The Art of Time Mastery

Every morning, you set out determined to complete all the items on your to-do list. But by the time you get to bed, you find that you’re still a long way from getting all those things done. If this is an all-too-familiar scenario, you might have been wondering why some people seem to get so much done in a single day—even when they have so much more on their plate. We all get the same number of hours each day, yet their 24 hours appear to be a lot more productive.

So how do the likes of Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and Oprah pull it off?

What does it take to follow their lead?

It all boils down to time mastery. In the words of Brian Tracy, “Master your time, master your life. All you need is to learn the art of time mastery—the art of taking control of every minute through skills and strategies that will enable you to tackle more tasks and be a step closer to your personal or business goals. Don’t waste another minute. Here’s a quick guide on how you can successfully conquer the art of time mastery.

The Art of Time Management

At times, does it feel like you haven’t accomplished anything meaningful even though you’ve been running around all day, ticking off one item after another on your to-do list? Then you’re probably missing out on the two pillars of time management: effectiveness and efficiency. How do these differ?

Effectiveness refers to the importance of a task to your overall objective or goal. The key here is to prioritize activities based on their degree of importance. So focus on those that are meaningful, contribute to your main purpose, and actually deliver results.

Efficiency is about achieving optimal results using the quickest method or the fewest resources possible. After all, bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes, small acts can make a huge impact or difference.

Case in point: Instead of investing in a press conference, and spending time putting one together, you can concentrate your efforts on crafting a clever, unique, or memorable tweet that has the potential to go viral or to generate the publicity you seek. With both pillars in mind, you can kick off your time-management journey by (1) assessing and understanding your overall goal; (2) getting the most important tasks done first; (3) creating a concrete plan of action; and (4) keeping tabs on your output and making sure you don’t get sidetracked.

The Art of Outsourcing

There are many time management approaches to effectiveness and efficiency, and outsourcing is one of your best bets. Seeking—and relying on—outside help doesn’t mean you’re lazy. It doesn’t make you any less capable. And it isn’t a waste of money. Outsourcing can actually do you plenty of good.

You can make the most of your time. You get to focus on high-value tasks. You are able to work more smoothly and productively. And of course, you don’t have to struggle with and juggle tons of things. No wonder a number of the world’s top achievers are experts on outsourcing. An excellent example: Gary Varynerchuk, Chief Executive Officer of VaynerMedia, a full-service digital agency.

Gary is a serial entrepreneur, four-time New York Times best-selling author, TV personality, and digital marketing specialist. He is active on social media, with a presence on every single platform, and regularly updates his vlogs and blogs. As driven and dynamic as he is, Gary wouldn’t be able to do all this on his own, especially with his incredibly busy schedule. What’s his secret?

Gary knows the art of outsourcing well—really well. He does what needs to be done from his end and then delegates the rest of the tasks to his team. For instance, he has camera guys following him to document his day, from his car rides to his meetings. He then has his videographers edit the camera footage and post the final video. The result: he is able to produce content for his vlog on a daily basis!

Gary also counts on outsourcing when it comes to his books. He simply sets aside time to meet with a writer. They discuss what theories and topics he would like to be covered and explained in the book. And then he lets the writer put the content together. With outsourcing, Gary appears to be doing more in a single day than we are able to do in two weeks. If you have the financial resources, you can take a cue from

Gary and delegate some of your tasks to free up your schedule. If there’s no room in your budget for an extra pair of hands, you can practice delegating in a different way. You could plan your tasks more strategically and have them automated when possible to save time and effort. This leads us to another strategy—one that you can easily follow to master time management: “hacking” time.

The Art of Hacking Time

When you can’t afford to delegate tasks to other people, you can look for ways to “win” more time. Productivity hacks can help you get the job done without spending much time or money. Fortunately, there are now loads of tools and programs that are designed to help you manage your schedule. And chances are, you’ll find a match for tasks that take up a chunk of your time. You might even be able to try or utilize some for free.

Among individuals who need help organizing their ideas or the materials they gather, Evernote is a popular option, especially since users can easily share and access content across devices. Small business owners and entrepreneurs can benefit from artificial intelligence (AI) systems, too. AI chatbots, in particular, are a favorite for their capability to assist with customer service. Rather than hiring customer service representatives, many companies set up their chatbot to operate around the clock so they can attend to clients promptly. Businesses keen on building brand recognition can also establish their online presence in no time with services like Bookmark.com.

The Bookmark Website Builder’s AI software does away with 90 percent of the tedious tasks related to building, maintaining, and updating a website. Specifically, it simplifies the design process, allowing users to create a website in just a matter of minutes. For day-to-day operations, manual tracking can be very daunting and time-consuming, too.

With software such as Clockspot, you don’t have to worry about spreadsheets or calculations. Clockspot makes everything from employee clock-in and payroll reports to job tracking a breeze. It also lets you view in real-time what your employees are working on, plan shifts using a time-off calendar, monitor accrued overtime, and keep track of all timesheet changes. Its potential time and cost savings make it well worth the investment. Plus, it features a very user-friendly interface, requiring little to zero staff training.

Indeed, to master your time, you need to learn how to use it to your advantage. You don’t need millions of dollars to do that. Having the right tools in your arsenal, and with the right mindset and the right approach, you can manage your daily tasks more efficiently and effectively.

With time mastery, you can grow and sustain your business while minimizing your expenses. And at the end of the day, you will likely feel more fulfilled and accomplished. It all boils down to how you manage your time.