Citybuzz Marketing: How To Create More Time In Your Day

MANCHESTER, U.K. - Feb. 27, 2014 - PRLog -- Citybuzz Marketing

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Citybuzz Marketing: How To Create More Time In Your Day

MANCHESTER, UK, February 2014 – Some people know how to make the most of every minute, while the rest of us lament that there's not enough hours in the day. The key could be as simple as knowing what you're working with. Here's how to take control of the time you're given.

You know the type: A colleague constantly delivers at work. He exudes a sense of calm, and yet as you get to know him, you find out he’s also coaching football, running marathons, and taking a wine-tasting class that he’s never had to skip.

Some people appear to magically create time. But the truth is, these superheroes actually have a different, if almost as rare, skill: they know exactly how long everything takes. Being able to estimate time well allows us to plan and organize our lives. We live in chaos often because we don’t have good estimates. Many of us miscalculate what we can take on, and then we have to chuck things that are meaningful to us.

Here’s how to get better at estimating how long things will take, and how to use those estimates to get more done.

1. Keep track of your hours.

If you want to estimate time better, you need to get a realistic sense of where the time goes now. There are time tracking apps that can make you more productive, or you could use a spreadsheet. Try logging your time for at least a week.

2. Reflect.

Now it’s time to look for patterns. How long is your commute, how long are your regular meetings? Few of us take time to look back at the week, but if we did, we’d get a better feel for our schedules.

3. Embrace your inner pessimist.

While some people overestimate the time tasks require, the more common curse is wild optimism. People estimate that they will do it right on the first try. Call it margin time or “slack” but any good estimator has learned to anticipate that something unexpected will happen, you might as well account for it in advance.

4. Think like a chef.

With estimation you can compare it to cooking - you need to figure out what are the steps that are going to allow you to put dinner on the table at 7 p.m. and then you count back from 7 p.m. to figure out when you should start. Likewise, you can break any project into its constituent steps, figure out how long each step requires, and which of these steps can run simultaneously.

5. Use the 100% rule.

Another problem with estimation is that people fail to account for all the steps of a project. With the cooking metaphor, people don’t build in time to set the table. Getting groceries doesn’t just involve driving to the store, putting stuff in your cart, and driving home. It requires taking the groceries out of your trunk and putting them away. Failing to account for that time gives you inaccurate estimates.

6. Crowdsource.

The hardest things to estimate are things you do rarely or have never done at all. You want to paint your hallway. Will it take all weekend? If you start at 4 p.m. Saturday, will you have to cancel your evening plans? But just because you’ve never done something doesn’t mean no one has. The best estimators know who to call. The wisdom of crowds is often surprisingly accurate.

7. Take a portfolio approach.

The reason to hone your estimation skills is that you can then plan your life in a more rational fashion. Here are some things that could fit in 24 hours: 8 hours of sleep, one hour of personal care, 10 hours of work (including the commute), a 90-minute trip to the gym, and two hours of TV. Here are some things that cannot simultaneously fit into those same 24 hours: grabbing drinks with a colleague, starting your taxes, fixing the leaky pipe in your house and going to your daughters dance recital.

When it comes to time you have an absolute ceiling to what’s available to you, so you need to make some critical decisions. What parts of your life portfolio are most important to pursue? If something has to give, you want to make sure it’s the right thing. Those people who manufacture time? They always chuck the right things--and keep the right things too.

For additional information, contact a member of the Citybuzz administration team at contact@citybuzzmarketing.co.uk

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