Powerback 41: Taking Back Your Time

Let me guess: You went into work today with a full list of things that need your attention and the best intentions in the world to get everything done today. Yet, inevitably, a new issue pops up that needs your attention. One after the other. And by the time you leave you're thinking, What in the hell? I did so much today. Yet I feel like I haven't accomplished a damn thing.

We lose so many hours in the day without even knowing it. It's like a slow leak in a balloon or a slow water leak in your pipes. It's not overly noticeable at first, but over time it can cause some serious damage. That's why this week I want you to take your power back by intentionally choosing productivity and efficiency over multitasking.

1. Limit phone time.
Oh gosh, we love our phones. Right? And I know that we talk about this a lot, so I'm not trying to beat a dead horse, but what's real is real. You can set up screen-time alerts and they will tell you every week how much time on average you are spending on your phone. I get my alerts every Sunday, and this past Sunday my phone let me know that I had spent just shy of four hours a day every single day on my phone. Now granted, part of what I do for a living has to do with my phone for social media, content, and strategy. But even using my phone for a living, it's really kind of a hard pill to swallow knowing that I've spent four hours face down in my phone every single day.

2. Silence/turn off notifications.
The next thing is to turn off your notifications. I did this probably a couple of years ago and it's one of the most freeing things I've ever experienced. So, I don't get notifications for my email. I don't get notifications for my social media. There are no push notifications saying, Hey, check me. Hey, check me. Other than text messages, all of your different apps suck your attention away from you every single day without you even realizing it.

I also recommend doing the same thing when you're actually physically working on your computer. So when there is something you have to get done — you need to focus and just really dig into — I highly recommend closing the tabs or even closing your browsers. Completely closing the Facebook tab, closing out your email apps, closing all those things. If you have instant message notifications — whatever it is that takes your attention away — close it. It takes your brain up to 20 minutes to get back to where you began, which means it's taking you two, three, four, five times longer than what it actually should take you to get something completed.

3. Batch work.
And one of the best ways to be productive at work is to batch work. Let's say you need to work on sending follow-ups. Make a list of all the people you need to follow up with, get your brain and body in that frame of mind, and send all those follow-ups at one time. If it's time to do bills, collect all of them, pull all of your numbers, get all your resources ready, and work on nothing but numbers. If your social media has been slacking and you really need to build some content, closeout everything, tuck yourself away, and solely focus on your goals and mission for social.

We make it 10,000 times harder to do anything when we are multitasking on so many things at the same time. Not only are you going to be more productive, but you're going to get some time back and at the end of the day, you can actually go home feeling like you've accomplis