The one amazing trick guaranteed to give you more time

Want to know the number one ‘hack’ that will instantly give you more time and boost your energy levels?

Are you ready for it?

Here it is …

Do less.

That’s it. Do less.

Because for all the productivity hacks, visualising, dream manifesting and EFT tapping you employ, you cannot change this one basic fact: there are 24 hours in a day, of which you’ll need about eight of them to sleep. Unless you’re Jesus, there’s no way you can multiply those hours to be any more than that.

There is no magic wand to create more time. No matter how much you prioritise and organise, there is only so much that any one person can do. And our society, which bombards us with message to BE MORE, do more, achieve more, seems to have completely forgotten that.

We’re constantly being sold the idea that what we are doing now is not enough. That if we’re stressed with trying to fit it all in, it’s simply because we’re going about it the wrong way. We can achieve so much more, if only we did things differently. It’s not just the folding of our fitted sheets that we’re doing all wrong, it’s our life!

But we are not robots. People simply don’t operate well at peak capacity over long periods of time. Ultimately, we get sick, we get tired, we feel emotional, our kids drive us nuts, we eat too much chocolate and have a sugar crash and need a nanna nap. We are not made to think and work at 100% efficiency all the time. We are imperfect. We are human.

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By employing #lifehacks and focusing single-mindedly on our goals, we may be able to boost our level of productivity, or drive ourselves to do more each day. But repeat it a hundred times in a row and you’re heading for burnout.

Since when did sacrificing sleep for work become such a badge of honour? When did juggling so many jobs that you work through the weekend, become a definition of your success?

It’s true that one has to work hard to establish a successful business. And sometimes juggling a lot of things can be exhilarating and lead to many achievements.

But ultimately the hectic pace is not sustainable. Nor is it desirable. We need to remind ourselves that one of the reasons we choose to be self-employed is to enjoy a better quality of work life.

So what do I mean by doing less? And is that really possible?

It means identifying how many jobs, or how many hours you can comfortably work before you get too stressed, then saying no to more work when you’ve reached your threshold of busy-ness.

It means re-considering what success means to you – is it really being that ‘six figure income’ business guru you’re being sold? Besides money and the appearance of business success, what is important to you in this life? Don’t push yourself to become someone else’s definition of success just because it will look good on Facebook.

If work and earning are a priority (and unfortunately sometimes we just can’t afford to sit back and contemplate our navel), it may mean cutting back on other stuff – volunteering at our kids’ school, ferrying them to lots of activities, catching up with all our friends, attending every networking event, going to the gym, cleaning the house, making Instagram-worthy school lunches.

It’s hard to cut back. You may genuinely feel these things are important to you. Or you may have Instagram and your mother-in-law telling you that they are. The fact is you are going to have to let some of these things go.

Because no matter what way you try and swing it, we always comes back to the same basic truth –there are still only 24 hours in a day, and the ‘having it all’ lifestyle we have been sold simply will not fit into them.

Something has to give.

Don’t let it be your sanity.