Saving time is my core value around here. The more ways I can find to maximize time, the better. It’s not because I’m a slacker- on the contrary! I actually love to have productive days, but with the day being taken up by my 9-5, my daughter’s digital learning and the evening family routines, it can be challenging to find time to get things done.
Ideally we would have a completely balanced life, but this is challenging when you have a hectic schedule and various responsibilities. You can instead strive for a balance that works for you and shave off hours in your day to redirect elsewhere. I have posted various ways to save time in your processes here and here, but there are general, everyday things you can also do unrelated to blogging and entrepreneurship to maximize your time. Here are 9 ways to gain back time in your day.
1. Pinpoint your peak energy time
I already know that me and mornings are not friends. We fight if I’m getting up before 9am (which is basically Mon-Fri), and sometimes still then! Because of this, you will likely not see me awake and active before daybreak. If you ever see a post from me at 6am, just know it was scheduled and I’m still asleep lol!
I am a total night owl when it comes to working on my business and an afternoon girl when it comes to domestic responsibilities. I know these are the times when I have the most energy to focus on specific tasks, so I capitalize on that time. This means I will not try to clean my house first thing in the morning. I need coffee, music and the right mindset to clean and that doesn’t happen early in the morning. I also know that I get an energy burst at night and my house is quiet then, so it’s the perfect time to dedicate to business tasks. Being aware of the time of day that you have the most energy and tapping into it will go a long way.
If you don’t know when your energy peak is, try all three time frames for one week each and make a note of how you felt for each time frame. If the afternoon happens to be your peak time but you’re at work then, you should use lunch and rest breaks for getting simple things done (putting your grocery list together, searching for new recipes to try, etc.). Once you know when you are most productive, you will stop wasting time trying to do things when you don’t have the energy which leads to procrastination- a HUGE time sucker.
Related: The myth about time and why it’s a myth
2. Create a schedule
If you know when you have an energy peak, you are armed with crucial information to create a daily schedule fit for you and your family. I was a total free spirit for most of my life when it came to time and HATED the word “schedule” until I realized how well I thrive with one. I needed to put a schedule together for my sanity because rushing through my day to get places on time as a lifestyle was not an ideal space to be in. A schedule is even more important now because I am working from home and my daughter is doing digital learning. With my work schedule and meetings, her school schedule and meetings and my husband’s work schedule, we have a lot to coordinate.
If you have a busy day and do not have a household schedule, it’s a good idea to create one and post it in plain view so everyone can see it as well. When you have a schedule, you gain back time because all of your time is now accounted for and you are controlling what you do with it. Spending non-productive hours on social media or watching TV won’t happen when you know you have other things scheduled to do and are genuinely trying to stick to your schedule.
When creating a schedule, think of things as minor as how long to hit snooze and when to make your coffee/tea. These small things make a difference! My alarm goes off at 6:30 am but I get up at 7 am because I know my body and how long it takes me to wake up. This means that I’m not rushing to get ready in the morning because I gave myself the proper time to truly wake up and the proper time to get ready without rushing. A calm morning routine with mellow music in the background is a great way to start my day. Whatever you can think of that will work for you and your lifestyle, add it to your schedule so you can have dedicated time for it.
3. Add “Me Time” to your day
How does adding “Me Time” to your day help to gain back time? You know at some point in the day you will engage in a time-sucking activity, as you should! The problem comes in when you waste too much time on that activity. By adding “Me Time” to your routine , you will now have a window of time to dedicate to doing something that makes you happy. You will also look forward to it because you know that’s your time, so you will appreciate it more. Creating a time limit on “Me Time” is crucial, though, because if you don’t set a limit you can easily get caught up in what you’re doing, look at the clock and realize that you wasted too much time and couldn’t get anything else done.
“Me Time” is Self-Care and something that everyone should prioritize in their day because you should always show yourself some love! It’s also great for mental health because you are giving yourself a break and dedicating time to deflate. It can be hard to take some time out for yourself for various reasons, but including a small window of time to yourself is needed. This block of time doesn’t have to be long and you don’t have to change the world in it. Even a 15 minute window is great! “Me Time” can be anything that brings you joy. Taking a nap, taking a walk, watching your favorite show, doing your nails, getting a massage, meditating, sitting in your car in complete silence, driving around the block listening to explicit music on high volume because you can’t listen to it when the kids are in the car, etc. You can also choose different activities for each day to switch things up so you don’t get bored with your “Me Time” and start to devalue it.
4. Take advantage of hidden windows of free time
How does this give you more time in your day? Well this is time that is already available to take advantage of that you may not be utilizing currently. There are small times throughout the day that we may not see or value as free time, but it definitely is! Windows of opportunity such as during kids practices, on your commute to/from work (or the time that would have been your commute if you’re working from home now), work breaks, etc. This is free time that you can use to get other things done. Here are a few examples of things you can do in these hidden windows of free time:
Catch up with friends/family on the phone while on your commute. I think Covid has put many things into perspective and relationships with family and friends is paramount. Check in on your loved ones and people that you don’t make time to talk to often enough during your commute.
Listen to podcasts that inspire you or you just find entertaining.
Take time to clear your mind by driving to and from work in complete silence.
Listen to audio books. This is faster than reading and you can learn so much so quickly. This is a great way to multitask, but make sure you don’t do it along with something that will take you attention away because you want to retain the points in the book.
While you’re at your child’s practice or on a work break, you can meal plan, create a grocery list and even schedule a grocery pickup!
5. Plan outfits for the week
Another part of why I used to have hectic mornings was because I was wasting time trying to find something to wear for the day for both me and my daughter. This was easily a 10-15 minute process. One thing that I started doing to simplify my morning is plan outfits in advance. I check the weather for the following week and select outfits accordingly. I only do this for my daughter at the moment, but even just doing this for her outfits has helped the morning to be so much more smoother. Since this works so well for her, I plan to incorporate it for myself! If you do not pick your outfits out in advance, this can be a great way to save time!
6. Simplify your cooking process
There’s a running joke in my family that both my Mom and I will not cook meals that involve more than three ingredients including salt and pepper. While it’s not accurate, I do have a limit on what I will cook based on the number of ingredients, complexity and amount of time it takes to complete it. This approach makes my cooking process faster and smoother. Coupled with purchasing kitchen utensils and appliances that speed up meal prep and the cooking process are also game-changers. For me, my kitchen will never be complete without an Instant Pot or an Air Fryer. They are things that I can use to make delicious, healthy meals in half the amount of time than a stove or oven.
Another thing that helps me enjoy cooking a little more is having things as simple as sharpened knives and non-stick pans (faster cleaning process) to tools made for certain items such as a garlic press, handheld citrus juicer, a pastry blender and herb shears. These items continue to make meal prep and cooking a smoother process and much more tolerable.
You can also purchase items that are already prepped for you such as fresh diced onions and peppers, garlic that is already peeled or minced, shredded cheese, etc. This will cut down on your prep time and make the meal that much faster to cook.
7. Meal plan + prep
If you couldn’t tell from the previous point, let me lay it out on the line: I do not like to cook. I just don’t have a love for it like some people do. I am slowly starting to enjoy it, but it’s still not one of my favorite things to do. My sister is a chef- she went to culinary school so I’ll let her be the chef in the family! I will also say, I know I have to eat to live and I will not eat trashy food everyday which means cooking is inevitable. I’ve gotten much better with meal planning over the years and it ultimately is such a time saver! Meal planning can be an easy process if you keep your crowd favorites in mind. Make sure to include a meal in the week that is one of your signatures. I plan my meals for the week with one or two of my favorite meals in the mix. I cook two days a week and the other two days are leftovers (weekends are more freeform). I intentionally make double so I don’t have to cook everyday. Oh, and my standard meals to cook are pasta, tacos and stir fry. In my household you will be eating one of these every week lol! The thing about these staples is that there are so many ways you can make them so my family doesn’t get bored with them.
My meal planning also involves searching for new recipes. I try to make one new thing each week. I love to get ideas from the Skinnytaste website and One & Done cookbook because her meals are on the lighter side but still flavorful and generally quick to make. If you don’t feel like searching through recipes, you can also search for premade meal plans and just shop off that list. Now, if you want to be completely removed, there’s always the option to hire someone to meal plan and prep for you . Depending on your schedule, the money spent here may be worth it in order to gain back even more hours of your day.
8. Order groceries online for pickup or delivery
I don’t know about you, but a trip to the grocery store for me is a process from beginning to end because I usually have my 5 year old with me if my husband is at work. This means not only am I getting myself together to leave the house, I’m also getting her ready. When we get to the grocery store, she wants to ride in the “pink car” shopping cart, so we look for that. Then we start shopping and she asks if she can have…everything. Then mid-way she has to go potty, but when we get in the stall she ends up not having to go (why tho???). This is all to say...a simple trip to the grocery store is a PROCESS.
I was elated when Kroger introduced their grocery pick-up service, Click List. You just order your groceries online, drive to the pick-up area and they bring your groceries to your car. The first time I tried it I was immediately hooked! Not only did this save me an hour + of preparing to go to the store and an hour + of actual shopping, it also enabled me to use that time to get other things done. Kroger charges a $4.95 fee for this service normally, but due to Covid they are offering the service for free. Even when it is not free, it is $4.95 well spent! Other stores participate in this service as well such as Wal-Mart and Target and the prices vary.
There is also the option to have your groceries delivered to you. This saves even more time because you don’t have to step foot out of your house! It’s important to consider the financial investment for gaining back time in your day. Is $5-10 worth gaining back 2+ hours to you? To me, absolutely!
Then there are the meal delivery kit services such as Sun Basket and Blue Apron. With this option, you either choose the meals you want to make or the meals are already selected for you and a box is shipped to you with everything you need in it pre-measured. I haven’t tried these services yet, but the people I know that do absolutely love it. This saves time in trying to figure out what to cook, going to the store and prepping the food. It’s another one of those things that costs money, but it may be worth it to gain back more hours in your day.
9. Set boundaries
This is one of the most important things you can do to gain back more time, but also for your mental and physical health. Overextending yourself can cause stress and anxiety, or if you already struggle with these, it can make them worse. Stretching yourself too thin takes away time from your day that could have been used for self-care, family time, personal productivity, etc. It’s not selfish to say no to people, and as the saying goes, “No is a complete sentence”. Sure, help others when you can, but you have to make sure things are good on your end before you can try helping others. So if someone asks you if you can help them with planning and setting up a birthday party but you are already pretty booked for that time frame, tell them no. Don’t even create the unnecessary stress by agreeing to it and being bitter and miserable the whole time. That’s not good for you or anyone else.
Now that you know 9 ways to gain back time in your day, what are you going to do with it? Here are a few ideas for what you can do with this newfound free time:
Start a blog
Start a business
Go to bed or get up earlier
Read more books
Take a class
Spend more time with your family
Exercise
Work more on your blog or business
Listen to music and relax
Meditate
Journal
Go to the park
Of course the possibilities are endless and should reflect what you need to focus your energy on at the time. I hope that these tips gave you at least one thing to consider trying! What are some ways you have found to be helpful for saving time in your day? Leave a comment below and let me know!