Your lives are always busy, I’m sure, but the holidays always seem to add even more craziness to everyone’s schedule. Christmas parties with family, friends and co-workers, gift shopping, decorating, Christmas pageants, caroling, bell-ringing, snow shoveling (unless you live on Guam like I do), making cookies, baking turkeys, and all the rest.
It’s enough to make you want to give up!
But it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If you’re a busy person (and who isn’t these days?), I’ve compiled some of my favorite time-saving tips — things I use in my daily life that I’ve found to work wonders for freeing up the schedule.
Why use these tips? First, to keep yourself sane during busy times — we all tend to stress out when schedules are packed. But second, and just as importantly, to make time for what you think is most important. For me, that’s my family, my writing, and exercise. You might have other things you want to make time for. Here’s how to do it.
Tips for Work
Most of us spend the most time at work, so let’s start there. If you have a to-do list that’s a mile long — or worse yet, no to-do list at all — here’s what you can do:
1. Do less. This is my favorite productivity tip, as long-time readers know — simplify your schedule by doing fewer things but focusing on the important things. This will greatly increase the impact of the time you do work, decreasing the time you need to work. What about the tasks you don’t do? See the tips below for more on dealing with them.
2. Delegate. If a task needs to be done but is not one of your most important tasks, and it can be done by someone else, delegate it. Sometimes you can get rid of half your to-do list by finding others who can do the task as well or even better than you can.
3. Limit your workday (or adjust your hours). If you work more than 8 hours a day, by setting a limit of 8 hours you’ll force yourself to focus on getting the must-do tasks done within that limit. If you work 8 hours a day, try limiting yourself to 6 hours. You’ll find that you’ll prioritize, work more efficiently, and waste less time, so that you can get the work done within that time frame. I try to give myself a 4- or 5-hour window on most days. What if you can’t reduce your hours (maybe you’re required to work a certain number of hours)? See if you can shift your work hours either earlier or later than the rest of the crowd. That’ll reduce commute time if you don’t commute during the busy traffic hours, and if you work when almost no one else is in the office you can get tons more done.
4. Get the important stuff done early. Pick the top 2-3 things you need or want to accomplish today, and get those done first. While on other days you might push these important things back (and possibly not get them done at all), if you do them first the rest of your day will be gravy. In fact, if you have the freedom, you can sometimes even call it a day after you get the important stuff done — the rest can wait until tomorrow.
5. Ask your boss to re-prioritize for you. If you don’t have control over your schedule or to-do list, talk to your boss. Tell him you are trying to be more effective with your time, and you only have time for X number of things today (say, 3-4 things) … so ask him to pick those things for you. Tell him if you try to do everything today you’ll be less effective and may not get as many things done or do as good a job. This prioritizing is essentially what you’d do yourself (see the first tip) if you had the freedom.
6. Batch tasks. Instead of interspersing your work day with small tasks all mixed together, try to group similar tasks and do them at once. For example, instead of responding to emails throughout the day, batch them and do all your emails once (or twice) a day. Do all your paperwork at once. Make all phone calls in one batch. Do all errands at once. This grouping of tasks saves a lot of time and allows you to focus better on the important tasks.
7. Focus on one project and get it done. Instead of juggling a large number of projects, set aside a block of time to do one project until completion. For me, this often means setting aside half a day or a day (I try to break my projects down into manageable chunks) to work on a project, and I try to complete it if at all possible. Often this means getting all the resources and information you need beforehand, so you don’t have to look for it or wait on it when you’re ready to actually work on the project. This also means clearing my schedule, so I’ll get other tasks done beforehand and I won’t schedule anything else for that block of time. Then work on that project exclusively and try very hard to get it done. This, I’ve found, is often the most effective way to work on projects.
8. Avoid meetings. Not all meetings are a waste of time, but many are. If you spend a lot of time in meetings, but would rather be doing your actual work instead of listening to other people talk about things they could have sent you in an email, see if you can get out of some of those meetings. You’ll get a lot more done. Read more.
9. Avoid long conversations at work. We’ve all had long conversations with co-workers that were very unproductive — often not related to work or anything important. Sometimes they’re long phone conversations. And while I like conversing with other human beings as much as the next guy — it’s important to maintain good relationships and friendships — at the same time you could be spending that time doing other things. I personally would rather get all my work done and go home and spend time with my family. So I try to stay focused on work rather than having lots of long conversations, although I’ll make an exception now and then.
10. Learn to say no. This is crucial if you want to have a simplified schedule. We all receive numerous requests each day, and all of them are demands on our time. If we say “yes” to those requests, we are giving up our time and committing to doing something for someone else. But if those requests aren’t in line with our priorities, then we are usually biting off more than we want to chew. So learn to say “no” instead. Often this is uncomfortable, because we fear it means disappointing others. But learn to tell people that you just don’t have the time to commit to this right now, and often they’ll understand.
Time-saving Computer Tips
1. Disconnect when possible. This is my favorite computer tip. When I really want to focus on a task, and really get it done, I will disconnect from the Internet. Sometimes this means just closing my browser, other times it will mean disconnecting from my wireless network, and still other times I unplug the cord. However you do it, disconnecting from the Internet is a great way to get things done. Of course, you’ll eventually want to re-connect, but having blocks of time when you’re disconnected can be extremely productive.
2. Quicksilver or AutoHotkey. Quicksilver for Mac users, Autohotkey for PCs. I’ve used both an find them to be indispensable tools for getting things done efficiently. For example, we all have documents, programs, folders and websites we go to frequently — set up a hotkey to open them with a keystroke. It takes a little learning to figure out how to set these up (but you can Google tutorials), and to set up each hotkey might take a couple minutes. But once they’re set up, you’re lightning fast. You can go beyond these hotkeys for more powerful combinations, such as a hotkey to email something or resize a photo or do a thousand other things — I have probably a dozen or so I use regularly that save me hours when you add them all up over the course of a month.
3. Keyboard shortcuts for email. Similarly, your email program almost certainly has keyboard shortcuts, and if you’re not using them you should learn them. By using shortcuts for opening, sending, filing, searching and navigating through emails, you can work through a batch of emails in no time. And if you add shortcuts (via Quicksilver or AutoHotkey) for commonly used text or signatures, you can zip through your replies faster than I can go through a batch of Oreos.
4. Email filters. Let your email program do your work for you. I use Gmail filters, but programs such as Outlook or Mail.app, or what have you, all have similar filtering features. Learn to use them and set up filters for your most common emails. This will usually happen over time as you notice that you’re getting a lot of a certain type of email. For example, I get certain stats and financial reports relating to my work that I have labeled and filed by a filter, so that they never see the light of my inbox. Then I can always go and look in that label (or folder) to read those reports if I need to, but don’t need to read them when I go through my inbox. I also use filters to automatically delete emails from people who send me chain and joke emails (harsh, I know, but I get tired of those), and to file notifications from services like Facebook, Twitter, Paypal and other services.
5. Limit IM, Twitter, forums, other social stuff. You can spend all day chatting with others, or Twittering or going on online forums or social media. And while all of these tools have good uses, they can take up too much of your time if you let them. Set limits for yourself — say one hour a day to do all of these things, at a certain block of time in your schedule. You’ll have lots more time for the important tasks.
6. Stop worrying about filing. I’ve written about this before, of course, but I don’t really believe in filing anymore. Everything I do is digital these days, both online and on my computer’s hard drive. And I learned from Gmail that you can just archive something and search for it later without any problems (I’ve been doing this for two years with no problems finding things at all). So I do this with everything: files on my hard drive, documents in Google Docs and Spreadsheets, other types of online files. And my filing time has been reduced to almost zero — while I used to spend lots of time filing each day.
Tips for Home
1. Keep things clutter-free. I’m a big fan of clutter-free homes and workspaces, not only for their nicer aesthetics but because 1) it helps you to focus on what you’re doing instead of being distracted by visual clutter; 2) it’s more serene and relaxing; and 3) it saves time. How does it save time? It makes things easier to find, easier to clean, easier to navigate, and reduces wasted time reshuffling, sorting, looking through, and clearing away piles of clutter. Read more.
2. Keep things in their place. Similarly, having a “home” for everything saves time. You can have an uncluttered home but not know where anything belongs … instead, have a place for everything, and put things back in that place when you’re not using them. Make this a key habit in your life — when you’re done with something, put it back where it belongs. It takes a few seconds to do that, and saves time cleaning up later, looking for things (how many times have you lost something and searched long and hard for it?), and generally keeps things neater and uncluttered.
3. Teach kids to clean up after themselves. If you’re a parent, you know that keeping an uncluttered household isn’t easy when you have little rugrats running around making a mess every minute of the live-long day. Start your kids, from an early age, with the habit of cleaning up after themselves when they’re done playing. So let’s say they take out a bucket of building blocks and make a huge mess — that’s OK, but when they’re done, help them to pick everything up, put them in the bucket, and put the bucket back in its “home”. My younger kids like to sing a “Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere” song as they clean. Make it a game! With six kids, this has saved us countless hours of cleaning up after our kids.
4. Prep the night before. Whether you’re single or have a household full of kids, mornings might be a rush for you. Instead, create an evening routine where you get everything ready the night before, so you can start your day off right. This might not technically save time, but it gives you more time in the morning to focus on getting important things done rather than rushing through your routine.
5. Don’t watch too much TV. I personally have wasted entire days watching TV, so I know what a big time-hole television can be. Instead, limit your TV viewing time — maybe an hour a day? — and use the time you otherwise would have been watching TV on more important things — spending time with your loved ones, exercising, writing that novel you’ve been dreaming about.
6. Plan your weekly menu. If you plan out what you’re going to have for dinner (and even lunch) each day of the week, you can save a lot of time. First, you can go grocery shopping and get everything you need all at once — in fact, if you repeat the weekly menu the next week, you can do two weeks of shopping in one trip. Second, you can prepare food ahead of time (see next item), and pack your lunch easily for work. Third, you don’t have to worry about what’s for dinner each evening — it’s right there on the menu you posted on the fridge.
7. Cook big batches. I like to make large batches of food, which is especially helpful when you have a big family. I’ll cook up a big batch of chili, veggie soup, spaghetti, or other dish, and eat the leftovers for lunch or dinner (sometimes it can be several lunches and dinners).
8. Do all your errands at once. This is the same as the “batching” tip from the work section above (as is the previous tip, and the next tip). Write your errands on an errands list throughout the week, and do them all on one day. Plan your route so you do the least amount of driving possible, and get it all done quickly. Compared to running multiple errand trips, this method saves a lot of time.
9. Do your banking online, all at once. I like to do this once every week or even two weeks … I have all my bills ready to pay (actually, most of them are set up to be paid automatically by my bank’s bill-pay system), I reconcile my online bank statement, pay the bills, check my automatic savings transfers and so on.
10. Clean in one big rush. While I like to keep things clean by cleaning as I go, there’s also the sweeping and mopping and cleaning the bathrooms and things like that … and it’s a big time-saver to do it all in one big rush. My whole family will take different parts of the house, and we’ll do the cleaning all at once as fast as we can. We’re done in 30-45 minutes, and we can relax the rest of the day. Ahhh!
11. Get your workouts done in no time. If you don’t have a lot of time but want to stay (or get) in shape, try bodyweight exercises in circuits, but make the workout more intense by trying to do as many circuits as you can in a short amount of time. For example, do circuits of pullups, pushups, and bodyweight squats (5, 10, and 15 respectively) … and do as many as possible in 10 minutes (or 20 if you’re fit). Create your own circuits with different exercises, or look for similar challenges online to mix things up. Don’t do these intense exercises if you’re just starting out — just try to do a few circuits but not quickly if you’re still a beginner.
12. Keep a great big calendar. My family stays organized with a big calendar on our fridge (which I also manually sync with Gcal because I like Gcal). Everything goes on our calendar: parties, meetings, school events, soccer games, music lessons, birthdays, volunteering dates, and so on. This ensures that we don’t overschedule, that we’re all in sync with each other, and that we don’t miss appointments or events. And one big calendar saves time because we don’t have to keep checking with each other or looking at various schedules.
13. Get a babysitter or swap babysitting. If you are a parent and don’t have time to do things, hire a babysitter so you can find the time, or swap babysitting with another parent. My sister and I do this, for example — we’ll watch her kids some days and she’ll watch ours on others. It’s great because we have more time to do things, and our kids get to play together.
14. Consider hiring someone. Sometimes it makes more sense to hire someone to do something, especially if your time is worth more money than you’re paying that person. For example, if I have a large yard that would take me five hours to maintain (it’s pretty big), it makes more sense for me to pay someone as I can earn more during those 5 hours by working. Other things you might pay someone for: other home maintenance projects, washing your car, doing errands or laundry, doing your taxes … just about anything where doing it yourself isn’t cost-effective.
What are your time-saving tips? Share in the comments!
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译文:
教繁忙的人如何节约时间的重要指导
你的生活总是很繁忙，这一点我确信。但是假期的到来似乎又为每个人的日程安排增加了更多的疯狂和忙碌。你要和家人，朋友以及同事举办圣诞聚会，购买礼物，做装饰，看圣诞表演，听颂歌和圣诞铃声，铲雪（除非你和我一样住在关岛），制作甜点，烤火鸡，以及其他的事情。
这些就足以让你想要放弃这个假期了！
但这也并不是无法改变的。我整理了一些我自己喜欢的节约时间的小方法—我在日常生活中使用这些方法，发现他们可以使你的工作更有效率，让你的日程安排更加轻松自由。如果你是一个忙碌的人（在现在这样的日子里谁又不是呢？），这些方法对你也许有用。
为什么要使用这些小贴士呢？首先，者可以让你在繁忙的时刻仍然能保持冷静—当我们的日程被排满时我们会感觉到很大的压力。其次，同样重要的是，为那些你认为最重要的事情安排出时间。对我来说，这些最重要的事情就是我的家庭，写作，以及锻炼。对你来说，你也许会有其他一些你想要安排出时间来做的事情。下面就是怎么样去做。
工作小贴士
大部分人都将大部分时间用于工作，所以我们就从工作开始谈。如果你有一个很长的“要做事项”的清单—或者更糟的，你根本没有“要做事项”清单—下面是你可以做的：
1.少做。长期读者都知道，这是我最喜欢的效率贴士—简化日程安排：做更少的事，但更集中于重要的事情。这会大大提高你工作时间的效率，减少所需的工作时间。对于那些你没有做的任务怎么办呢？请看下面更多关于它们的建议。
2.委派。如果一项任务需要完成，但不是你最重要的任务之一，而且可以由其他人来完成，就把它委派出去。如果你找到其他同样可以完成任务，甚至比你做的更好的人，并把这样的任务委派出去，你有时甚至可以剪除一半你的“要做事项”清单里的任务。
3.工作时间设限（或者调整工作时间）。如果你每天工作超过8个小时，就为自己设定一个8小时的工作时限。这会使你强迫自己在这个时限内集中于做必须要完成的任务。如果你每天的工作时间就是8小时，试试把工作时间限制在6个小时。你会发现，你必须要优先排序，更有效率地工作，并且尽量少浪费时间，只有这样你才能在这个6小时的时限内完成工作。我自己则是在大部分日子里只给自己安排4到5个小时的工作时间。如果你不能减少工作时间怎么办呢（也许你被要求每天必须工作一定的时间）？那么，看看你是否能把你的工作时间稍微提前或滞后于大众的工作时间。这样，你就可以不在交通繁忙时刻乘车，这将会减少你用于交通时间；或者你就可以在几乎没人的办公室里工作了，并且你绝对可以做更多的工作。
4.最重要的事最先完成。选出2，3件你需要或者想要在今天完成的事项，首先完成这些事情。在其他的日子里你也许想要把这些重要的事情往后推（也许你根本就不会完成它们），但是如果你先做完这些事情，那么今天剩下的时间你就会非常得从容自如。事实上，在你完成了最重要的事情后，你这一天的工作就算是圆满了。如果你有这种自由，你甚至可以说你的一天已经完了，因为剩下的工作可以留到明天再做。
5.要求你的老板为你再优先排序。如果你无法控制你的日程安排或者“要做事项”，和你的老板谈谈。告诉老板你想要让你的工作时间更有效率，但是你今天只有时间作x件事...因此，要他帮你把这些要做的事情挑选一下。告诉他如果你尝试把所有的事情都在今天完成，你会变得没有效率，而且也许没办法做完那么多事情或者无法更好地完成工作。事实上这个优先排序本来是要你自己来做的（参照第一个建议）如果你有这个自由的话。
6.批量处理。不要让你的工作日不时被那些缠在一起的小任务所打断。把相同的任务归为一组，并且一次将他们解决。例如，不要一整天都去回复邮件，将他们打包，并且每天花一次时间（或两次）来处理所有的邮件。一次完成所有的文书工作。批量处理所有的电话。一次做完所有的跑腿事情。这种对工作的分组可以节省很多时间，让你可以更好地把精力集中于处理重要的事情。
7.专心于一件事情，并把它做完。不要在同一时间处理好几个事情，留出一整块时间来只做一件事情，直到完成。对我来说，这通常意味着留出半天或一天的时间（我会尝试把我的项目分成可管理的几块）来完成一个任务，并且如果可能的话尽量做完它。通常这也表示需要事前准备好所有必须的资源和信息，这样你才不必再次搜寻它们，或者当你准备好要真正工作时还要在这些事情上等待。这也同样表示需要明确我的日程安排，这样我可以把其他工作事先就做好，而不再为这段时间安排其他的什么事情了。之后，你需要做的就是专心的只做这一件事情，并努力把它做完。这通常就是做事最有效率的方法。
8.避免会议。并不是所有的会议都是在浪费时间，但是确实有许多会议是这样子的。如果你花费大量的时间参加会议，但是更愿意用这些时间来做实际的工作，而不是来听其他人谈论一些他们原本可以给你发一封邮件就能搞定的事情时，试试看能不能避免这样的会议。这样你可以做更多的事情。更多
9.避免工作中的长时间交谈。我们通常都会有和同事之间长时间的没有任何生产力的谈话—这样的闲谈通常是无关紧要或者与工作无关的。有时可能是长时间的电话粥。尽管我喜欢和坐在我旁边的那个同事交谈，就像我喜欢和其他人交谈一样—这对保持良好的同事关系和朋友关系很重要——但是事实上你可以把这个时间用在做其他事情上。我个人更愿意完成工作，然后回家和家人在一起。所以我尽量把精力集中在工作上，尽量不做过多的闲谈，尽管我需要不时的做出例外。
10.学会说不。如果你想要你的日程表更简，这一点相当关键。我们每天都会接到许多的请求，并且所有这些请求都需要占用我们的时间。如果我们对这些请求总是同意，我们就放弃了我们的时间，并选择为而要其他人作一些事情。但是如果这些请求并不符合我们的优先排序，那么我们通常就会心有余而力不足了。所以学会说不。通常这回让你觉得不舒服，因为我们害怕这意味着我们让其他人失望了。但是还是要学会告诉人们你现在没有时间来做他们要求的事情，并且通常他们会理解的。
节省时间的电脑贴士
1.如果可能，断开链接。这是我最喜欢的电脑贴士。当我确实想要集中于某项任务，确实想要完成一项任务是，我会从网络上断开连接。有时这意味着只是关闭我的浏览器，有时这意味着我还要断开我的无线网络，还有的时候我会拔掉电缆。不管你采用何种方式，断开网络连接是使事情做完的一个很好的方法。当然，你最终会想要重新连接网络，但是当你断开连接时你可以获得整块的时间来处理事务。这段时间是相当有效率的。
2.使用Quicksilver和AutoHotkey软件。使用Mac的用户可以使用Quicksilver，PC用户则可以使用AutoHotkey。我自己是两个都用，并且发现它们是使事情有效完成的不可缺少的工具。例如，我们经常需要访问一些文档，程序，文件夹，和网站—可以为这些设置一个一键访问的热键。你可能需要花一点点时间来学习如何进行设置（你可以使用Google来搜索相关指南），而且设置一个热键可能需要几分钟的时间。但是，一旦设置好了，你就可以利用他们在瞬间处理事务了。而且你不单单可以使用这些热键本身，你还可以把它们组合起来使用，比如，用来发送邮件的热键，或者调整图像大小的热键，或者做其他事情的热键—我自己设置了有一打左右经常使用的热键。如果把每个月中它们为我节省的时间加总的话，可以说它们帮助我节省了很多的时间。
3.邮件的键盘快捷方式。同样的，你的邮件程序基本上都会有键盘快捷键。如果你还没有使用过这些快捷键的话，你应该学会使用它们。使用快捷方式来打开，发送，归档，搜索和操作邮件，你可以快速处理一堆的邮件。而且如果你为经常使用的文本或者签名附件也添加快捷方式（通过使用Quickersilver或者AutoHotkey软件），你可以快速答复邮件，甚至比我消灭掉一堆奥利奥奶油夹心饼干还要快。
4.邮件过滤器。让你的邮件程序帮你完成工作。我使用Gmail的邮件过滤器，但是像Outlook或者Mail.app这样的程序，或者其他一些你可能有的程序，也都有同样的过滤功能。学习使用它们来对你最常用的邮箱进行过滤设置。你也许注意到在某一段时间内你会持续收到许多某一特定类型的邮件。例如，我通常会收到一些和我的工作相关的统计报告和财务报告。但我会对它们设置标签并且使用过滤器归档，这样他们就不可能进入到我的收件箱了。之后如果需要的话我就可以在标签（或文件夹）里来阅读这些报告，浏览收件箱时却不需要阅读这些报告了。同时我也使用过滤器来自动删除那些链接邮件和笑话邮件（我知道这样的做法很无情，但是我很烦这些邮件），并且对来自Facebook，Twitter，Paypal和其他服务的通知进行归档。
5.限制使用IM，Twitter，论坛和其它社交途径的时间。你可以花一整天时间和其他人聊天，或者使用Twitter，登陆网上论坛或其他社会媒介。尽管这些工具都有好的用处，但它们却可能花掉你太多的时间如果你不对它们进行限制。为你自己设限—比方说每天在你的日程表上安排一个小时的时间来处理这些社会性事务。这样，你会有更多的时间来做其他更重要的任务。
6.不要为存档担心。关于这一点我以前写过一些文章，但是我现在不再那么相信存档了。现在我所做的每一件事都是数字化的，不管是在网络上还是在我自己电脑的硬盘驱动上。我从Gmail学习到，你可以把一些东西先存档，并且之后可以毫不费力的搜索到它（过去两年我一直都是这样做的，并且搜索这些东西时不存在任何困难）。所以现在我对所有事情都这样做，包括我硬盘驱动上的文档，在Google Docs和Spreadsheets里的文件，和其他类型的网络文档。现在我的存档时间几乎减到接近于零—而我过去总是每一天都花费大量的时间存档。
家庭小贴士
1.保持事情有序。我喜欢有序的家庭和工作环境，不仅因为它们有更好的审美感觉，也因为：1）这帮助你专注于你正在做的事情而不被可视的杂乱分散注意力；2）更让人宁静和放松；3）节省时间。怎样节省时间呢？有序的家庭环境和工作环境中可以更容易找到需要的东西，更容易清理和操作它们，并且减少了因为重新布置，归类，查找和清除大量杂物所浪费的时间。更多
2.让东西保持原位。同样的，让每一件东西都有自己的位置也可以节省时间。你家里也许很整洁，但是你也许也可能不知道每一样东西应该放在哪。让东西有属于自己的位置，当你不使用它们的时候把他们放回原位。让这成为你生活的一个重要的习惯—用完某物后防回原处。这可能会花费几秒钟的时间来这样做，但却节省了事后清理，寻找的时间（想想看你有多少次丢失东西并花费长时间努力搜寻的经历？），并且让事物更整洁有序。
3.教孩子自己整理。如果你是一个家长，你就会知道，当你有还没长大满地乱爬的小孩在一整天的每一分钟里把一切弄得乱糟糟的时候，要保持一个整洁的家庭并不容易。让你的孩子在很小的时候就养成玩耍之后整理他们身后的东西的习惯。比方说，他们拿出一桶积木，并且弄得满地都是——这没关系，但是当玩耍之后，帮助他们把所有的东西捡起来，放进桶里，再把桶放到它原来的位置。我小一点的几个孩子在做这些清理工作的时候喜欢唱一首“整理，整理，每个人，每个地方”的歌。让这变成一个好玩的游戏！我有6个孩子，这让我们节省了大量原本需要花在在孩子身后整理东西的时间。
4.在前夜做好预备功课。不管你是单身还是有一个有很多小孩的家庭，每天早上对你来说可能都是一个相当匆忙的过程。相反，你可以在前夜将一切都准备好，并让这变成你每晚都要做的日常工作，那你就可以更好得开始新的一天了。从技术上来说，这也许不会直接节省你的时间，但可以让你在早上把更多的时间集中于做重要的事，而不会为了完成你的每日工作表而一路匆忙。
5.不要看太多的电视。我个人曾经浪费过整天的时间在看电视上，所以我知道电视是一个多么大的时间“空洞”。相反，限制你看电视的时间——也许是每天一小时看电视的时间——把你原本打算看电视的时间用来做更重要的事情——和你爱的人在一起，做锻炼，或者写你梦想着的小说。
6.计划每周的菜单。如果你计划出你一周中每一天要吃些什么东西（即使是午餐），你就可以节省大量的时间。首先，你可以去食品杂货店一次购齐所有你需要的东西——事实上，如果你打算下周仍然重复你这一周的菜单，你可以一次做两周的购物。第二，你可以事先准备好食物（参照第二项），更方便把食物打包成工作餐。第三，你每天晚上不再需要为该吃些什么而费神了——它就列在贴在冰箱上的菜单上面。
7.煮多点食物。我喜欢制作大批量的食物，如果你有一个大家庭这尤其有用。我会一次煮很多的辣椒粉，素食汤，意大利式实心面条，和其它的食物，并将吃剩下的食物当午餐或晚餐吃（有时这可以是好几次午餐和晚餐）。
8.一次做所有的跑腿工作。这和上面工作部分的批量处理的道理是一样的（这和前面的建议以及后面的建议是一致的）。把所有需要跑腿的工作项目列入你一周的跑腿工作清单中，并且在一天中专门做这事。计划路线，以便能尽量少开车，并且快速做完这些事情。相比于做多趟跑腿工作，这个方法也可以节省大量时间。
9.在网上办理银行业务，并且一次做完。我喜欢每周甚至每两周做一次这样的银行业务...我先将所有需要支付的账单准备好（事实上，他们中的大部分已经设置成我通过银行的账单支付系统自动进行支付），然后再和网上的银行报表对帐，支付账单，检查我的自动储蓄转帐，等等。
10.一次性大扫除。尽管我喜欢随时整理来保持事物整洁，但总是会有清扫，擦拭，和清洁浴室这样的事情要做。一次性大扫除来做所有这些事情将可以节省很多时间。我们全家的每个人会负责家里的不同部分，然后尽快一次性清理完毕。这样的事情我们用30到45分钟的时间就可以搞定，这样一天中其他剩余的时间就可以放松了。哈哈！
11.l立即做锻炼。如果你没有很多的时间来做锻炼但是又想保持体型，那你可以试试分组重力训练。但是要让锻炼密集，尽量在固定的短时间内作更多的组次。例如，做引体向上，举重，重力下蹲（每一种训练分别做5个，10个和15个）...在十分钟的时间里尽可能多做（如果觉得没问题可以做20分钟时间）。不同的锻炼要找到自己合适的组次，或者你也可以在网上搜索一些方法来把不同的锻炼综合在一起挑战一下自己。不要在一开始就做太密集的训练——如果你还只是一个新手，就先尝试少一点的组次，但不要做得太快。
12.制作一个大号日历。我的家庭成员的日常事务都通过贴在冰箱上的一个大号日历组织起来（我也刻意地与我们的大日历保持一致，因为我喜欢这种大日历）。所有的事情都会列在我们的日历上：派对，会议，学校事件，足球比赛，音乐课，生日，志愿日，以及其它的事情。这就保证我们自己不会把个人的日程排得太挤，而且我们会尽量和各自的日程保持一致，那样我们就不会错过那些列在大日历上的约定和事件了。这样的大号日历也节省了时间，因为我们不必再为了统一行动而查看各自不同的日程安排了。
13.请一位保姆或者和人交换着照顾婴儿。如果你是一个没有时间来做事情的家长，那么就雇佣一个保姆，这样你就可以有时间来做事了。或者和其他人替换着照顾婴儿。我的姐姐和我就是这样做的，比如——我们替她照顾孩子一段时间，然后她再在另一段时间内替我们照顾小孩。这很好，因为我们有了更多的时间来做事情，而我们的孩子也可以在一块玩。
14.考虑雇佣一个人。有时雇佣一个人来做事情可能更好，特别是如果你的时间比你支付给那个人的佣金更值钱。例如，如果我有一个很大的后院需要我花五个小时的时间来做保养（相当大的庭院），那我就可以选择支付佣金雇个人来做，因为我可以在五个小时内通过工作赚更多的钱。其它一些你可以雇佣他人来做的事情是：其他家庭维持工程，洗车，跑腿或洗衣，报税等...只要是你自己来做不是成本有效的事情。
你自己的节省时间的方法是什么呢？分享你的建议！