I’ve seen this quote floating around instagram and now it even shows up on coffee cups as a morning reminder that we all have a full day to get the most out of. But let’s face it, some days can seem really overwhelming, like there isn’t enough time to get everything done or you just aren’t motivated. Well two readers on instagram asked me
chanellejepsonHow to achieve so much in one day?!
emmaheestersWhat is your normal daily routine and how can you plan a lot in one day
So I figured, I’d share my tips for having the most productive day.
WAKE UP EARLY
This might not be easy for everyone, but this is how I function best in life. Anyone who knows me will tell you I get up earlier than anyone they know. Everyday, even on the weekends you’ll more than likely see that I’m up by 6:30 – 7:00AM. I get so much done early mornings because I’m not distracted by friends calling or texting, social media, there isn’t anything on tv yet. So I can get my day going with minimum distractions. If I go to the grocery store, its empty. The gym, all to myself. If I were to sleep in until 10 or 11, I would feel like half the day is wasted and you can’t run errands to businesses at night after they close so you’ve lost half the day to get shit done.
MAKE A LIST
With your list of things to do for the day, write them in the order of most important to least or with the worst task first. This ensures either your most important task gets done or the task you are dreading the most is finished because who wants to finish a daunting errand after a long day of work.
PICK YOUR TOP 3 TASKS
Three. Not five or 10, but three. This is a realistic goal to set for the day to get things done without feeling disappointed that you didn’t get everything done. In my planner, the top has three lines for the most important things I need to get done that day. I always write them there so I can see it and its a good reminder to focus on those three, because for myself if its more than that I’ll likely forget or not have time to do more than that amount of tasks
MAP IT OUT
In Los Angeles especially, there is always traffic. When planning out my day, I schedule them in the order of location so instead of driving back and forth, I work myself from the furthest location and work myself back home towards the end of the day so I don’t spend unnecessary time in the car or waste gas.
SAY NO
There is power in saying no. The older I’ve gotten, the more comfortable I am with saying no to people. This allows you to really focus on what you need to do for the day. No, I can’t go to lunch. No, I can’t finish this project today. No, I can’t drive you. This goes hand in hand with not overbooking yourself so that you can focus on the things you need to do to have a productive day.
BUDGET YOUR TIME
Give yourself deadlines and maximize your time. I struggle with this working from home, but I say to myself that I need to complete a task within an hour or I have one thirty minute break. I schedule out my day to make the most out of it so I don’t waste time doing things that didn’t need to take as long.
OUTSOURCE
You don’t need to be superwoman. Delegating the things I don’t have to do has been a lifesaver for me. Within your budget, see what you can outsource especially tasks that take a long time. Cleaning the house can take up hours of your week, find someone to help you with this or look on groupon where I found deals for $65 for two maids and two hours of service. That alone should give you time to focus on other things and they will likely be more efficient. Laundry and dry cleaning can come to you to pick up, drop off, fold and hang, save a trip and your time.
KEEP YOUR INBOX AT ZERO
I will admit I’m pretty bad about this, but I do try to deal with an email as soon as it arrives in my inbox. I reply, forward, flag or trash so that my inbox doesn’t get to that overwhelming number. Eva Chen told me once in an interview its one of her best practices, to always get her inbox to zero by the end of the day. If this system doesn’t work for you, set a time aside during the day dedicated to emails. Maybe once in the morning and once in the afternoon and go through them in bulk so you don’t have to keep checking your inbox all day long.
DONT OVER BOOK
This is also learning how to say NO. In Los Angeles, there seems to always be some event or dinner or party and honestly I can’t make it to everything. So instead of saying yes and flaking, I really only allow myself to schedule a certain amount of things per day. Especially on days I work out because those days, I really don’t want to do too much.
AVOID MEETINGS
Meetings are a waste of time. I feel like nothing really gets done in meetings that couldn’t be done in an email or a call. Only schedule a meeting if YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO! Some of business is networking and face to face communication is great, but if its a regular meeting that happens weekly or aren’t productive try to avoid these. More than often, I would leave a meeting feeling like what was the point of that?! If you have to go to one, keep a time restraint let the others know you have until a certain time and stay on topic. Get to the point of what you want to acccomplish so everyone can move on with their day.
Lauren says:
I love the idea of a to do list at the start of the day. I would love to be able to get up extra early but I struggle so much to get up before I have to
Lauren x | http://www.laurenapowers.blogspot.com
Dani Mendocha | Styled Variety says:
LOVED this post! These tips are so helpful and simple enough to implement right away! I agree with keeping the e-mail inbox at zero. That has been my daily goal for a few months now and it really does take some stress away!
Dani | http://www.styledvariety.com
Yujung says:
Your tips are so nice!! Thank you so so much:)))
http://yumiandyuji.blogspot.kr/
2MavenSisters says:
I really enjoyed reading this post!! Helpful tip !
Thank you beautiful !
olga says:
These are really fantastic tips!
http://againstandforward.blogspot.com
Freida Kaye says:
I will definitely use these tips for my daily routine even though your life is a lot more glamorous then mine, being a mommy is crazy most days so making sure I set goals and make a strict to-do list always helps me so I am looking forward to setting some of your tips into mine. Thank you, Marianna. XoXo
Amanda says:
This tips are amazing! I’m definitely going to implement these tips into my daily routine thanks
Xo
Amanda
http://www.amandaazeredo.com
LuckyMeCandy says:
So true about meetings. Such a waste of time. Especially those meetings where you are expected to brainstorm & come up with ideas.
Vanessa Troset says:
Thank for the tips Marianna. This really will help to get a very productive day!
Kisses http://www.vanedresscode.com
Chanelle Jepson says:
Thank you so much for actually answering my question! Balancing a blog, career and trying to date. 😉 It’s not an easy task but I don’t want my goals to not be met just because I can’t balance correctly.
Thanks again!
Xoxo,
Chanelle
Deliciousbychanelle.com
Snapchat: chanellejepson
Kaitlyn says:
Do you have favorite planners for bloggers to schedule your postings as well as scheduling/planning your day? I’d love if you could share that!
Marianna Hewitt says:
coscedhule!
Kristen Robin says:
Loved this post! All so true! Especially the day-to-day around the house stuff. I spend SO much time cleaning and doing laundry.
Emma says:
Thank you so much for answering my question <3 sometimes I feel written posts about this topic are very generally or something, but you did a super great job and actually gave tips I would really use!
Samantha says:
Hi Marianna,
Great tips. Can you also include the brand of the Agenda/Day-time planner you mentioned a while back? It can’t be found anywhere on your site.
Thanks!