Find 5 More Hours in Your Day (3 Secrets to Stop Procrastinating)

“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” ― John C. Maxwell

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Even when you're super busy, procrastination can come in and steal your work ethic.

I'm going to show you how to take back five hours that you are giving up.

We’re going to talk about some ways you can overcome procrastination.

After this, you’ll become more productive and reach your goals in no time!

Procrastination Kills

Procrastination kills your dreams.

It kills your hopes.

It kills your future.

Procrastination puts you in a place where you're not getting things done.

That's why you're reading this blog!

You want to find out how you can get more stuff done in a day.

Some people have more money than others – but nobody has more time than anybody else.

We all have the same amount of time.

You can't make more time.

The people that get a lot done found a way to get over procrastination

They created goals and are able to work productively.

I'm going to talk about some things that have been helpful for me.

I have not always been super productive…

But I have learned some things along the way that really helped my productivity.

Today, the average American spends over four hours a day on television.

?If you count YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram…

That’s at least five hours a day we spend on TV or social media.

How can we use this time more constructively?

I want to give you two tools that can help:

1. Use a list every day

Every night, I draw up what I need to accomplish for the next day.

I divide my list into four parts.

In the upper left, I'll put the day.

I'll also put five to ten things that I have to do.

I'll put the schedule for the day on the upper right.

This part breaks down my hourly responsibilities like meetings or dropping my daughter off at school.

On the lower left, I put other things that are more personal.

If I want to work out, I put that.

I'll also use this space to make time to plan my next vacation.

The lower right I leave blank until the end of the next day.

When the day ends, I’ll write a few things that I wasn't able to finish.

Sometimes, I’ll also write down events I don't want to forget.

As an extra piece of security, I also use my phone’s calendar app to keep track of my stuff.

When you do this, you can use a journal or a scrap piece of 8 ? x 11 paper.

I don’t know what it is, but I love crossing off finished tasks!

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2. Do Most Important Thing First

When you look at doing tasks, do the biggest thing first.

John Maxwell poses the question:

When you look at your day, what's the one thing you can get done that will make that day a win?

Do that thing first, even if it's hard.

You got this!

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Reward Yourself

Rewarding yourself can be very helpful with procrastination.

But before I get into why, I want to make a disclaimer:

The rewards come after you do the work and not before.

The idea of doing the reverse, playing now and paying later, makes it much tougher to get stuff done.

One way to motivate yourself is to give yourself small rewards.

Decide your rewards ahead of time.

For example: “If I can get ______ done by this time, then I'm going to do ______.”

Your reward could be going on a walk or doing something nice for yourself.

I love working out.

So to me, that's a reward.

For you, it might not be.

I'll get coffee with friends, too, or save TV and movies for after I get stuff done.

If it's a bigger goal, something like finishing your book or getting a big business deal done…

Give yourself bigger rewards.

Your rewards can change from “If I answer five emails, then I will go for a walk” to “If I get this book done, I'm going to go on a trip.”

It doesn't have to be a fancy trip.

You don’t need to spend money or do things outside your means.

But there are reasons you really should celebrate yourself!

They can also be huge motivators to get things done.

The other thing that really helps with that is accountability.

If you tell a friend or family member about a goal, whether it's small or big, it really holds you accountable.

However, you shouldn’t ask them to police you.

The simple act of telling them your goals can be enough!

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Productivity Tips

What can you actually do to become more productive?

There are a few things I want to share with you that have been really helpful for me.

1. Goals Events

First, you can go to a goals event.

Around January or December each year, there are events that help you clarify what's really important to you.

Here’s a great event I like to attend- https://realestateguysradio.com/events/create-your-future-goal-setting-workshop/ ?

They help you ask deeper questions beyond just making hundreds of goals.

What do you hope people will say about you when you die?

That sounds really deep, I know!

But it's important that we look at the things that are really important and clarify those values.

Once you identify those values, you put them in your schedule.

These values could be spending more time with your kids or making time with your partner.

There's a big difference between efficiency and effectiveness.

Efficiency is getting a lot of things done.

I am definitely an efficiency guy.

But I've realized to be effective, I don't have to do all these other things.

By focusing on valued goals, I'm actually going to be much more effective.

If you're an efficiency person, I challenge you to look into effectiveness.

Look at your goals, clarify them, and find a way to schedule alongside your values.

2. Schedule Email Time

One more thing is to schedule your email time.

Emails can be very overwhelming!

If you're somebody who responds to emails as soon as you get them, I want to encourage you to take a step back.

Tell whoever you work with that you respond to emails at certain times (i.e. 9:00AM and 4:00PM).

You can even have an autoresponder that says that.

A lot of emails come in and seem to be urgent, but they're really not.

They can turn into a huge time suck.

You can tell people to give you a call if they have an urgent matter to discuss.

3. The Eisenhower Matrix

Another way to clarify what is important is the Eisenhower Matrix.

Dwight D. Eisenhower had this whole matrix that he did.

The matrix includes things that are urgent, not urgent, important, and not important.

They each fill up space in this square diagram .

According to the diagram:

If it's urgent and important, do it.

On the contrary, when something is important but not urgent, when are you going to schedule that?

Maybe you need to go to the DMV to renew your driver's license.

Ask yourself: Can you delegate it?

I've got some staff and a virtual assistant that helps me with a lot of stuff that I do.

If something pops up, they can help answer that stuff for me.

Lastly, if something comes up that is not urgent and not important, ask yourself if it really needs to be done.

Look at things that are important and clarify your values.

Out of everything we’ve talked about, there will be things that are really going to help you!

Making lists, clarifying your goals, trying to limit email, giving yourself rewards.

Find what works for you and start now!

As a little bonus, I want to share some advice from Warren Buffet , a very successful investor.

He says: “Unless you learn how to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die.”

We talked before about how you can't make more time.

But there is a way that your money can earn more money for you.

There are some ways to get out of being super busy and productive all the time.

A little bonus we have at our business is multifamily investing .

We have a special report for you to check out about investing. It compares the stock market to real estate, and it also includes how the pandemic affects your investment future.