How to Effectively Manage Your Time

Rory Vaden, New York Times Bestselling Author and one of the top 100 leadership speakers, argues that we can multiply time, rather than manage it. That’s because time is always going to just go by whether we like it or not; the only thing we can truly manage is ourselves. We can, though, create more time tomorrow depending on what we choose to do today.

So, how can we behave in a way that allows us to make the most of our time? Or better yet, create more time? This is how you can multiply time, according to Rory Vaden, and become your most productive self:

Step One: Elimination

When looking at your to-do list, check whether any task feels unnecessary. For example, sometimes we do things out of guilt, like accepting a task because you’ll feel bad for saying no. Remember, that by saying yes to one task, you sacrifice the opportunity to say yes to other current or future tasks.

Unnecessary tasks take time and energy, so be sure to drop them and use that time for what truly matters to you.

Step Two: Automation.

Some tasks take up a chunk of our time, but we still do them manually just because they initially require setting up. We forget that the set-up is more or less a one-off ‘big’ task that helps us avoid having multiple ‘smaller’ tasks in the future. See if there are any tasks that can be done through automation, like paying bills for example. Investing some time now to set up an automated system pays off later on.

Step Three: Delegation.

Delegating a task can be challenging because we tell ourselves ‘They won’t do it as well as I would’. Delegation mainly takes trust and patience. Build your trust in your delegate through clear communication and be open to mistakes along the way. They will eventually learn how to do it just right, and you won’t have to worry about that task again.

Step Four: To Postpone or Not to Postpone

If a task isn’t currently urgent, you can postpone it and focus on more important ones first. This is after you decided the task can’t be eliminated, automated or delegated. It’s just a matter of priorities at this point. This isn’t the same as procrastination because it is not something you actually need to be doing now; deciding the right time for a task is an invaluable skill that helps you make the most of your time.