It’s probably not terribly shocking to you to hear that, as a highly sensitive person, I have struggled with a fair amount of excessive stress over the course of my life. After hitting rock bottom about six years ago, I spent quite a while in what I like to call “hermit mode”. Taking on a bare minimum of activity while nursing my burned out body and mind back to health.
Well, the hermiting paid off! Eventually, I felt strong enough to welcome a tad more stimulation again and started intentionally “re-busyfying” my life.
But I have zero intention of getting burned out again, so fitting in adequate time for recharging is still VERY high on my priority list.
If you, too, are wanting to kick butt in the getting stuff done department but also enjoy plentiful space for R&R, here are my five favorite time saving hacks.
5 Time Saving Hacks I Use To Leave More Time For Recharging
1. I Take Time To Recharge
This may sound counterintuitive, but I firmly believe that the best way to boost productivity is …drumroll please… doing nothing.
When I used to pack my schedule way too full for a highly sensitive introvert, the results were exhaustion, foggy brain, and procrastination. I would try to do a ton of stuff, but none of it got done particularly efficiently so it would end up spreading over an annoyingly long stretch of time.
When I’m well rested though, the urge to procrastinate goes away and I’m able to focus and whizz through stuff much quicker.
2. I Plan My Schedule According To Energy Fluctuations
Another thing that helps me accomplish tasks much faster is planning my schedule so that I work on things that require the most focus or willpower when I’m typically at my most energetic. Mornings are a high energy time for me – late afternoons and evenings are not. So if I schedule my writing time in the morning, I’m going to complete an article in probably half the time it would take me if I tried to write at night after dinner.
3. I Multi-Task
As a mother of three, various household chores are a huge time sink for me. But I’m almost never just doing chores. Whenever I’m cooking, cleaning, or doing laundry, I’m typically also doing one of three things:
- Listening to audiobooks or video recordings for learning or for pleasure.
- “Writing” – ie. composing articles or scripting videos in my mind, so that when I actually sit down to type, the ideas are ready to flow.
- Talking to someone.
4. I Keep Detailed Task Lists
Do you ever find yourself feeling really busy and scrambling to find enough time for everything you want to do, but then when a pocket of time opens up, you actually have no idea what to do?
This used to happen to me all the time.
But eventually I figured out that if I kept detailed lists of things I wanted to do and tasks I wanted to accomplish, then I could just consult my list and immediately have my memory refreshed rather than spending 15 minutes trying to gather myself and remember all those things I had meant to do when I found the time.
I keep my lists in google sheets so I can easily access them on my phone.
5. I Don’t Do Things Unless I Totally Want To Or Absolutely Have To
Last but not least, I have another twist on the “do nothing” front. My favorite way to save time is simply to say no to more things.
Since I started distancing myself from other people’s “shoulds” and expectations, I’ve been able to find so much more time for things I genuinely want to do, including plenty of time to recharge.
This is the freedom that awaits when you let go of people pleasing and start living intentionally aligned with your own values! 🙂
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