In a culture of excess, we can all benefit from learning the value of economy—economy of effort, time, and resources.
Valuing economy doesn’t mean being frugal. It means being wise, as we have limited energy, time, and resources at our disposal. The less awareness we have about economy, the more fragmented our lives tend to become.
If you’re a frequent reader of this blog, you already value economy, as it’s a recurrent theme. Valuing economy translates into mastering the 80/20 principle, using time blocks, unplugging, valuing simplicity, adopting dying virtues, letting go of busyness, and staying results focused while on a task.
Personally, I strongly value economy of effort, time, and resources. I’m constantly on the lookout for ways to free up time to make room for what’s important.
Below are a few strategies and services I’ve found to be beneficial in reserving time for what’s important instead of responding to the busyness of the moment. Some of these ideas may seem extreme or odd to some readers; perhaps they are, but I’m always amazed at the habitual activities people do unconsciously; we rarely invest time in evaluating whether or not our actions are necessary, productive, or beneficial.
If you’re committed to creating more time for what’s meaningful to you, learn to scrutinize your daily routine. Assume there’s a way to reduce your sense of busyness so you can get on with real living.
Helpful Strategies for Creating More Time
Limit Email Usage: If you’re checking email continuously throughout the day, you’re wasting a great deal of time. Many people keep their email programs open and their cell phones on throughout the day—it’s the surest way to promote inefficiency and time wasting coupled with a lack of creativity.
The human mind simply does not focus and function well amidst continual distraction. We are not effective at multitasking. Batch your email in blocks of time instead of responding to each new “ding” as it enters your inbox. Similarly, if you’re using automated billing (e-billing takes care of your credit card and other bills automatically so you never incur late fees), there’s little reason to open your snail mail every day when you get home. It’s one more thing we unconsciously do to fill up our day—one more meaningless activity. Batch your mail; open it once a month or whatever is appropriate for you.
Restrict Social Media Usage: Yes, I said it: restrict social media usage (or avoid it whenever possible). Social forces are strong and resisting their influence can be difficult, but services like Facebook and Twitter (and thousands of others), while beneficial to a certain degree, are serious time wasters, often only establishing loose connections and the illusion of meaning at best. Ask yourself: Is reading “updates” really the best investment of my time? On your deathbed, will you think, I wish I spent more time reading updates and staying connected with people on Facebook and Twitter.
Limit Internet Usage: The Internet can be a valuable tool—a reservoir of useful information and time saving resources. But, as many have discovered, it can very easily suck away our time. Suffering from infolust, many of us have become addicted to checking weather, headline news, blogs, stock quotes, email, texts, social network updates, sports scores, and a barrage of other forms of constantly changing data. Noticing this tendency within us can be very revealing.
Batch Tasks: Certain tasks, like running errands, can be bunched together to save time. For example, how often do you go food shopping? If it’s more than once or twice each week, you’re probably going too often. Keep a detailed shopping list; become diligent about updating it when you’re running low on essential items. This advice might sound obsessive-compulsive, but every extra trip to the store wastes time, accumulating to several lost days out of a year.
Helpful Services for Leveraging Your Time
E-Billing: Set up recurring monthly bills for automated billing either through your bank or credit card company. You’ll never have to worry about late fees and you’ll avoid the urgency to open your snail mail as soon as it arrives (see above). I see very little reason to spending valuable time opening bills, writing checks, and mailing them to your service providers each month. If you calculate the cumulative time you spend paying bills each year, you’ll better appreciate the benefits of automated billings. Use a free service like Mint.com to aggregate your financial obligations so you can see all your transactions in one convenient place.
Phone Guardians: Who says you need to be available for unscheduled business calls? Every unscheduled call is a disruption that fragments your time, cuts your flow, and reduces your creativity. (If you’re just starting out in your vocation, of course, take the calls.) Use email to schedule calls whenever possible; it saves a tremendous amount of time. CallerID is a blessing to weed out distracting conversations (when you’re in “work mode”), as is Google’s Voice service that helps you route, record, and receive calls. You can also shut off your ringer when you don’t want to be disturbed. (Despite what some believe, the world will still survive without your availability for a few hours—or even a few days.)
E-Shopping: I honestly don’t know how other e-tailers can compete with Amazon.com. Amazon.com has brought new meaning to “convenient shopping.” With their Amazon Prime program, you can get most items Amazon offers delivered to your door within 48 hours—with free shipping. And with their Subscribe and Save program, you can get many of your household essentials (including tissues, paper towels, and supplements) sent to you automatically at various time intervals and at additional discounts.
There are many other strategies and services available, but this post is already running long. Feel free to post your ways of simplifying and saving time in the comment section below (or click here if you’re not reading this on the site).