Is 24h enough to get anything done?

We live in a fast-paced world today, where we are constantly racing against time.

And yet, it seems we are unable to catch up to it.

It’s never enough.

Some of us rely on the illusion multitasking to get through the long to-do list. Others start their day too early or worst, get stuck in long after-hours.

And we are only talking about work here. We are not touching upon other life responsibilities that are also important and “time-consuming”.

50 % of working Americans reported they don’t have enough time.

In a ten-year-old study, about 50 percent of working Americans reported they don’t have enough time. This translates into the rushed and stressful lifestyle that we are currently witnessing.

So, do we need more daily hours to accomplish things and feel productive?

I don’t buy into that idea. I can see myself writing a similar article had we had a 30-hour day. I can guarantee we’ll be discussing the same challenges.

So, what’s the trick here?

It all goes back to us and to how we approach the time we have.

The good news? We have plenty of time. We just need to manage it well.

We have plenty of time. We just need to manage it well.

With a few daily quick wins, you can make a huge shift in your workday and take back control of your time.

#1 Prioritize your duties

I hate to break it to you, but multitasking is a myth. You might be able to listen to music while organizing a dashboard. You can never however be fully present in a meeting while writing an email. That's the extent of multitasking. Believing it works, is only slowing you down. The truth is there’s only so much that our brains can focus on at the same time.

Juggling multiple things at once gives great room for distractions and time waste.

Your quick win here is to prioritize. List down all the items that need to be addressed, and add next to each the order of priority. You can use a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 designing the least important and 10 the most crucial. This will save you from the dilemma of dealing with multiple priorities at the same time.

It’s helpful to do this exercise the night before to have clear visibility on your work day.

#2 Establish a powerful routine

Whether you are an early bird or a night owl, it’s essential to understand your own work behavior and leverage it to rip the best results.

A lack of knowledge of our work patterns prevents us from spotting areas of improvement and being more in control of our schedule. In a recent study, 49% of people reported having never carried out a time audit to understand how they spend their day. That’s why you should reflect on how you are spending your time.

Perhaps it’s more efficient for you to do deep work at the beginning of the day and leave the rest afterward. Or maybe you’d like to score a few wins with medium tasks and address the heavy work later on. Whichever it is, knowing that allows you to manage your day better and cut the time waste.

#3 Make tech work for you

I was surprised to find out from a 2022 survey that 82% of people do not have a dedicated Time Management system. A huge number considering we are at a time when almost everything is ruled by tech. Yet most of us seem clueless about leveraging it for our own good.

82% of people do not have a dedicated Time Management system

Just like we work with technology, we need it to work for us and help us optimize our time. There are multiple tools out there that act as your time management assistant, giving you clarity on your tasks, helping you track progress, etc.

So why not make the most of it?

You might need to get your hands on many tools before you find the one for you. But once you do, trust that it will truly make your life easier.

#4 Delegate and elevate

Leaders often wear many hats when taking on a business. It is the case for many of the c-levels too. The hard pill to swallow is that doing so is such a heavy burden.

We should stop glorifying the culture of doing so much, taking on more tasks when our hands are already full, and jumping into different fields. Sure, flexibility and great knowledge are a plus and can be helpful in times of need. But that shouldn’t be the case nor the requirement for every worker, especially leaders.

Adding to our workloads tasks that aren’t naturally our strength points will only hinder performance. Eventually, this will discourage us from doing our best in what we are uniquely qualified to do.

That’s why delegation* is so important yet so undermined.

*Delegation is not a confession of our failure to deliver. It is rather a testimony of the qualifications of the delegate and a reminder to focus on our own strengths.

Emna Ghariani is a multi-time entrepreneur and digital wellbeing activist who spent years building solutions to fight the hustle work culture and find real ways to get to work-life balance. If you want to get on this journey, start by reclaiming?your time? using to Veamly analytics app, your Swiss army knife to fighting burnout and decision fatigue.