What To Do When You Master Time Management

Effective time management is possible

Picture this: It's 2pm on a Friday, your email inbox is neatly organized, that report is completed, and your team has everything it needs for the week ahead. The ultimate productivity and time management mastery has been achieved! Now what?

Yes. It can happen. Effective time management helps you enjoy a better work-life balance and gives back time to do the things you love. But if you’re like a dog that’s chasing squirrels (i.e. you wouldn’t know what to do if you caught one!), here are few things you could do with that extra time you’ve ‘created’.

Be more present to improve your wellbeing

While being mindful can help improve your work productivity, it can also help you to be more present in your personal life. Whether you’re playing with your kids, spending time with your partner, or simply reading a book, being more mindful and aware of your activities can help you fully engage and enrich your relationships at the same time.

Mindfulness has been shown to not only decrease anxiety and depression, but also enhance your mood, boost positivity, and increase your attention span. We know it can be hard to break the habit of thinking about what else you have to do—even when you’ve mastered time management and don’t have emails or tasks to distract you—so follow these quick and easy mindfulness exercises to bring you back into the present moment:

• Focus on your breathing. If you’re reading a book but start to notice your mind drifting towards a looming deadline, try to become aware of your breathing. Slowly breathe in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Repeat 5 times.
• Think about the texture and taste of your dinner. If you’re thinking about work while you’re eating with your partner or family, bring your focus to your food. Think about how each vegetable looks, how they individually taste, what’s the texture like in your mouth? 
• Observe your surroundings. If you’re reading a book or watching TV and you start to process what you have to do tomorrow, try to look at the objects you can see and name them in your mind. It could be a TV, coffee table, lamp… the purpose is to bring your focus and awareness back into the room.

Take up an old (or new) activity

Effectively managing your time is about auditing, organizing, and planning how much time you spend on activities. By eliminating things that take up more time than they should; e.g. sorting out an inbox full of unsolicited emails every day – you give yourself back ‘lost’ time. 

Why not use this ‘lost’ time and take up an old (or new) hobby that you simply couldn’t do before. It can feel like every inch of modern life is filled with something – making time a valuable thing. You could use those precious extra hours you’ve gained each week to:

• Learn a new language. Studies have shown that learning a new language can increase the volume and density of grey matter and brain connectivity. So learning a new language isn’t just a great way to have fun – it’s good for you too!
• Explore the great outdoors. With much of 2020 spent socially isolated ‘sheltering-in-place’ at home, you could use your newfound time to go on a hike and explore the great outdoors – once it’s safe to do so, of course. Numerous studies have shown that spending time in nature is an antidote for stress; it can lower blood pressure, enhance your immune system, boost your self-esteem, reduce anxiety, and improve your mood.
• Volunteer. If you’ve ever wanted to volunteer but haven’t had the time, now you do! While giving back to your community or people in need has obvious benefits for others, it has surprising benefits for the volunteer too. Volunteering has been shown to reduce stress, anger, and anxiety, as well as combat depression. It’s also a great way to connect with others and boost your self-esteem.

How InMoat can help you master time management and fight against distractions

While mastering time management may sound like an unachievable utopia, with the right mindset and tools, you can get rid of those time-wasting tasks that clog up your workday. If far too much of your time or mental capacity is spent deleting, blocking, replying to, or simply being distracted by unsolicited emails, sales pitches, and newsletters, then InMoat can help.

InMoat is an AI-powered email integration that intelligently detects and deflects unsolicited emails based on your preferences and priorities. Instead of manually sifting through hundreds of emails each week, InMoat can give you back hours of time, which you can then spend on your terms. So if you want to be more present at home, do more of the things you enjoy, or get more work done, try InMoat today.

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