How to have more time in the day?
Very often asked question, and still people find it hard to answer. The problem is that people are not interested in putting effort into managing their time properly.
For instance, how many times you have noticed that you spend 2 hours on TikTok or Netflix or doing some unimportant in general?
It is so natural to these things nowadays that we don’t even realize it. And then we are asking: “how to have more time in the day”?
This just doesn’t make sense. Well, that’s why in this article we go over ways and tips how to have more time in the day.
Why we don't have more time in the day
To be honest, this is kind of a simple thing. When I struggled with not having time, I realized that I wasn’t even focusing on important things.
When people tell you they are busy, meaning you can’t meet up for example. Somehow, they still find a way to scroll social media for couple of hours a day.
This simply means they have no control over their time and actions.
On the flip side, if you end up thinking how to have more time in the day, the answer is simple – EFFECTIVENESS.
If you are effective, meaning you prioritize what is important and stop spending time on pointless things, suddenly you will have a plenty of time out of nowhere.
How to Have More Time in the Day
Having more time in the day is easy when you focus on relevant actions instead of wasting huge amount of time on unimportant things that won’t help you in any way.
Take a moment to internalize the following tips and try them in your daily life.
1. Learn to manage time
When we talk about how to have more time in the day, the very first thing that can make rapid improvements is learning how to manage time.
Managing time is a skill that everyone can work on. When you manage your time properly, you will notice that a task that normally took you 1 hour to complete, takes now only 25 minutes.
Effective time management can definitely make a difference in having more time in the day.
There is a lot great time management content on YouTube as well as a plenty of incredible time management books you can read to boost your time management skills and knowledge.
Read my blog post about the best time management books below:
2. Quit social media
This doesn’t mean you should get rid of social media forever. You can still use it for needed things.
However, if you acknowledge that you spend 2+ hours a day on social media, that’s the first step towards quitting the habit.
Spending too much time on social media kills your creativity and it is easier to complain that life is unfair when you see other successful people achieving their dreams.
Therefore, if you quit pointless social media scrolling, you will have much more time for yourself and you can focus on your own goals.
When you are trying to solve the question “how to have more time in the day”, it is critical to stay away from actions that waste your time.
Tips to QUIT social media:
- Delete apps you don't need
- Limit social media to max 1 hour a day
- Focus on physical activities that give you the same dopamine
3. The 2-minute rule
This is such an effective and simple method to save time. If you don’t use this, even the easiest small tasks build up and you feel that you have a lot to do.
Two-minute rule: If the task takes less than 2 minutes to complete – do it immediately.
This can be very helpful, especially when talking about homework. If it takes less than 2 minutes to prepare your meal, do it immediately.
I learned this rule from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits. Additionally, you can use this rule in a way that you only work on a certain task for two minutes.
The thing is that it will help you to build a habit of doing something important.
4. Have a plan
Having a clear plan is like a golden ticket to having more time in the day.
When you have planned your day, it is easy to start working on tasks you have to. Planning helps to prioritize right actions.
Planning the next day usually takes less than 10 minutes and it would be stupid not to use this method. It is amazingly powerful. I have planned my day every day since I learned this tip.
I suggest to write your plan on a small piece of paper so you can include only the most important actions on the list.
The problem with phone is that you can endlessly add more tasks to your daily plan.
When we talk about how to have more time in the day, planning can save you from doing unimportant things because you know what you have to focus on and prioritize the most.
5. Use Eisenhower matrix
Using the Eisenhower Matrix can really help you to organize your day better as well as save your time if you feel that you don’t have enough time.
This matrix simply helps you to focus and understand which tasks you should complete now, which ones you should schedule and delegate and lastly delete the unimportant tasks.
By using this effectively, you will be able to prioritize the important things and limit the time doing pointless actions such as scrolling phone and watching Netflix.
6. Be more productive
If you feel that you don’t have enough time in the day for yourself, focus on improving your productivity.
If you ask me how to have more time in the day, I would probably answer be more productive. This simply means that you increase your effectiveness.
Complete the important tasks faster without distractions. Give your important tasks singular focus. That instantly increases productivity and makes you more effective.
Increasing productivity is also a skill you can learn through building productive habits. You will notice, if you have been productive throughout the day.
Tips to be more productive to have more time:
- Singular focus
- Have a to-do list
- Wake up early/strong morning routine
Want to increase productivity? Watch my YouTube video about 4 SECRETS of Productive Life HERE!
7. Eliminate
If you are wondering how to have more time in the day, the answer is simple – eliminate.
Eliminating will automatically allow you to have more time in the day.
Just to get you an idea, eliminating all unurgent and unimportant things from your day will save you huge amount of time.
Imagine this: If you spend 2 hours every day doing unimportant things – that’s 14 hours a week. If you eliminated those actions, you would have 14 more hours for yourself.
Things you can eliminate:
- Checking e-mail every hour
- Time spent on phone
- Watching TV
- Doing actions based on emotions
8. Prioritize
If your goal is to have more time in the day, it is crucial that you prioritize the right actions.
If you don’t prioritize the important actions in the first place, you might end up multitasking or doing some pointless things while working on important tasks.
As a result, it will take much more time and drain your energy. Therefore, you have to learn how to prioritize to make sure you stay effective and productive.
When you prioritize, it says that you respect your time and goals because you are focusing on them instead of multitasking or doing things that won’t take you anywhere.
In my experience, prioritizing has helped a lot in having more time to do activities I like. The truth is, once you have prioritized and completed the important tasks, you can freely do what you want.
Whenever I feel how to have more time in the day, I do one thing – prioritizing.
9. Sleep an hour less
This is an effective method to have more time if you are sleeping 8,5-9 hours. If you sleep 7 hours, you should not cut your sleep to 6 hours.
However, if you usually sleep 9 hours, it can be worth trying that you aim for 8 hours of sleep.
When you sleep an hour less, you are more likely to wake up earlier as well.
When you wake up early, you are much more likely to be more productive and therefore have more time during the day.
Play around with this and see what works for you.
10. Schedule your tasks
One secret to how to have more time in the day is scheduling your tasks. This is a bit more of advanced time management technique, but you can start using it today.
When you schedule your tasks, it means you stick to your plan and your number priority is to complete your most important actions.
Scheduling becomes easier when you have built a habit of it.
At first, it might be a bit hard to estimate how long each task will take. Generally speaking, scheduling increases your productivity and ensures you make progress every day.
By scheduling your tasks, you are more likely to have more free time as well.
Schedule example:
- 7-8 AM Wake up & morning routine
- 8-9.45 AM Write a blog post
- 10-11.45 AM Video Editing
- 12-12.30 PM Lunch
- 1-3 PM Work
- 3.30-5 PM Workout
- 6-9 PM Dinner, Shower & Bedtime
11. Stop multitasking
Another tip for how to have more time in the day is stop multitasking. When you stop multitasking, you instantly free your time up.
Multitasking is bad for creativity and productivity. Answering e-mails, writing a blog post and eating at the same time is not the way to go. Doing multiple things at once eats your time.
You are much more effective when you focus on one task at a time. And believe me, you won’t only complete tasks faster when you quit multitasking, but you also get better results.
Multitasking makes you feel busy and gives a false sense of working hard on important things when in reality you are ruining your important task by doing other unnecessary things at the same time.
12. Use a calendar
Using a calendar is a great way to avoid unwanted actions. Moreover, if you forget something, you have it in your calendar as a reminder.
In addition, using calendar forces us to spend time more wisely and productively, especially if you have an important meeting or a call at some point of the day for instance.
Another trick I sometimes used on calendar was I added an event that was called “how to have more time in the day”.
Whenever I saw it, it immediately helped me to get back to work and prioritize the important tasks.
Don’t underestimate the power of using calendar. Speaking about managing time properly, make sure to read my post about best time management apps for personal use.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is a plenty of ways how to have more time in the day. To be honest, everyone of us has 24 hours a day.
Some people just know how to manage their time effectively. That’s the key for getting more done productively and having more time for yourself.
The biggest factor is to take action. Nothing will change if you keep living the next week like you did this week.
Having more time in the day becomes easy when you prioritize the important tasks first, wake up earlier and eliminate things you don’t need.
When it comes to time management, it’s not only about how to have more time in the day but how to make progress in a way that takes less time.
