Don't delay, skip instead
Want to know about a powerful time management hack? Don't delay, and skip instead.
In the past months I kept feeling always behind schedule. Mostly becaues I went to bed late, so I woke up late, and started my date late. What happened then is I would try to cram everything I wanted to do in the day, while always behind schedule. The worst thing is that, all throughout the day, I had this nagging feeling of being underwater. Of having too much to do and not having enough time to do it. Talk about a stressful life.
Then, about a month ago, I had a flash of insight. Honestly I don't even remember how it came ot me. But it danwed on me that a solution could be to just skip stuff instead of constantly
delaying. So I tried to do just this, as a rule, every day, for 30 days. And boy, it made a difference.
Here's the rule: things that you can start on time get done. This means, if you decided that you'd do a workout at 7am, and it's 7am and you're ready to do your workout, do it.
But if you miss the scheduled time for doing something, you must skip it, and either rescheduled or discard it.
When doing this, you'll feel less stressed, less rushed. You'll be calmer, more focused, and be more effective.
Much of the stress that burdens us comes from having too much stuff going on, especially in the back of our head. When you're doing something but you know that you're already late because you were supposed to do something else, and that there is 32 other things you are supposed to do in the day, you brain is in low-key background stress mode. And it's insidious because it's not particularly salient or stingy, it's just there in the background, gnawing at your morale without you being conscious of it.
The mere fact of deciding to not do something because it couldn't be done it time gives you back a sense of control over your time. You're not subjugated to a planning. You're in charge. And this is freeing.
Of course, there will be times where you won't be able to skip doing something. Maybe it's an important project with a deadline, or something urgent that has to be taken care of. I'm not saying you should be skipping stuff 100% of the time. But let's be honest: most things in life are not both urgent and of paramount importance.
After a month of applying this, I ffeel now less rushed and that I have more time in the day. I get less stressed over what I should be doing and can take my time to focus on the task at hand.
Of course I'm not doing 100% of the time, but even then, it still gives a tangible benefit to my well being and overall productivity.
Skipping and rescheduling (or discarding) brings a lot more benefit than drawback. Actually, in those 30 days, there wasn't a single time were I regretted skipping a task that couldn't be done on time.
As you only have my word for it, in the case you're feeling behind all the time, and stressed out by all the things you have to do, I urge you to give it a try.