“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” – Steve Jobs 

We do many things a day, and different types of tasks require different types of work. Different types of work require different types of effort. But we often do not schedule our day based on the effort we need to pay. As a result, we take a longer time to finish and we end up being overwhelmed by work. Now the question arises, what time of the day are you most productive and efficient?

Key learnings on Making More Time

1.  Our minds cannot multitask.
2. In neuroscience, multitasking is switching – switching from one task to another.
3. Switching is the passing of information from the right to the left hemisphere through the corpus callosum, the part of the brain that separates two hemispheres.
4. Trying to do more than one task at a time decreases our IQ level.
5. Multitasking is only an external way of looking productive because inside of our mind we cannot do more than one task at a time.
6. Taking a break every 90-minutes increases the mind’s capability to be productive for the next 90 minutes.
7. Using time on multiple things is not only mentally ineffective but also takes lots of energy by increasing stress.

Managing time is a fundamental need to be productive. In neuroscience, there are some facts that will help with knowing about time management from a different perspective. It will help a high performing leader to be more successful in less time.

Select the information:

A better decision is a result of selecting better information. We deal with information flowing from too many sources. With an overload of information, we get paralysed and we get confused. As a result, we can’t move ahead, or we cannot decide. We get overly anxious about the situation and juggle the information. That takes our time as well as energy. When it is time to make a decision, select the information and stick with that. Treat it creatively in the processing part but stay glued with the information you need and from whom you need.

This simple act creates some space and saves the energy of your brain to do quality processing of information.

Stop splitting:

We have too many options to stay connected these days. We often split our attention by checking email, or other connected notifications. By taking away our attention, we stay on the surface of our thinking. We cannot reach insight, deep thinking or creative thinking.

When you feel the pressure of providing attention to too many things, you cannot distinguish between them based on urgency and importance. Pick one task at a time. Forget about others while working on one. Set a time to stay focused on the selected task. Prioritising your focus will help you to finish the task way faster and in a quality way.

Break to build:

Our mind has a tendency of decreasing energy over the time of the day until we refuel it. Trying to stay awake or focused with caffeine does not work if you want to maintain a quality focus on your thoughts. It only keeps your mind awake.

Again, the mind has its most quality energy at the beginning of the day. Starting with the task which requires your best quality thinking is a clever way to save your day from being overloaded and working overtime. According to Gloria Mark, University of California, Irvine, who studied digital distraction, in every drop of focus, you lose around 23 min to get back to the same level of focus after a distraction. Counting every 23 minutes is a lot at the end of the day or end of the week.

Take a systematic break throughout the day. Taking breaks will not separate you from the task. It will regenerate the energy that your mind needs to work better.

American physiologist and sleep researcher Nathaniel Kleitman have found that our mind can operate for 90-minutes with high intensity. And after 90 minutes our mind starts to produce stress chemicals which drain our energy.

When you are stressed, you concurrently minimize the quality functions of your prefrontal cortex. You are not able to do much logical thinking and at that point, you are more aroused by the emotional mind, and you often react with your behavioural dominance of flight, fight or freeze patterns.

Every time you spend it takes you to the next time that you will be approaching. Time flows like a river, and a river does not go reverse. Use your time wisely, know what could hinder your time. Mind your time first, your time will blow your mind.

Onwards,

Ayesha

In this book, I am pointing to the people who are lead thinkers in their workplace, in their own business or in their own life. The key focus of the book is driving change to be the person that you want to become. It is backed by the neuroscience of leadership insights connected to social behaviours in the arena of self-leadership practices. In this ever-changing world, it is essential to stay stable, innovative and mindful with your own thoughts, time and energy. This book will challenge your leadership skills by adding more value to the way you think or act. You will become a more insightful, resilient, and agile leader.

If you would to join my mentoring session, DM or email me to book a discovery session.

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