3 Ways To Unlock Hidden Productivity That Transforms Idle Minutes Into Achievement For Busy Leaders

Ever face a situation where you have a break in tasks, but hesitate to begin something else because the time seems too tight?

Seize every minute and make it work for you. Minutes matter. Don’t waste them. It all starts with being intentional in the moments we have. Using those brief periods can make all the difference in your productivity and the ability to find time to explore new ideas, hobbies, and other adventures.

Make every minute a productive minute. You deserve to make the most out of every minute. Here’s how you can be more intentional with your time and start today.

Make a list of the small tasks

Each week, as part of your planning process, build a list of small tasks that take five minutes, ten minutes, and 15 minutes. Whenever you have a few free minutes, use your list to complete those items. Inevitably we find ourselves with a few in-between moments where there isn’t a specific project to work on, but seemingly not enough time to start something new. We end up filling those moments on social media, non-productive email, or something else that doesn’t help us positively impact our day. These little spaces of time can add up over the course of days and weeks. Think of your day as a puzzle. Every small piece—every minute—fits together to create the bigger picture. Having a quick list to reference for small tasks can be very helpful in getting those small projects completed.

Schedule yourself in time blocks whenever possible

Scheduling yourself in blocks of time is another way to ensure you are intentional with your time. One of the more common ideas for working in blocks of time is the Pomodoro technique. Setting a timer for 25 minutes to complete focused work and then taking 5-minute breaks has proven to be very helpful for many people. This works in almost any environment. A twist on that thought process — focused work for 25 minutes, 5 minutes for small tasks, 5-minute breaks…repeat. This ensures you build in a little time to get the small tasks done that are often taken for granted. It can also serve as an excellent way to transition from focused work to a break, and then to the next task.

Define how you want to use your time and how much time you dedicate to certain things

Make time for hobbies and even relaxing. By knowing what you would like to do with your time and how much time you need for each of those activities, you can ensure there is space for them. Use the in-between times to get the small things done on the list you created. We all require downtime. You may choose to spend it watching TV, or working on your hobby, or just taking a walk. Knowing you want to do those things is step one. Defining how much time to spend on them is the second step. Once you get the big rocks accounted for, you can begin to fill in the rest.

What if you could reclaim just 15 minutes each day? That’s over 90 hours a year! What could you achieve with that extra time?

Steven Covey popularized the idea of ‘starting with the big rocks first’ from his 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. He illustrated it by asking people to place different sized rocks inside a jar. The jar represented the time we had available. There were a couple of different sized rocks, the largest representing the major projects and parts of our lives. Medium-sized rocks were other projects that were important, but not necessarily urgent. Finally, there was sand that represented the small things in our lives. In today's world, the sand would stand for email, phone calls, social media, etc. If you place the sand in the jar first, as many of us are prone to do, the medium and large rocks will not fit within the confines of the jar. However, if you begin with the largest rocks, then add the medium-sized ones, and finally pour the sand over the top, everything fits. The sand settles into the spaces between the medium and large rocks. This represents how using those small in-between moments can allow for all of those 'sand' items to still fit into the confines of our time.

It is easy to lose track of our time, whether in small or large increments. Few of us have the luxury of letting the little moments of time slip through our fingers. Plan effectively, schedule your time, be intentional with your actions, and everything can fit into the jar. Ready to transform your productivity? Start by reclaiming those lost minutes today!

How can you use the small moments between projects to get more done?

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