原文: 25 Painless Ways to Free Up an Hour a Day for Your Goals

“Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify, simplify.” - Henry David Thoreau

What would you do if you had an extra hour a day?

This is a common barrier I run into when I write about making positive life changes: people don’t have time to pursue their dreams. People don’t have time to exercise. People don’t have time to get organized.

Well, it’s time to make time.

By using some combination of the following, you can free up an hour or more a day. Find the ones that work for you (not all will work for everyone), and then carve out that hour a day.

Then make sure you use that extra hour a day in the best way possible — book that hour on your calendar for something you really, really want to do, whether that’s work on a goal, write a book, start a business, exercise, read more, or whatever. Don’t squander this gift of time!

1. Make an appointment right after work. Whether it’s exercise or working on some other goal, make an appointment to do it right when you get out of work (at 5 p.m., for example). This works especially well if you have to meet someone else, such as a workout partner or other group or team or coach or partner. You’ll be sure to meet the appointment, which means you won’t stick around work too long, and you’ll be sure to finish all your tasks on time so you can leave on time. This makes you more efficient in the afternoon especially.
2. Wake up earlier. I’ve written about this before, of course, but I’ve found time for goals that are important to me by waking a bit earlier. Exercise, writing, reading — I do those now early in the day, so it doesn’t interfere with family time. Early in the day works well for me and many others, simply because there’s not much going on to distract or interrupt at this time of day.
3. Turn off the phones. You don’t have to turn off phones all day long, but you should have some unbroken blocks of time when you don’t take calls, so you can concentrate on your important tasks. This allows you to get more done in less time, as phone calls can eat up chunks of your day if you let them.
4. Stop checking email. This doesn’t work for everyone, but if you can stop checking email except at one or two times during the day, you can free up a lot of wasted time. Checking email constantly takes up a lot of time.
5. Brown bag it. Many people I know take an hour or more for lunch. While a relaxing lunch can be a good thing, if you take lunch to work, you can eat quickly and either spend the extra time 1) working on a goal; or 2) getting work done so you can leave earlier. Plus, brown bagging it saves money too.
6. Figure out your core work activities. What is it that you really have to do each day? I mean, the stuff you have to do or your job would fall apart. If you really think about it, a lot of the tasks you do each day (and phone calls and emails, mentioned above, are included in these tasks) don’t really need to be done each day. Sometimes you can do them less often, sometimes you don’t need to do them at all. If you can learn to focus on your core activities, you can get your work done in less time.
7. Cancel a meeting or two. Think about the last 4-5 meetings you’ve gone to. How many of them were really valuable? How many of them did you need to be at? It depends on your job, but sometimes you can beg out of a meeting — or just outright cancel it if you have that power — and accomplish the same thing through an email or two. You just saved yourself 30-60 minutes per meeting canceled.
8. Delegate. Not everyone has this option, but if you can give some of the tasks on your list to others who are better suited to doing those tasks, you’ll free up time. Do you really need to be doing everything you do, or can some of those tasks be delegated?
9. Consolidate errands. If you routinely do errands throughout the week, you’re spending a lot of time driving. Instead, try to do all errands on one day, and plan out an efficient route. Most people will save at least an hour a week in total.
10. Know your priority. What is the one thing you need to do today? Get that done, above all else, and do it first. After you do that priority task, the rest is extra really. Cut back on some of the rest to free up time.
11. Shrink your task list. Once you’ve identified your core work activities and your top priority for the day, go over your task list and whittle it down to the essentials. Put tasks you don’t need to do now on a someday/maybe list, delete others, delegate others. Keep your task list down to the essentials, to keep from wasting time.
12. Say no. One of the biggest groups of time eaters is requests from other people. All day long we get requests, in person, on the phone, in email, through paperwork. Meetings, assignments, requests for information, requests to be on a committee or team … these are all requests that will eat up your time. Say no to all but the essentials.
13. Get to the point. While I’m a fan of long, slow conversations, if you’re trying to make time for goals, you need to whittle down needlessly long conversations — especially if it’s just with a co-worker who isn’t a close friend. In person or on the phone, you need to get straight to the point with a minimum of chit-chat, and if the other person isn’t getting to the point, politely ask what he needs from you.
14. Watch less TV. Many people watch hours of TV a day. You can easily save an hour a day if you cut TV out, or just watch your single favorite show each day. Don’t channel surf.
15. Read less online. If you’re like me, you can spend hours a day reading online. Limit your online reading and focus on your essential tasks.
16. Don’t talk long on the phone. Long phone conversations can eat up a lot of your time. Instead, know what you want to accomplish and try to get that done quickly. If someone else is calling you, encourage them to get to the point, and then wrap it up when you’re done. Tell them you have to go because you’ve got something else to get to.
17. Avoid IM and Twitter and the like. I’m not saying these types of instant communication don’t have their uses, but if they’re always on and you’re always available, you’re always at the mercy of others. Instead, just make yourself available at set times if necessary, or not at all if it’s not necessary. (And yes, I know the irony of giving this advice after I just started Twittering.)
18. Search, don’t file. I used to spend a lot of time filing all my computer files and all my emails into nice, organized folders. I’d spend time every day doing this. Now, I just archive everything, on computer and email, and search when I need something. With Quicksilver on the Mac, every file is within a few keystrokes. With Gmail, every email is accessible instantly. No time spent filing!
19. Leave early. If you’re using these time-saving tips, you should be able to finish your essential work early. If so, don’t use the extra time to just do more work … leave early! Of course, you’ll probably have to talk to your boss about this, but many people have flexible hours and many bosses would be happy to let you go early if you get your work done. If you set your own hours, set an earlier time to leave and you’ll ensure that you get your work done by that time.
20. Get the kids to help out. At home, if you have kids, it saves huge heaploads of time if you let the kids help with cleaning and other tasks. At first, of course, it will cost you time because you have to teach them to do things. But once they learn … it’ll free up much of your time. My kids can help clean the house, reducing by 2/3 the amount of time I have to spend cleaning. Of course, they made the mess in the first place, but that’s another story.
21. Educate others. Is there something that other people submit to you that you routinely have to edit or reformat? Teach these people (maybe with an FAQ or tutorial) how to do it right or how you need it so you don’t have to make changes. Are there mistakes people are doing that you routinely have to fix? Are there things you have to do yourself because others don’t know how to do it? Educate them, and save yourself tons of time. It takes time at first, but the payoff is huge.
22. Automate things. If people submit stuff to you, or if you routinely have to do routine work, find ways to have the process automated. Technology works wonders these days.
23. Just say, “That’s enough.” Often you are overloaded with information and tasks. But if you don’t respond to all of your emails today, or don’t read all of the posts in your RSS reader, or don’t get to all the tasks on your to-do lists … what will happen? If nothing drastic will happen, consider stopping when you’ve gotten to enough.
24. Start work early. If you work before everyone gets in the office, you won’t have constant interruptions and distractions. You’ll be amazed how much you can get done between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. I used to do it when I worked in an office, and because I didn’t take a lunch break — I at ate my desk while working) I could get off at 2 p.m. and spend time with my kids.
25. Give others authority. If you have to approve things or make decisions, you might be a bottleneck — things move slower if they have to be channeled through you. Instead, give others the authority to make decisions — with clear instructions about what decisions should be made under what circumstances, and what the limits of their authority are. That’ll remove a bottleneck and free you up from having to make a bunch of huge decisions. Just have a way to monitor things as necessary.

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译文: 25条建议，每天为你轻松省出一小时

      “我们的生活都被琐事浪费掉了，简单点，简单点。”——亨利·大卫·梭罗

      如果每一天多出一个小时，你会用来做什么？

      当我提出一些改善生活的建议时，我发现了一个普遍障碍：人们没有追求他们梦想的时间；没有训练的时间；没有组织的时间。

      那么，是时候腾出点时间来了。

      组合运用下面几点建议，你可以每天腾出一个小时或者更多的时间来。找出适合自己的方法（不是所有的方法都适合每一个人），然后每天挤点时间出来。

      接着确保每天省出来的时间,你都可以充分合理利用——把这些时间安排进你的日程表里，用来做你非常非常想做的事情，无论它是否努力实现目标或是写一本书、做点生意、做些运动、读多点东西等等。不要浪费了这笔时间的财富。

      1.把活动安排在下班以后。刚刚下班后（比如下午五点以后），安排点活动，或是锻炼身体，或是别的什么事。如果有人跟你一块就更好了，例如一个训练伙伴或者其他团体、队伍、教练或者搭档。你要确保这个活动用不着太长的时间，而且还要保证你能准时完成工作，下班。这样做会大大提高你下午的工作效率。

      2.早一点起床。当然这一点我以前写过，但是我发现对要实现的目标来说，早一点儿起床非常重要。运动、写作、读书——现在我都在清晨做这些事情，这样它们就不会占用我的家庭时间。对于我和不少人来说，清晨用来工作都是件好事情。原因很简单，因为这个时候我们的注意力或者工作不会一直被琐事扰乱或打断。

      3.关掉手机。你不用一整天都把手机关着，但是为了能够专心于完成重要的工作，你应该在做重要工作时关上手机，避免电话的打扰。这样你就可以在短时间内完成大量工作。因为如果手机开着，你就得花掉大量时间来接电话。

      4.不要查看电子邮件。不是每一个人都可以这样做，但是如果你每天只查一两次电子邮箱，你就可以节省下很多不必要的时间。经常查阅邮件是件浪费时间的事。

      5.打包午餐。我知道很多人需要一个小时或者更长的时间吃午餐。放松地吃餐饭的确是件惬意的事情，但是如果你把饭带到办公室，就可以快点吃完，然后省下时间来完成你的计划，或是早点完成工作，下班。另外，打包食物也可以节省开销。

      6.弄清楚你工作活动的重点。每天有哪些事是你必须要完成的？我是指，那些你不得不处理的东西，否则你就得丢掉工作。如果你认真考虑了，其实你会发现你每天做的许多事情（包括上文提到过的电话和邮件）都是不用做的事。有时你可以少做点这些事，有时你可以把这些事都摆在一边。如果你学会把注意力急中在你的中心任务上，你就可以提高在有限的时间内完成更多的事情。

      7.取消一两个会议。回想一下你前面开过的四、五个会，这些会开得真的有价值吗？这些会你都用得着出席吗？这取决于你的工作，但有些时候，你可以恳请开会时中途离席——或者如果你有权力，就直接取消掉那个会议——然后用一两封邮件达到开会的目的。平均每取消一个会议，你就可以节约半个小时到一个小时的时间。

      8.委托。不是每个人都可以这样做，但是如果你可以把一些你要做的事，分给其他更能胜任的人，你就可以省出很多时间来。你真的必须事事亲力亲为吗？这些事不能分一起给其他人吗？

      9.合并差事。如果一整周里，你每天都要完成一些同样的差事，那么这将耗费很多时间。但是，你可以把差事积在一天来完成，然后列一个有效率的行程。大多数人一周最少可以省出一个小时来。

      10.抓住重点。你今天必需要做的一件事是什么？首先去完成这个首要任务。然后这件事做完后，其他事就是多余的事了。删去一些多余的事，节省时间。

      11.缩减你的任务列表。你一旦明确了核心工作和一天里的工作重点，就再翻一下你的任务列表，精简上面的项目。往后挪那些不是非得马上做的事，或者列出清单，剔除其他事情，委托给其他人。保持你任务清单的简明扼要，避免浪费时间。

      12.拒绝。别人的请求将占据掉你的大部分时间。一整天里，我们都会接到请求，或是面对面地接到，或是通过电话、邮件、文书工作接到。会议、任务、信息咨询、委员会或者小组的邀请……这些请求都将耽误你的时间。所以回绝掉那些不必要的请求。

      13.不要拐弯抹角。我喜欢滔滔不绝的畅谈，但是如果你试图为你的计划节省出时间，你就要减少那样的聊天——特别当聊天对象还不是你的亲密朋友，而只是你的同事。无论是面对面的聊天，还是通过电话，你都不要拐弯抹角，如果对方总在绕圈子，你就要礼貌地询问对方需要你做什么。

      14.少看点电视。很多人每天要看几个小时的电视。如果你关上电视，或者每天只看看你最喜欢的那一个节目，那么每天省出一个小时是件很容易的事情。不要沉迷于电视。

      15.少花点时间在网上阅读。如果你喜欢我，你可以每天花几小时在网上阅读我的文章。你应该把重点放在非常重要的任务上，限制自己的在线阅读时间。

      16.不要抱电话粥。抱电话粥会浪费掉你许多时间。相反，你要弄清出自己想要做什么，并且快速达到目标。如果其他人打电话给你，鼓励他们快谈到正题上来，然后围绕这个主题来谈。告诉他们因为你还有其他事情要做，所以不得不离开。

      17. 避免IM（实时传讯）、Twitter（实时迷你博客）等等。我并不是说这些即时通讯是没有用处，但是如果你一直在线使用这些即时工具，你就得常常受别人摆步。相反，你应该只在有需要的时候，在预约好的时间里上线，而在不必要的时候，就不要使用它们。（的确，我知道在我刚刚使用了迷你博客之后，提出这样的建议有点讽刺。）

      18.搜索，而不归档。我过去常常花很多时间把电脑里的所有文件夹和邮箱里的所有邮件都整理得井井有条。我每天都花时间整理。但是现在，我只在电脑上或者邮箱里做存档的工作，然后等我要找什么时再去搜索。借助Mac里面的QuickSilver，只需要简单的敲击几个键，就能找到文件夹。通过Gmail，每一封邮件都能马上找到。就用不着花时间在整理上！

      19.早一点下班。如果你正在用这些省时间的小贴士，你就应该尽可能地早一点完成你的中心工作。如果做到了，也不要用额外的时间做更多的工作……早一下班！当然，你可能要先跟你的老板商量好。不过很多人都有着弹性的上班时间，很多老板也都会欣然答应你在完成工作后提早离开。如果你自己安排时间，就把下班的时间提早一点，那样你就可以确保在那个时间之前你可以完成你的工作。

      20.让你的孩子来帮忙。如果你家里有小孩，如果你让小孩帮你洗东西或者干其他的活儿，你就可以省下一大笔时间。当然一开始，会花掉你更多的时间，因为你要交孩子们怎么干活。但一旦他们学会……，就会为你节省出很多时间。我的孩子就帮我打扫房间，这样我就只用要原来三分之一的时间来打扫。当然，他们一开始会弄得一团糟，不过这是另一码事了。

      21.辅导其他人。你是否每天都不得不编辑或者重新组织别人交给你的东西呢？教（也许建一个常见问题解答，也许安排培训）这些人如何正确地完成工作，或者告诉他们你需要的东西是什么样的，这样你就不用自己花时间修改。你是否每天都要去改正别人犯的同样的错误呢？是否有一些事情别人不知道怎么做，所以只能你自己动手呢？教会他们，为你自己节省时间。这一开会花去你很多时间，但回报你的更多。

      22.自动化。如果别人递材料给你，或者如果有些例行公事是你每天都得做的，你就应该找到能够让这些事自动进行的方法。在这个时代里，科技是那么妙不可言。

      23.仅仅说，“那足够了。”资料和任务常常把你压得喘不过气来。但是，如果你今天不回复完所有的邮件，或者不读完RSS reader上面的所有邮件，或者不完成你任务清单上的所有工作……那会怎么样？如果结果不严重，那么在你做得够多的时候，考虑不要再做了。

      24.早一点工作。如果比所有人都早一点进办公室工作，你就可以专心致志地工作，不被打扰。早上六点到八点间你完成的工作量将会让你大吃一惊。我过去坐办公室时，就常常这样做，再加上我不要中饭时间——我一边工作一边吃饭，这样下午两点就我可以下班，回去陪我的孩子。

      25.给其他人权利。如果事情都不得不得到你的批准，或者由你做出决定，那么你可能就是一个瓶颈——如果工作一定要经你的手，那么流程就会变慢。相反，应该也给他人做决定的权利——明确指出在什么情况下应该做出什么样的决定，以及他们权利的范围。那样就可以打通瓶颈，把你从一大堆的决定中解放出来。你只需要有一套在必要时能监测事情的办法。

      如果你喜欢这篇文章，那么请你把这篇文章分享在del.icio.us, StumbleUpon 或者Digg上。非常感谢。