23 insights from top experts to find out how they free up their time. Featuring advice from all sorts of people, you’re sure to find something inside these pages that applies to your life situation, whether you’re a full-time homemaker, business owner, or someone in between.
You’ll learn how to find more time even if you’re a full-time homemaker, business owner, empty nester, college student, or in any other stage of life!
As Steve Jobs said, “The most precious resource we all have is time.”
And yet, sometimes it feels like it’s in short supply, doesn’t it? While juggling family and work and personal responsibilities it seems like there are just not enough hours in the day for everything that needs to get done.
Well, what if you could make more time? Here at Ultimate Bundles, we interviewed these top experts to find out how they free up time during the week! Featuring advice from all sorts of people, you’re sure to find something inside these pages that applies to your life situation, whether you’re a full-time homemaker, business owner, or someone in between.
We hope you enjoy these insights and find inspiration for your journey, freeing up time for what matters most in life. You’ve got this!
Table of Contents
Tip #1
As a busy parent, there are an endless number of things you need to do. One of the best ways to free up time in your day is knowing when to say “no”. When you take time to get clear on your values and the life you want to create for yourself and your family, you can live with purpose and intention. And when you say “no” to the things that don’t align with the life you want to live, you create space in your schedule for the things that bring you joy.
Be gentle with yourself as you cultivate this practice. Remember that when you say “no” to the things that aren’t serving you, you have more time to slow down, be present, and nurture yourself and your family.
Tip #2
Often we get caught in the “busyness” of life and it’s easy to feel that we don’t have time. To free up time during the week, my best tip is to GET AHEAD. Getting ahead means you’re doing something today that will make your tomorrow easier. Getting ahead is not only about planning, it’s the “actual doing” of something today so that by tomorrow, you’re already 1 or 2 steps ahead.
Imagine how easier it is to cook today if last night or yesterday you’ve already precut the ingredients and prepared everything you need? How easy and calm your morning would be if last night, you had already prepared your outfit, your bags, and all the essentials you would need for today? How calm your morning will be if last night you have already prepared your breakfast? How stress-free your grocery shopping will be if you’ve already made the list beforehand? Because you have already done something (not just planned) yesterday, you are saving so much time and brain energy. You don’t need extra time for thinking and making decisions today. You’ve done that yesterday.
And if today, things don’t go according to what you planned, how relaxed would you be if you’ve already thought of alternatives and expected the unexpected? Things might not be easy, but it will be bearable knowing that you made yourself ready for the unplanned surprises of today.
Tip #3
Delete, automate, delegate, and batch! Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed, it’s a signal to me that I’ve just got too much on my plate. So to get things back to a manageable state, I first DELETE as much as possible from my calendar. I turn down new opportunities and pull myself out of activities where I can.
Next, I AUTOMATE as much as possible. Having a reusable meal plan is great automation because it takes the thinking out of buying groceries. And there are lots of other things you can automate in your home or your business.
Thirdly, I DELEGATE as much as I can. I might delegate chores or meal prep to other family members or appliances (like a slow cooker or robot vacuum).
Anything else I can’t delete, automate, or delegate, I try to BATCH when possible because this cuts down the time for me to do the task (e.g., preparing meals in a batch, or putting aside clothes for the whole week after I’ve jumped out of the shower rather than choosing only what I’m going to wear at that moment).
Tip #4
Steal time for important but not urgent projects early in the morning. Make sure and schedule this time and stick to your schedule despite all urges. You will always have time to make up the urgent things later in the day.
Tip #5
I would highly recommend doing a “time audit”. Track your time for 1-2 weeks. You will be surprised at where some of your time is going. And other things might take longer than you realize.
Next, look at what you like to do, what you would rather not do (or do less of), and experiment with making some changes like asking for help, simplifying, and staying mindful of where your time is going.
Tip #6
If you do your grocery shopping weekly, get in the habit of creating your list as you prep meals throughout the week. It’s a real-time-saver come shopping day. No need to spend time making the list!
Bonus if you order online: Keep the app on your phone so you can constantly be adding to it and simply hit ORDER when the time comes.
Tip #7
I find that having a dedicated day or time each week to do certain tasks is one of the best things that has helped me manage my time. This works in both home and work by doing certain tasks around the home in batches on certain days of the week and also certain related work tasks that I can easily complete together on specific days.
If for some reason, I can’t do those things on that day, I simply move them to a time that does suit better, staying flexible in my schedule and giving myself grace when needed.
Tip #8
Instead of trying to get everything done on your list (because if you’re anything like me, it’s probably a mile long!), allow yourself to focus just on your “Top 3” Tasks of the day. The three tasks that are most important to your current goals and priorities. The three things that, if that’s all you can do, you’ll still feel good, successful, and happy at the end of the day. Just 3. Not 4 or 5. Resist the urge to “sneak another” in. If you do finish those three things and have time in your day to do a couple more, great! Do it! But if you don’t, you’ll still feel productive because you got the most important things done. No more evenings of “I’ve been working all day, but still don’t feel like I got anything done today!” It’s truly a freeing feeling! The hardest part of this system is to make a morning routine (or evening before) of establishing your Top 3 Tasks for the day.
It’s important, so don’t forget it. And if you need to, for the first week of trying out this system, you could even add in “Write tomorrow’s MIT’s (Most Important Tasks)” AS one of those Top 3!
Tip #9
My best productivity tips to save time are waking up early to work while it’s quiet, keeping a water bottle and snack at my desk so I don’t have to take a break, and turning my cell phone on silent while I’m working.
Tip #10
The amount of time you give yourself to complete a task or project is exactly the amount of time it will take you to complete it. Work expands to fill the time available: if you’ve got a week to finish [insert the thing], it’ll take you a week. But if you give yourself a day, it’ll likely take you just a day.
To free up more of your time, set limits, boundaries, and deadlines for how long you’ll work on a specific task or project. Know that this is all the time you’ve got – you have to move on to other things after this.
This little mind hack will make it easier for you to stay focused, follow through, and get the thing done so much quicker (in turn, freeing up more of your time!).
Tip #11
My favorite tip is to automate everything you can so you don’t spend (waste) so much time working on mundane, repetitive tasks. It is so freeing to set up your bills on autopay, place many house staples on subscriptions, and even set up templates for tasks you do regularly.
Then, use that time you would have spent doing these easy to automate tasks to instead focus on moving forward on your goals or spending time with family.
Tip #12
Develop systems and routines to make it easier to manage your home and life. Think cleaning system, meal planning routine, planning process, etc. Then hold onto them loosely, giving yourself plenty of grace when things don’t go as planned.
Tip #13
As a mom, it’s incredibly important to be intentional about your time (because you know, kids WANT your attention, LOL). To help with this, getting your kids on some sort of routine can help free up YOUR time because you’ll be able to “predict” when they’ll need / want / do certain things.
My 9-year-old son follows a morning / after-school and bedtime routine. My 1-year-old daughter, on the other hand, follows whatever routine SHE wants, so with her, it’s been super helpful to use a BabyTracker app to help me log her naps, feedings, and diaper changes so I can begin to see her patterns and schedule MY time around that. It’s not something that happens overnight, but it does help things fall into place and makes it easier for you to schedule work, self-care, and free time for yourself.
Tip #14
Limit social media. It’s very easy to scroll on social media. I now set a timer for how much time you have–for example, 10 minutes–and when the timer goes off, you get off and put your phone down.
This has saved me so much time. I wasn’t paying attention to how much time I would spend a day…and let me just say it’s more than 10 minutes, LOL.
Tip #15
Plan the week and maybe even use time blocking. When you have your weekly plan and when to do what, you’ll be able to work more concentrated and get things done faster.
Tip #16
Planning your week is essential to create time for all of your goals, appointments, and plans. My best tip is to plan on a Friday afternoon – so that you can go into the weekend feeling calm in knowing that when you wake up on Monday, your plans for that day and week are already laid out for you.
I like to plan one main activity each day – whether it’s an event, a project task, or an appointment. Then, everything else on my planner for that day fits around that main task.
Finally, ensure you PLAN for your free time each week – white space to get creative, to plan for fun/self-care, or to do absolutely nothing! Every second of every day does not need to be filled with a productive task.
Tip #17
I need at least one weekday every week where I can do absolutely nothing, go for coffee and a walk date with a friend, or just enjoy myself away from my desk. The only way this consistency happens is by making sure I structure my days, weeks, and months. Practically speaking, this means every day and week follows the same pattern, made up of small habits and tasks.
My daily routine keeps me focused and fuelled, with food, down time, and exercise breaking up work sessions. I do the same tasks on the same day of every week. For example, hosting live webinars on Tuesdays; Wednesdays for filming videos, and Fridays for clearing my inbox. This way, there’s less time lost to indecision, and I’m able to consistently show up and get things done quickly. When I’m able to stick with the structure, I can consistently enjoy my free day.
Tip #18
I never have enough time. Does this feel true for you?
What if I told you that you could get everything you needed to get done in less time than you think? It’s all about intentionality.
The real problem is not the amount of time you have; it’s how intentional you are with time.
I know that your time is limited, and like me, you may be a parent or have a special needs child. So the list of things that needs your attention is never-ending. You feel like you could work 24 hours a day and still not get everything accomplished.
That’s why one of the first things you need to do is get clear on your vision. That way you have that clear intention from the start and can set clear boundaries around the limited time you do have. This makes it easier to say YES to your vision and NO to all the other things, like the PTA asking you to volunteer for one more event.
Tip #19
Do a weekly audit! I love doing these with my solopreneur clients, and it’s an important concept and step-by-step guide that I teach inside my signature e-course, Productivity Powerhouse. The basic idea with a weekly audit is to review and assess the previous week, and then plan based on that (what worked, what didn’t work, and why, plus what you want to do more or less of, any pivots you want to make, etc, to best achieve your goals).
Time management and your goals are inherently linked together, so ensuring that you’re staying on track—and not getting distracted with unnecessary “busy work” or hustle culture and toxic productivity—is extremely important here. When you do your weekly audits the right way, you can easily save yourself upwards of 5 hours/week!
Tip #20
Get realistic about where your time is going, without shame or guilt. Then, make small changes to improve your life daily. That may mean being on Facebook, TikTok, or Netflix way less, but the result of reaching your goals makes it worth it!
Tip #21
PLAN your day. Time block your activities and set a specific time to stop working.
Tip #22
Use a timer. It’s amazing how much more you can get done when you are under a tight deadline. You’ve experienced this yourself. On any given day, it might take you all morning to write that blog post or do chores around the house. But what happens when a friend calls you and asks you to meet for coffee in an hour? You get the work done in that hour because the time allotted for the work has been cut down to sixty minutes. Even if you don’t get everything you wanted to do, the important stuff, the stuff that matters, got done.
To use this to free up time during the week, lean into those opportunities to set deadlines and use them to your advantage. External ones like appointments and meetings are great (like that coffee date). When you don’t have them, use a timer. The timer on your phone works, as does an old-fashioned kitchen timer. Or look into one of the many Pomodoro-type apps available for your phone. (We like the Forest app.) Decide on a task. Set a timer. And get it done. After several productivity sprints like that, you’re ready to take the rest of the day off without any guilt because you’ve got everything accomplished that you wanted to get done.
Tip #23
Batch tasks together–I especially love to do this with errands. Keep a running list of all the errands you need to do throughout the week, and then make 1 big errand trip/week. Saves time, gas, and energy!
Conclusion
Now that you’ve freed up some time, do you want to keep moving forward by conquering your to-do list and reaching your goals?