found this article; 10 Ways to Save 10 Minutes Daily.

They give you 10 non-complicated ways to save 10 minutes or more a day.

These are not complicated procedures.  They are very simple, straightforward suggestions.  Sometimes our days are so crammed with things to do that 10 minutes represents the difference between sanity and insanity.

1. Plan Ahead and Start early – 10 minutes of dedicated time planning in the evening will save you valuable time in the morning.

2. Handle All 2 minute Tasks Immediately – If you roughly estimate a task will take you less than 2 minutes to accomplish, do it right now.

3. Group Smaller Tasks Back to Back – Group similar tasks together in an effort to minimize the amount of wasted time between task orders.

4. Eliminate All Distractions For a Set Time – Cutting out all distractions(email, cell phone, co-workers) for a set time is one of the most effective ways to get things done in less time.

5. Take Notes and Make Lists – Write down those things you need to do, or you will end up wasting more time trying to remember things that would have taken seconds to write down.

6. Standardize Common Responsibilities – If you find yourself performing the same set of tasks on a regular basis then it makes sense to establish an efficient, standardized way of accomplishing them.

7. Buy in Bulk, Cook in Bulk – Buying stuff and cooking food are two of the most common unplanned consumptions of time. The most efficient way to counteract this is by doing bulk loads of both.

8. Use Productive Shortcuts – Find where you can hit 2 birds with 1 stone.

9. Organize All Your Space –  Keeping your living and work space organized saves you time and money when you know where to find what you are looking for without having to search.

10. Productively Use Waiting Time – Think of tasks you can complete while waiting at a doctors office, in the post office line, or waiting for the oil change. Waiting time does not have to be wasted time.

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