There is nothing sweeter than TIME
Shannon Snell shares her top 10 personal routines for maximizing time as a busy entrepreneur, business owner, and mom — from goal-setting and timer productivity to delegation, partner roles, and the power of saying no.
As a Mom of 3 (soon to be 5), business owner x2, wife, friend plus more, I am often asked “how do you find the time for it all”?
The answer: without complete devotion and intention to maximizing time given to you, you will find you never have enough.
My Top 10 Routines to Maximize Time
1. Setting goals.
I am a list person (not paper, app list because well…efficiency!). I have immediate goals (will be completed within 30 days) as well as pipe dreams in my “parking lot.” These are reviewed before I close my computer in the evening and first thing in the morning. Having an immediate list of a task that needs to be tackled next reduces the amount of time trying to decide what is my next priority.
2. Being present where my feet are.
The workday is the workday, family time is family time. Work schedules can be a normal schedule during the week, or they can extend into an evening or weekend. Neither is harmful, but what is harmful is trying to dedicate your mental energy to both at the same time. Did I mention this is also “inefficient” and rapidly deteriorates…time. Be fully present where your feet are.
3. Reduce time on TV/social media.
Reaching professional and personal goals requires work. Everyone needs R&R, but I have to accept the trade off that comes with it — lack of productivity. Reducing evening TV to weekends has helped to re-direct my brain to attempting Mom tasks and work tasks after the kiddos go down.
4. Timer productivity.
To assist with productivity while at my desk, I am known for timer utilization to achieve “flow state of mind.” I will set my alarm for 1 hour and 15 minutes (seems to be my sweet spot). During this time, I am fully dedicated to my task — outlook is offline and phone is on airplane mode. When my timer is up, I set it for 15 minutes to get up, do a house chore, eat, or refill my beverage, then back at it. Focused timed tasks avoid falling into the trap of Parkinson’s Law and eliminate distractions.
5. Learning in pockets of time that are gifted to us.
Getting ready for the day, doing dishes, cooking, time spent in the car…or even the car wash at that. We are all gifted pockets of time throughout the day which I take full advantage of by listening to an audiobook or podcast. Harness the power of what Tony Robbins calls N.E.T time (no extra time). Capitalize on this concept and you will find yourself finishing 1–2 books a month.
6. Sleep.
I’ve ditched the mentality of getting minimal sleep, pulling all-nighters and cracking my computer open after 10:00 pm. I substituted that with 7–8 full hours of sleep. My productivity skyrocketed. Plan out your sleep to a healthy amount and save time by being more productive in exchange throughout the day.
7. Morning routine — move my body.
After my youngest was born, I vowed to start each morning with a full workout and have diligently followed a 6-day-a-week plan of strength training and agility exercise before the house wakes up. Interestingly enough, the healthier I get the more productive I am and the more money I make — who would have thought?!
8. Delegate.
Tasks such as cleaning, grocery shopping and sometimes…cooking are outsourced. None of those tasks personally bring me joy, they take time away from work, kids, family and friends. All costs are re-couped during my maximum productivity practices during the day, and it is money well spent.
9. Partner roles.
My husband and I share several Google calendars and have identified our strengths as homeowners and parents. Establishing roles reduces arguments that surround “who does what” and saves time by working together efficiently.
Single parents — hats off to you accomplishing all of the above solo and reaching your goals!
10. Saying no.
My annual calendar audit — looking through the past year on January 1st helps to identify trends that are no longer serving my goals. These could be outings with friends, business meetings, partnerships and affiliations that take up time, but aren’t providing self-fulfillment in return. Saying no frees up time to dedicate elsewhere.
I hope these 10 routines help in your journey to discover more TIME. I would love to hear your best practices! Email hello@dentalconsultingco.com to continue the conversation!
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