Tactics To Turn You Into A Time Ninja

Let me guess. You’re very busy. I get that, because we all are. Modern life can be hectic, especially if you’re trying to keep a family or a business on track.

We sometimes tell ourselves that the only thing holding us back from living an active, healthy lifestyle is time. After all, going to the gym takes time. Cooking healthy meals takes time.

But I’m here to tell you that it might be easier to find time to become a healthier you than you think.

With a few relatively simple tactics and a bit of a mindset adjustment, you’d be surprised at how much time you suddenly find yourself with to dedicate to working on leading a healthier lifestyle.

Want to know how you can regain a whole load of lost time? You need to identify where you’re losing the most time and figure out how to plug the leak.

Read on for some tactics that will turn you into the ultimate time ninja.

1. Social media

Social media can be amazing for so many reasons, but it can also be a total waste of time. How long do you spend scrolling through your social media feeds on your phone?

It’s fine to keep up to date and engage with beneficial content, but you could almost certainly save yourself minutes or even hours every day if you scroll less.

You can get apps that will track your screen time, or discourage you from picking up your phone, like Forest.

2. Meal planning

If you don’t plan your meals, then you can waste an awful lot of time staring at the fridge trying to figure out what to cook, and popping to the shops for emergency supplies.

Try planning your meals for the week out in advance and you’ll be surprised how much time you save.

3. Shopping list

An ongoing shopping list can be a massive time saver, as it means you know exactly what you need to stock up on, and don’t have to wrack your brains at the supermarket trying to remember what it was you needed to buy.

4. To-do list

If you don’t have exhaustive to-do lists, then you’re sure to forget things that you’re meant to be doing. If it’s all on a list, then whenever you have a spare 15 minutes you can tick off a task or two.

5. Dates in the diary

As well as keeping track of all the things you have to do, you need to know exactly where you need to be, so you can plan accordingly and make the most of your time.

Whether it’s a paper diary or a digital one, relying more on your diary and less on your memory will make you more efficient.

6. Organisation

Working on your organisational skills and planning things out step by step can save you vast amounts of time. Doing things randomly with no set plan or running around like a headless chicken will only lose you time.

7. Procrastination

Don’t leave for tomorrow what could be done today. No matter how productively you procrastinate, it would still be a better use of time to get that task ticked off your to-do list.

8. Taking on too much

If you have too much on your plate, then you’ll struggle to dedicate all your energies to one thing and get it done as efficiently as possible. If you want to make the most of your time, then you need to learn how to say no.

9. Distractions

Are you easily distracted? If you can focus on one thing without getting side-tracked halfway through, then you’ll get it done more quickly, so you can move on to the next thing, or just go out and have fun.

Whatever you’re doing, whether it’s work or play, make it your mission to be entirely focused and present, and you’ll be amazed at how much more you achieve.

10. Time blocks

Blocking out chunks of time for particular tasks can be transformational. It can help you to minimise distractions and procrastination. Just be sure you don’t underestimate how long something will take.

11. Multitasking

Multitasking has its place, but it can cause more harm than good if you overdo it, as it means that each thing never actually gets done well.

12. Reading emails and not replying

Emails take up inordinate amounts of time, but many of us have bad email habits that exacerbate that even more.

Do you ever read emails when you don’t have the time to respond to them, and then entirely forget what they said meaning you have to read them all over again?

Just making a policy of not reading emails until you have time to respond can help you save surprising amounts of time.

13. Negative relationships

Do you invest time in friendships, professional relationships, or romantic relationships that you don’t get anything out of?

If there’s someone in your life that you make time for even though they’re only dragging you down, then it might be time to say goodbye.

14. Clutter

You might not have ever realised it before, but a cluttered environment can be a massive time waster. It can make you feel overwhelmed and mean you’re never quite sure where anything is and you spend precious minutes looking for things.

15. Being intentional

Catch yourself a couple of times a day and ask yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing. What’s the intention behind it? Is it really a valuable use of your time?

16. Being strategic

Do you ever pop out for something, and then realise when you get home that you could’ve killed two birds with one stone on your trip?

Do you ever look down your to-do list and realised you could have grouped another task with one you’ve already done, if only you’d thought ahead?

You need to think about all the things you’ve got on your list strategically and establish what would make sense to batch or group together, so you can tick off multiple things at once.

17. Priorities

What are your priorities? Consider who and what are your priorities, and plan your time accordingly, saying no to things that would distract you from them.

There are only 24 hours in a day, so you can’t do everything, but your health, fitness, and happiness deserve to be one of your main priorities, both for your sake and the sake of those that love you.