In our quest to optimize productivity, we often scrutinize the more conspicuous time-drains – an hour on social media or an evening binge-watching TV. Yet, the subtle, seemingly insignificant micro timewasters silently chip away at our precious time each day, accumulating into substantial losses over weeks, months, and years.

Seize control of your time and envision the remarkable achievements possible within those fleeting moments. What truly matters to you could materialize if you safeguard your time from the clutches of micro timewasters. Here are strategies to shield your time:

1. Strategically Placed Phone Chargers: Ensure you always have a phone charger within arm’s reach. Having multiple chargers strategically located in your frequented spaces not only saves you the time spent hunting for one but also preserves your thoughts and workflow from unnecessary disruptions.
   
2. Swift Internet Speed: Time spent waiting for a webpage to load or a movie to stream adds up. If you notice sluggish internet, consider it a silent thief of your time.
   
3. Email Management: The seemingly harmless 10-second email check can derail your concentration. Responding to one might lead to discovering more tasks, or worse, an adorable cat video link could send you down a rabbit hole. Exercise caution to prevent these distractions.
   
4. Beverage Accessibility: Minimize the number of times you rise from your desk for a drink by keeping a beverage nearby. A sip and back to work without unnecessary interruptions.
   
5. Healthy Snack Preparation: Keep nutritious snacks readily available to avoid time-consuming trips to the vending machine. Unplanned encounters and prolonged absences can be sidestepped by having healthy options at arm’s length.
   
6. Weekend Gas Refills: Eliminate Tuesday morning rush-induced stress by refueling your car over the weekend. Planning ahead prevents unnecessary delays during your commute.
   
7. Efficient Meal Planning: Streamline your meal-related activities by going to the store once a week. Opt for quick and easy-to-prepare meals that require minimal cleanup, saving you significant time otherwise spent on meal-related tasks.
   
8. Organized Essentials: Prevent the scavenger hunt for misplaced items by designating specific places for your essentials. Keep your keys in the decorative bowl, pens on your desk, and shoes where they belong.

As you eliminate major time-wasters, focus on identifying these inconspicuous moments that collectively exert a substantial impact on your life. Recognize that each interruption not only steals time but disrupts your focus and momentum. Safeguard your time zealously, as it is the key to unlocking the life you truly desire.

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Are you striving to be more productive? If so, these tips can help you to get up early so that you can take advantage of those early morning hours and enjoy greater productivity. 

It’s important to remember, though, that getting up earlier won’t benefit you if you’re suffering from sleep deprivation. Ensure that you get 7-8 hours of good quality sleep each night. You may need to retire earlier at night in order to get the rest you need. 

Going to bed earlier likely won’t cut down on your productivity, because most of us aren’t particularly productive in the late evening hours as we relax after the day’s work is done. 

Consider these motivation tips to get your day started off on the right foot: 

1. Grab a good coffee machine. This is perhaps the most effective way to wake up early – especially when the coffee is good. If you’re not a coffee drinker, the point here is to enjoy a warm and refreshing beverage to start your day. 

2. Eat some fruit. Many people are unsure about which foods to eat in the morning. If you’re looking to get an early start on your day, eating fruit can be one of the better ways to start your metabolism. 

• Fruit has very fast-digesting sugars and complex carbohydrates to provide great sources of energy. 

3. Set your alarm 15 minutes earlier each day. One of the biggest difficulties you may face with getting up earlier is that you may try to wake up at the crack of dawn on the first day, feel exhausted, and then give up quickly. 

• Instead of that self-defeating process, try setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier each day or so until you reach the time at which you’d like to get up. This will help your body to become accustomed to your new sleep/wake times without such a shock. 
• When you do this incrementally, your body might not even notice the change. If 15 minutes is too large a change for you, try 10 or even 5 minutes earlier each day. 

4. Turn off the alarm. Once your body becomes accustomed to your new time for waking up, you can turn off the alarm. This will help to teach your body (especially if you don’t have morning appointments) to wake up at the same time without the annoying, loud sound of an alarm. 

5. Set morning goals. Once you’re up early, it’s time for you to start getting some extra work done. For your best results, create a to-do list each evening. That way you already have your tasks set out for you each morning when you wake up, so you can get started right away. 

Waking up early is one aspect of our lives that we can all work on, but it can be difficult to get started. Take your time to work on a new schedule and allow yourself to feel comfortable with an early start. Chances are, your body will love it. 

The post 5 Motivation Tips to Help You Wake Up Early and Enjoy Greater Productivity appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

So what can you do to become more organized at home? 

Try this process to turn your home into a clutter-free space that you’ll want to come home to: 

1. Plan ahead. Buy supplies and make a to do list. 

• Picture each room and figure out if you’ll want to acquire anything to organize that room, such as baskets, bins, or boxes. Get these items ahead of time so that you won’t have to stop and go get them while you’re working on the room. 
• List each room of your house and then prioritize your list. Which room do you most want to get organized? This room will be your first priority. Completing just this one room will make you feel so good that you’ll want to go on and do the rest of the house. 

2. Start with a task that will motivate you to continue. The hardest part of any new project is taking the first step. Many people feel that tackling the hardest job first and getting that out of the way will motivate them, while others choose an easier task to ease into the project. 

• Neither option is right or wrong. Whichever option will get you to make that first step is the best option for you. 

3. Avoid taking too much on. It can be tempting to spend the entire weekend cleaning and organizing your household. However, if you don’t finish, you may feel as though you’ve failed, and the effort was for nothing. 

• Instead, focus on smaller tasks that will take at most 3 hours, such as cleaning a cupboard or one room. These smaller tasks will be easier to complete and will motivate you to complete a second task or more. 
• All of these smaller tasks will soon add up to something substantial as you complete more and more of them. 

4. Put on some music and have fun! It has been shown that music can motivate you to get moving. 

• Organizing your home doesn’t have to be all work and no play! Feel free to dance to your favorite tunes as you sweep or pick up. A broom can easily suffice as a microphone if you want to sing. 

5. Designate a specific place for each item that will stay in that room. This is where extra baskets or boxes will come in handy. As you organize each room, put each item in its place. 

6. Complete one room before going on to another. This method will also motivate you to keep going. When you finish a room completely, you’ll feel good in the room, and you’ll feel good about yourself! Claim those good feelings and be proud of yourself for what you’ve done! 

• On the other hand, if you leave some items undone when you go on to another room, these unfinished tasks are likely to nag at you, and then the whole project becomes tedious because it may seem like nothing is getting done, in spite of your hard work. 

7. Be quick about getting rid of the stuff you don’t want. As you organize, you’ll no doubt come across things that you no longer want or need. If you don’t get rid of them quickly, they will start to be reabsorbed into the household. Throw away, sell, give away, or donate these items right away as you finish each room. 

8. Reward yourself. Once you’ve started organizing, motivate yourself to keep going with small rewards as you complete each room. Rather than buying something material, which can add to the clutter, consider something else that pleases you, like a nice meal or some fresh flowers. 

The trick now is to avoid cluttering up your home again! 

When you’re done organizing, there will be a place for everything, and everything will be in its place. Keep it that way by putting things back whenever you’re done with them. Take a few minutes each day to tidy up. 

Be thoughtful of what you buy. Before you buy something new, ask yourself whether you need it. Does it even have a purpose? Do you have a place for it? It may be best to wait a day or two before you actually decide if you want it. 

It may take some effort to get organized, but it will be well worth it when you start to experience the benefits of a clutter-free home. 

The post A Foolproof Process to Help You Organize Your Home appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

You can successfully manage your belongings and turn your home into the sanctuary you seek with these suggestions:

Gather three or four cardboard boxes to use as sorting containers. Then, grab a pen and paper and do a walkthrough of your home.

Focus on one room at a time. Right now, don’t concern yourself with the entire house – just the room you’re in.

Make notes. As you look around the room, make notes about areas needing better organization. You’re compiling a task list.

For example, maybe you have clothing and books piled on a chair and want the chair to be clear of all items. Record this in your notebook.

If you feel overwhelmed by the prospect of straightening the entire room, focus on just one wall or corner of the room. Confidently tell yourself you’ll eventually get through the whole room. Right now, though, you only have to think about this wall or corner. 4. When can you start? Determine when you can begin the de-cluttering and re-organizing process. Ideally, start as soon as you complete your list. If that doesn’t fit with your schedule, find a block of time each day to tackle listed tasks.

For example, if you have an extra thirty minutes before leaving for work, make that time count by completing one or two tasks on your task list.

Plan your process. Once you’ve scheduled the time to take action, you can decide how to go about organizing the room.

The first method is to follow your list from top to bottom. Begin with the first item you noted and work on that particular task.

Using the piled chair example, remove items and put them away until the chair is clear. Hang up clothes or place them in the laundry bin or in drawers. Put books on shelves or your desk. Then, go to the next item on the list.

The second method is to prioritize the areas and tasks you listed by numbering them in the order of importance. Start your work with the task you prioritized as #1 and continue on down the list.

Regardless of the method selected, take a garbage can or bag into the room before you start. You’ll no doubt find items you no longer need and wish to discard.

Complete your listed tasks one by one. Don’t start on the next task until you’ve finished the one you’re on.

Keep at it. If you think you’ll become distracted, set a timer (on your watch or cell phone) and vow to continue organizing the room until the timer sounds.

A place for everything. You might notice some items that don’t have a specific storage spot. Designated storage places are important to being organized.

Knowing the location of something is far more efficient than having to look all over the house or in every drawer.

Place these belongings in a cardboard box labeled “Need a storage place.” You’ll get to these items later.

Label your boxes and begin sorting. Label one box “Donate” for items you want to give to your local charity. Designate another box “Unsure” for items you aren’t sure you want to keep. Use these sorting strategies to organize and dispose of belongings you no longer want.

When you’ve completed all listed tasks, the room is organized. It’s time to find storage solutions and space for the items in your “Need a storage place” box.

Store similar items together.

Feel free to place items no longer wanted into your “Donate” box.

Throw away belongings you no longer need if they can’t be donated. 10. Follow through with every room. Now that you’ve organized the first room of the house, apply these steps for each room one at a time. Your goal is to find a place for all belongings and donate or throw away items you don’t want to keep. • When your “Donate” box is full, take it to a local charity. The path toward organizing your home leads you through many challenges. Following these steps will help you achieve your goal of having a clutter-free and organized home. When you’re done, you can relax and bask in the sanctuary you’ve created!

The post Organize Your Home Today appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

There are only so many hours in the day. You can’t store it, nor can you borrow more for later. 

Only you can decide what you spend your time on. Naturally, you’ll want to spend your time on things that add value to your life. But with life being so busy in these modern times, what with jobs, kids, and other activities, how can you have time for those things that matter the most to you? 

Luckily, you can use time management techniques that are tailor-made for busy people. Discover techniques that help simplify how you work, ensuring that you get tasks done more efficiently and giving you more time for whatever you choose. 

See how these techniques can free up your time: 

1. Organize your work around your energy levels. Your productivity levels are directly related to your energy levels, so schedule your hardest tasks for when your energy levels are at their highest. 

• Any low-value tasks that require little energy, such as responding to emails, can be scheduled for the times when your energy levels are lower. 

2. Make a plan for the day. Before you go to bed, write a to-do list for the next day. When you plan ahead, you’re mentally preparing yourself for any challenges you may face. 

• This will also help to limit procrastination at the start of the day and ensure that you work faster and more efficiently. 

3. Start your day with the most important task. When you start the day off by completing your most important task, you’ll give yourself a boost of momentum and a real sense of accomplishment. 

4. Prioritize tasks. When every task is a priority, nothing is. Urgent tasks should be the highest priority, then look at any high-value tasks, while relegating low-priority tasks to the back of the queue. 

5. Learn to outsource. You don’t have to complete every task yourself. Especially those low-priority tasks. Sometimes it’s better to outsource these tasks, so you can focus your attention on the more pressing tasks. 

6. Automate repetitive tasks. Nowadays there is technology available that can help automate many of your tasks. There are tools to schedule your social media postings, create canned email responses, and automatically fill in online forms at the touch of a button. 

• Automating these tasks could save you hours a week.

7. Cut out distractions. When you are distracted, it can take a while to get your focus back. This can greatly limit your productivity.

• Consider turning off the notifications on your phone. 
• Invest in a pair of headphones, as this makes others less likely to approach you when you have them on. 
• Browsing social media is a big distraction and should really be avoided if you want to increase productivity. 

8. Realize that things don’t need to be perfect. It’s easy to get caught up in trying to make everything perfect. However, perfectionism will slow you down and could result in deadlines being missed. 

• Having the attitude of “that’ll do” will save valuable time. Your work will be adequate, and you’ll finish in less time. 

To start, try each of these techniques. Once you find those that work best for your situation, use them daily. Your productivity will increase, and you’ll save precious time in your busy life, giving you the time to do what matters most to you. 

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Time is the one factor that no one can beat. No one can create time. Everyone is limited to 24 hours each day. You can only make the most of the time you have each day. How well do you use your time? How much do you accomplish each day? 

Imagine how your life would transform if you were significantly more productive. How would that affect your bank account and your life overall? 

The power to be more productive is within your grasp: 

1. Know your goals. It’s hard to be productive if you’re not 100% clear on your objective. That means knowing what you’re trying to accomplish over the next hour, day, week, month, year, or even several years out. 

• Each time you decide how you’re going to spend your time, you’re either making progress toward something important or you’re not. Even if you’re making progress, are you sure you’re making progress toward the right thing? 

2. Have a plan. Try a little experiment. For the next week, avoid going to bed until you’ve made a fairly detailed plan of what you’re going to do the next day. Plan out your day instead of waking up in the morning and trying to figure it out on the fly. 

• Notice how much more you get done. You’ll be hooked on living your life this way. 

3. Stop wasting time. When you sit down to work for an hour, how much time do you actually spend working? 

• After you subtract out the time you spend daydreaming, checking your phone, reading an email, using the restroom, getting a drink, staring out the window, and having a quick chat, you’re probably doing a lot less than an hour of work. 
• Set a timer for an hour and decide to spend the entire time working. 

You’ll be stunned by how much more productive you are. 

4. Get help. You don’t have to do it all alone. Delegate. Ask for help. You can get a lot more accomplished with another set of hands. Avoid being embarrassed to ask for assistance when you need it. 

• Be especially motivated to ask for help with things outside your area of expertise. You can save a ton of time this way and perform at a much higher level. 

5. Get an early start. The most productive people tend to get up early and get busy early. Consider getting out of bed earlier and accomplishing something worthwhile while the rest of the world is still asleep. 

• The momentum this creates is hard to believe. It’s not easy to get out of bed earlier, but it’s a power tactic. 

6. Improve your ability to focus. Staying on task is an important skill. A lack of focus leads to wasting time. You can only become good at focus if you practice. Set a timer and focus 100% for 10 minutes. Once you can do that consistently, shoot for 15 minutes. See how much you can improve over time. 

7. Identify the most important tasks. You can be working on the right thing but fail to make significant progress. There are plenty of things you can do to get in shape or to market your business. However, some of those tasks are much more effective than others! Spend your time on the most relevant tasks. 

Productivity is about using your time as wisely as possible. This requires knowing your goals, creating a plan, and focus. Identify the most important tasks based on your goals and spend most of your time doing those things each day. Anyone can be productive, but not everyone will be productive. 

What are you trying to accomplish? 

The post 7 Simple Ways to Make Your Life More Productive appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

Are you always wishing you had more time available to you? The truth is, you probably have plenty of time. You’re just not focused, and you’re not using your time wisely. 

Everyone receives 24 hours each day. There’s a reason why some people are accomplishing much more than you are and are still able to be on time for all of their commitments. 

These reasons could be why you never have enough time: 

1. You fail to prioritize. What’s the most important activity you must do in order for you to accomplish your objective? If you’re not asking yourself this question regularly, you’re not getting the most bang for your time and effort. It’s easy to stay very busy but fail to accomplish much. 

• Ask yourself, “What is the most important thing I need to accomplish?”
• Then ask yourself, “What is the best way for me to accomplish that?” 

2. You waste time. This could be due to procrastination. It could be due to inefficient work habits. 

• Make the choice to avoid wasting time, period.

3. You’re disorganized. When you’re not organized, everything takes longer than it should. You spend time looking for a pair of clean socks, your car keys, searching for files on your computer, and trying to pull off things at the last minute. 

• Disorganized people never seem to have enough time, and they’re frequently late with their work. 

• Make an effort to organize your life and yourself. There are many resources dedicated to organization. Use them. 

4. You have too many distractions in your life. It could be low-quality social interactions, TV, needlepoint, your baseball card collection, noisy kids, clutter, or your prize-winning rose bushes. Having too many things in your life takes too much time. 

• Remove the things from your life that are unnecessary. Minimize the distractions you can’t remove, like your noisy children! 

5. You don’t start your day early enough. Most of us do little in the evening. That time is largely wasted just lying around the house or staring at your phone. That’s why so many highly successful people skip the evening hours by going to bed and waking up extra early. 

• Your brain tends to shut down by the late afternoon, whether you started your day at 9:00AM or 5:00AM. Give yourself a few extra productive hours by getting up early and going to bed early. 

6. You fail to track your time. Track how you spend your time each day. Switch tasks when appropriate so everything receives the time it requires. 

• Keep a simple journal and make a record each hour of how you spent the last 60 minutes. 

7. You don’t have a plan for your day. Your day shouldn’t be random or determined on the fly. To get the most out of your time, it’s necessary to have a plan for the day. 

• Make a detailed plan for your day before you go to bed. Spend your day executing that plan as well as you can. 

8. You’re not focused. You’ve been told to “focus” or “concentrate” since you started kindergarten. Too bad the education system never taught you how. If you sit down to work on something for an hour, how many minutes is your attention truly focused on that task? 

• You probably have plenty of time to accomplish everything you need to do each day, but you just need to focus at a higher level. Practice meditation. Practice focusing on whatever it is you’re doing. Focus is built through practice. 

Make the most of your time by prioritizing, removing distractions, and learning how to focus. You have all the time you need, if you’re willing to make the necessary adjustments to yourself and your life. 

You have 24 hours each day. Ensure that you’re using them wisely! 

The post Why You Never Have Enough Time and How to Overcome It appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

By now, you may agree with the research about how taking breaks helps you to reduce stress and be more productive. However, you can still wind up reaching the end of your day and realizing that you forgot about the downtime. 

Granted, it’s difficult to step away if you’re performing surgery or putting out house fires. However, most of us have some leeway to catch our breath at work and home. 

Before you spend another day toiling nonstop, consider these suggestions. Find out how to take more breaks and make them more effective. 

Taking More Breaks: 

1. Plan your schedule.Put breaks on your calendar instead of expecting them to happen spontaneously. Block out time for rest, just like you would do for a meeting. 

2. Experiment with timing. There are many theories about how long a break ought to be. Two popular strategies call for taking 5 minutes off every 25 minutes or 17 minutes off every hour. Test different options until you find what works best for you. 

3. Use technology. Various programs and devices can help you. Set an alarm on your watch or download an app for your phone. 

4. Create a trigger. You can also jog your memory offline. Tie a purple ribbon around your wrist or put a banana next to your laptop. Each time you look at them, you’ll remember to pause. 

5. Contemplate your purpose. Strengthening your intentions increases the chances that you’ll follow through. Spend a few minutes before bed thinking about why you want to take more breaks. 

6. Keep at it. It takes time to form a new habit. With enough practice, you may automatically recognize when you need to take a break. 

Making Breaks More Effective: 

1. Move around. Use your breaks to get some exercise. Stand up and stretch in between phone calls. Take a lunch time yoga class. Put on some music and dance when you’re doing your taxes at home. 

2. Go outside. Appreciating nature can energize and relax you.Go for a walk around the block. If you can’t leave the building, look out a window. 

3. Rest your eyes. Do exercises to relieve eye strain if you’ve been on your computer most of the day. Roll your eyes clockwise and counterclockwise. Rub your hands together until they’re warm and press them gently over your eyes. 

4. Take a nap. If you’re sleep deprived, you may need something more intense. Some companies like Google and Nike even offer sleep pods and nap rooms. 

5. Be social. Do a little networking during your downtime. Visit a coworker’s office for a chat or invite a new hire out for coffee. 

6. Eat light. Healthy snacks can help you refuel. Keep supplies like nuts and yogurt drinks in your desk and office refrigerator. 

7. Meditate briefly. Even a few minutes of meditation can have a profound impact on your mood and performance. Close your office door and gather your thoughts. Ask your employer to offer a mindfulness break in the conference room after lunch for anyone who wants to participate. 

8. Help others. Performing acts of kindness will make you more cheerful and motivated. Put your housework or expense reports aside for a few minutes. Call an elderly relative or buy donuts for the office. 

9. Think positive. Your breaktime activities can be anything that gives you a boost. Maybe you like watching and sharing funny cat videos. Maybe you like learning to speak Hungarian or playing the harmonica. 

Take care of your health and accomplish more by taking regular breaks. You’ll feel happier and increase your concentration. 

The post Learn How You Can Take More Breaks and Make Them More Effective appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

Do you tell yourself that you’ll get started on your big plans at some future date? You can start a business after the kids graduate from college? Or, maybe you’ll just wait until Memorial Day to begin your exercise program. We’ve all done it. There always seems to be a good reason not to get started right here and now. 

Are you sure you know the real reason you’re waiting? If you’re waiting to begin pursuing your dreams, you’re likely just procrastinating! 

Consider these excuses. Is one of them yours? 

1. You’re waiting for the perfect time. Are you waiting for the stars to align and the heavens to tap you on the shoulder and give you permission? You’ll be waiting for a long time. The time will never be perfect to get started on something significant, so just get started. 

2. You’re waiting for something else to happen first. Maybe you’re waiting for the kids to move out or for the mortgage to be paid off. Or you’re waiting until your next promotion. Or you’re waiting until your parents pass away. 

3. You’re waiting until you have more money. Regardless of your budget, there’s something you can do to get started today. Even if it’s just doing research and learning new skills, you can do something. There’s never enough money. You’ll find the money you need along the way. 

4. You’re waiting for Monday, or the first of the month, or the first of the year. So many people wait until Monday to start a diet, or the first of the month to begin an exercise routine. There’s nothing magical about any date on the calendar. The calendar is a man-made invention. There’s no reason to be bound by it. 

• Will you get more accomplished if you start today or wait three weeks? 

5. You’re waiting until you know more. Some people believe they need to know every shred of information related to their quest before they can get started. This simply isn’t true. It’s a procrastination technique. You don’t need to know a lot to begin. 

6. You don’t really think you’ll be successful. It makes sense that you won’t get started if you believe you can’t be successful. This is a sign that you might need to start with a smaller objective. A perfect goal is one that you believe you can achieve that also excites you. 

• In this case, address the underlying issue instead of stalling. 

7. You’re afraid you will be successful. Many people are afraid of success. They’re comfortable with their current situation even if they don’t like it. They would rather have predictable misery than uncertain success. There’s no way to predict 100% what your life will be like if you’re successful. 

• Focus on the positive aspects of achieving success. List out all of the benefits and visualize yourself enjoying those benefits. 

8. You’re scared. If you’re honest with yourself, this is the most likely reason you’re postponing the pursuit of your dreams. Whether you dread the feeling of being hungry on a diet, sweating on a treadmill, or making a fool out of yourself with a failed business, you’re simply afraid. 

• Make yourself more afraid of doing nothing. Imagine how terrible it would be to waste your life. Think about how awful it would be to never test yourself or to never have a chance of living your dreams. 

In most cases, it’s better to get started immediately, rather than waiting for just the right time to get started. Even a little progress is better than no progress. Have faith in yourself and jump in with both feet. 

You can’t be successful if you don’t get started. Your dreams are waiting for you. 

The post Why You’re Still Waiting to Get Started on Your Dreams appeared first on DuckboardsAndStilts.com.

We spend a lot of time waiting. We wait for people to meet us at a restaurant. We wait at the dentist’s office. We wait for meetings to start. We wait in line at the store. We wait in traffic. There’s a lot of waiting going on over the course of a year. 

Imagine what you could accomplish with that time if you used it well. You could learn a ton of things. You could also accomplish a lot and enjoy more free time at the end of your day. 

Put your waiting time to good use with these strategies: 

1. Make phone calls. Why not get caught up on your phone calls while you’re just waiting? There never seems to be enough time to make all the necessary phone calls. Business or pleasure, it’s your choice. 

• Your mom would like to hear from you. When did you last call your best friend? 

2. Answer emails. This is easier to do in public than making phone calls. Of course, making phone calls is easier in the car than responding to emails. Get caught up on your emails instead of just sitting in the doctor’s office. Make the time count. 

3. Make plans. Whether you need to make plans for the weekend or a grocery list, you can do some constructive planning while you wait. Successful businesses have been planned with a few spare minutes here and there. Imagine what you could do if you never wasted any of the time you spend waiting. 

4. Meditate. It can be hard to find time to meditate. Sitting in the examination room while you wait for the doctor is a great time to meditate. It seems like you’ll have at least 20 minutes to yourself. With practice, you can meditate while you stand in line at the store, too! 

5. Read. Carry a book with you. A tablet reader, or even your phone, can be a great way to read a book or an article. You can learn something while you’re just sitting there waiting. Or, you might prefer to read the classics. The choice is yours. 

• The time will pass whether you’re doing something constructive or not, so you may as well learn something while you wait. 

6. Listen to something useful. What’s “useful” is up to you. A soothing song, a book on tape, or a lecture on YouTube can all be great ways to use your waiting time. It’s like reading, only less work, and you can close your eyes. 

7. Relax. Just close your eyes if possible and enjoy a few minutes of peace. You can daydream, focus on your breathing, or enjoy the scenery. Taking a few minutes to unwind can be a big relief. 

8. Make a friend. Use the time to socialize. You might make a friend or at least have an interesting conversation. You can work on your social skills, too. People engage in much less face-to-face communication today. You can do your part to revive the art of conversation. 

9. Visualize being successful. Think of this as intentional daydreaming. Imagine yourself accomplishing your goals and focus on how good it feels. Doing this several times a day for just a few minutes add up! You’ll notice results if you’re consistent. 

How much time do you spend waiting in a year? Think about it and take an educated guess. What could you have accomplished with that time? What did you actually do with all that time? 

Refuse to give up even a minute of your time to waiting. Make the most of your day by utilizing every minute you can. 

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My days are filled with activities that encourage efficient use of my time. When I practice healthy habits, I am able to be more productive each day. 

My most important healthy habit is getting enough sleep. I allow myself to get sufficient rest regardless of what my day looks like. Resting well gives me the energy required to make the most of the day ahead. 

A good diet is also essential for productivity. When I include vegetables and fiber in my diet, I am less sluggish. My mind is clear when I feed my body right. 

I avoid having meaningless discussions with friends and acquaintances. Although light conversation helps me to de-stress, I stay away from gossiping about the actions of others. 

When I avoid counter-productive habits, I have more time in my day to produce results. 

My targets at work are attainable because I prioritize. Critical assignments get first priority. Spending more time on larger projects allows me to get significant things done for the company. It also allows me to have pockets of time for achieving smaller goals in between. 

I end each day with exercise because it helps me to unwind. Taking the time to treat my body well is important to preparing for the challenges that lie ahead. 

Today, I make a conscious effort to practice healthy habits. I embrace the things that help me to feel rewarded at the end of each day. 

Self-Reflection Questions: 

1. How much room do I leave in each day to learn something new?
   
2. How do I use my spare time?
   
3. What habits can I practice to ensure I stay committed to being productive?
   

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If you didn’t procrastinate, you’d be one of the most powerful people in the world. You’d utilize your time effectively and get a lot of things done each day. Over time, that’s an incredibly powerful way to live. 

Unfortunately, we all seem to have a villain inside that tries to thwart our plans at every turn. He makes every other activity seem so enjoyable and the thing we need to do so unenjoyable. 

Procrastination can be an incredibly challenging obstacle to overcome. 

Deal with your procrastination and beat the villain inside with these strategies: 

1. Do the task immediately. The longer you think about doing something, the more reasons your mind will invent to keep you from doing it. Have you ever noticed how you get a great idea, but then you talk yourself out of doing it? It’s the same idea. 

• Before you have a chance to think about it, just do it. The longer you linger, ponder, think, relax, or stall, the less likely you’ll be to do anything. You only have a few seconds to take action before your brain will start getting in your way. 1-2-3-GO! 

2. Set a time limit. This can be especially helpful when tackling a big task. Rather than trying to do it all at once, tell yourself that you’ll work for an hour, or 30 minutes, or whatever works for you. Knowing that you have a set ending point can ease the challenge of getting started. 

• Once you get busy, you might find that you just keep on working after the time has expired. 
• Using a timer is also a great way to focus your attention. It’s interesting how much more you can accomplish when you’re racing against the clock. 

3. Only do a tiny bit.Getting started is often the most difficult part. Make it so easy to get started that you can’t possibly fail. Need to write a history paper for school or a report for work? Tell yourself that you’re just going to do one paragraph. If that’s too hard, make it a single sentence. 

• Again, after you get started, you might decide to keep on going. It’s amazing what a little momentum can do. 

4. Start with the big items. We like to start the day with the easy things, the things that won’t take too much time. Unfortunately, the longer you put off doing the bigger stuff, the harder it is to get started on it. 

• Avoid this situation by attacking those bigger, less pleasant tasks first thing in the morning. Save the easy stuff for later in the day. You’ll be able to have a more peaceful afternoon. 

5. Figure out your primary distractions at the moment and do them later. Those distractions can be so appealing. Whether it’s texting your friend about the weekend or playing a few more games of Candy Crush, distractions are more enjoyable than doing what actually needs to be done. 

• Use your distractions as rewards. Tell yourself you can do the thing you really want to do after you get a certain amount of work completed. You’ll get your work done and still have fun before the day is over. 

How much do you procrastinate? How much does it impact your life? What could you accomplish if you could greatly reduce your procrastination? 

There are many strategies for dealing with procrastination. The trick is to figure out which one works most effectively for you. Try the methods above and any other methods that appeal to you. Decide for yourself how to best manage your procrastination tendencies. 

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