5 Hacks to Create More Time in Your Day

The trouble is that many people don’t work as efficiently as they could. With a few quick hacks it is possible to free up more time in the day than you might have thought possible. Here at WTTB, we have to be really efficient to deal with all the orders and enquiries that we love receiving. So here are five of our favourite time-saving hacks.

There are numerous studies that show that you lose time if you switch between tasks too often. A 2001 study showed that you can lose as much as 40% of your productivity when you switch tasks. Even worse, according to a University of California Irvine study, “it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task” after an interruption or switching. So it’s important to keep your focus.

If you have a busy day ahead of you, you will find that are much more productive if you batch what you are doing. So, where possible, try to carry out separate sessions on sales, chasing artwork, placing orders and carrying out invoicing. We can take this even further:

It’s hard to stay focussed when you are being constantly bombarded by calls and e-mails. However, you don’t have to answer everyone straight away. Try to carry out, for instance, all your invoicing without answering calls or e-mails. Instead, respond to all your messages when you come to switch tasks. There are rarely any enquiries that can’t wait for an hour. Here’s a handy tip to make this easier:

It can be hard to work at a task when you know there’s a message waiting to be answered. So switch off your phone. And turn off your e-mail notifications. Make sure you turn off other notifications as well. There are also a number of programmes around that allow to set quiet time on your computer and other devices. They can stop you from accessing certain programmes for set amounts of time. This means that if you are tempted to spend a few minutes scanning social media, it’s just not possible. Here’s a handy list of programmes and apps that help with this. Apps can help with another timesaving opportunity as well.

We all spend far too much time typing the same things again and again. But did you know that you can set up keyboard shortcuts that allow you to type phrases, complete sentences and even entire e-mails with just a few keystrokes? This is possible on most Mac and PC operating systems. But if you want to take things further then you can invest in some really clever programmes that will drastically cut down on your keyboard time. Here’s a list for Windows devices and here’s a list for Apple devices.

Our final hack has nothing to do with scheduling or software.

Let your customers and suppliers know what is and what is not possible. If you are realistic with them, you will save a lot of wasted calls and e-mails when you have to reschedule. If you are up against it, tell your customers: many may be able to give you some extra time. A quick conversation can save a late night that may not even have been necessary.

You may be surprised at the amount of extra time you can create. Wouldn’t it be nice to leave work a little earlier sometimes?