Quick Wins for Busy Days: 3 Time Management Strategies to Get More Done With Less Stress

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#296 - Unlock the secrets to a more productive and less stressful life on this episode of Organized Chaos. Have you ever thought of how some people manage to keep their cool amidst the chaos of daily life? Today, I practical time management techniques that promise to transform your busiest days into seamless and fulfilling experiences. You'll learn about the two-minute rule to tackle procrastination head-on, the art of task batching to enhance focus, and the clever use of time blocking with buffer zones for a flexible yet structured schedule. Each method is designed to help you regain control and end your day feeling accomplished.

Join me as we explore how these strategies can be your secret weapon, especially if you're balancing the demands of motherhood or just looking to optimize your routine. By implementing the two-minute rule, task batching, and time blocking, you'll find yourself embracing productivity with ease. This episode isn't just about tips and tricks; it's an invitation to a community of shared learning and improvement. Try out these strategies on your own or combine them for maximum impact, and don't forget to share your successes and additional tips with us on social media. Together, let's navigate the chaos and find a sense of balance in our everyday lives.

If you love listening to this podcast, please consider leaving a rating & review in Apple Podcasts. On iTunes, go to the show and scroll to the bottom underneath Ratings & Reviews and click on Write a Review. Thanks for listening and tune in to our next episode!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, my name is Teresa Hildebrand and this is
Organized Chaos.
We take a deep dive into livingwith intentionality, focusing
on what's important in our livesso we can truly feel our best.
It may feel chaotic at times,but with a little organization,
the right mindset and a ton ofself-love, we can still thrive.
Join me as we talk to otherbusy moms and experts who will

(00:31):
share tips and strategies tohelp you reach your goals.
Hope you enjoy this episode ofOrganized Chaos.
Now on to the show.
Hey friends, welcome back toanother episode of Organized
Chaos and if you're new here,welcome.
I'm so glad you're here and Ihope you enjoyed this episode.
So today we're going to betalking about quick wins for
busy days.
Now I have these three timemanagement strategies that are

(00:55):
simple and they're just waysthat you can use alone, or you
can actually combine them withother strategies, but really
it's about getting more donewith less stress.
So let me ask you a question Doyou ever feel like your to-do
list is endless and there'snever enough time in the day?
Well, you're not alone.

(01:16):
Today, I'm sharing three superpowerful practical strategies
that don't require fancy apps orcomplex systems, but can help
you regain control over your day.
So I just want to kind of goover these strategies super
quick and then I'll dive deeperinto them.
So one of them is the twominute rule, number two is task

(01:38):
batching and number three istime blocking with buffer zones.
Now I just want to emphasizethat each one of these can make
a big difference on yourproductivity and reduce stress,
but I don't want to overwhelmyou with like a bunch of
different strategies to do.
At the end of this I want tochallenge you to just pick one.

(02:00):
But I'm going to go over eachone and kind of give you an idea
of how it can help youthroughout the day and just give
you those quick wins, becausesometimes that's all we need.
We just need to end the dayfeeling like, okay, I feel good
about this day.
It didn't go perfect, becauseit never does, but at least I
can get this win.

(02:20):
And as you build that and asyou start to maybe readjust your
routine, readjust your timemanagement strategies, then
you'll start to feel a littlebit better.
But I just want to give youthese wins so that you can start
working on developing thosehabits and developing those
routines that are going to bebest for you and your life, okay
.

(02:40):
So, like I said, number one isthe two minute rule.
Now, the two minute rulebasically takes tasks that are
less than two minutes to do.
So if you have a task thatyou're like, okay, I can get
this done in two minutes or less, you want to do it right away
instead of putting it off off.
Now, there's lots of differentthings that we can do in less

(03:03):
than two minutes right, but asthey build up, that actually
takes a lot more time.
So you want to choose thesetasks as best as you can and in
the right mindset, because youdon't want to just do a bunch of
two minute tasks and as theybuild up, you're going to take
an hour, and they're just thingsthat don't really matter.

(03:24):
But there are those things thatyou maybe do around the house or
in your office that take lessthan two minutes, but we always
put them off because it feelslike they do take more, and
these are usually things thatdon't take up a lot of brain
space.
Like, for example, if I'm athome and I see that the
dishwasher needs to be emptiedout, sometimes it can take less

(03:44):
than two minutes, but sometimesit doesn't and I feel like
something like that willactually give me more time later
on.
For example, if I decide, okay,this dishwasher, I am just
going to empty it out, it'sgoing to take me like two
minutes and I'm just going to dothat.
That is going to save me somuch time and headaches later on

(04:07):
in the day, because now I havea clean dishwasher, I don't have
to have all these dishes pileup on the sink or on the counter
.
Then I can just put them awayand it'll just save me more time
later.
Now there's a lot of differentthings that this can help you
with, but just think of some ofthose tasks that are super quick
, like picking something up inthe house or sending a quick

(04:30):
email, like those kind of thingsyou want to be able to just
point out so that way you canfeel a little bit more
productive.
Now the science behind this isreally the action itself helps
you prevent these small tasksfrom piling up and becoming
overwhelming.
Like I said earlier, if youthink about it, if you think

(04:51):
about the dishwasher and youknow that if you take care of it
now, you're not going to haveto worry about the headache of
emptying it out later when youdon't have a lot of time or the
dishes start piling up on thecounter in the sink Like there
is science behind that, becausenow you don't have that in your
brain and it's not somethingthat is going to pile up later.
So it does reduce overwhelm.

(05:12):
Now this is for my busy momsout there.
This rule can be especiallyhelpful for us because with lots
of little tasks that tend toaccumulate throughout the day,
you know, like putting toys awayor, you know, checking out
homework or just doing, you know, quick follow-up calls like
this can be super helpfulbecause you kind of take care of

(05:35):
it when you know that youshould take care of it, so it's
not something that you just putoff and procrastinate.
It could actually help youreduce the habit of
procrastinating.
Okay, number two is taskbatching.
So task batching is groupingsimilar tasks together and
completing them in one dedicatedblock of time.

(05:56):
So this is super helpful when,let's say, you're a one man show
and you're doing all of yourgraphics and marketing and all
of that stuff.
Batching this, like contentcreation, is super helpful and
it's just a way to really takeaway the need for multitasking.

(06:17):
So, because you want to batchsimilar group tasks, that helps
as far as like your brain nothaving to switch from different
types of tasks, because wealways thought that multitasking
was like the way to go.
So embarrassed about this now,but I used to put that my

(06:39):
superpower or a skill that I hadwas multitasking on my resumes,
and that is not a superpower,that is just a recipe for
disaster.
So task batching is differentbecause you do want to you know,
group together similar tasks,not necessarily grouping a lot

(06:59):
of different tasks thatbasically make your brain go
from one task to another, andthe switch between one specific
task to a completely differenttask really reduces your
productivity and reduces yourbrain power.
So you want to make sure thatthey're similar tasks so you

(07:19):
know whether these are likeemails or calls or just
household chores.
This can help you actuallyfocus on particular similar
tasks and it'll avoid drainingyour focus and like reducing
your productivity.
So this can help reducebasically draining your focus
and reducing your productivity.
Now I suggest that you use thetask batching at home, like

(07:45):
setting aside time for familyscheduling or organizing the
kids' activities or evenself-care routines, all right.
Number three is time blocking,but with buffer zones.
So, like I have mentionedbefore, I love time blocking it
just it helps my brain so muchand it's been such an effective
way for me to prioritize and getthe things that I need done

(08:08):
done.
But this is with a little bitof a twist and this is actually
something that I haveexperienced before that I've
added on because it just helpsme so much.
So these buffer zones that weimplement in between our calls
or just like differentactivities, it can really help.
So really time blocking, butwith an emphasis of adding the

(08:33):
added benefit of these quoteunquote buffer zones.
So these are small breaks orkind of like empty blocks
between time, blocks to allowfor spillover or unexpected
tasks.
So we know that things don'talways fall within the timeframe
that we set them to.
We know that meetings go longeror a particular task that you

(08:55):
had set takes a little bitlonger than we anticipated.
So having these buffer zonesallows you to reduce the amount
of stress that comes on when wego over time.
So buffer zones really provide,like this, flexibility and
prevent burnout by accountingfor, like these, interruptions
and the natural ebb and flow ofdaily life.

(09:17):
So for me, I set aside five to10 minutes, sometimes 15 minutes
between major tasks or likecalls.
Sometimes, if I can, I'll putin 30 minutes between a session
and another session or anothercall.
When I do coaching sessions,that actually like takes up a
lot of my brain power and I needsome time to kind of debrief

(09:41):
and kind of like relax andrecharge before the next thing
that I have to do.
Because I've gone through it, Iknow how much energy that takes
.
So I allow myself to be able tobreak or even, you know, go for
a walk.
I have to do that sometimes, soI want to give myself that time
and I want to set it up inadvance.

(10:03):
Now you know we can use this inother ways, you know, in our
lives.
So we can use it to help theflow go smoother in our day and
reduce the feeling of likerushing from one task to the
next.
Okay, so let's recap these threesimple strategies.
Number one is the two minuterule for handling small tasks

(10:24):
immediately.
Number two is task batching tomaximize focus and efficiency.
And number three is timeblocking with buffer zones to
add flexibility to your schedule.
Now remember that each of thesestrategies can be used
independently or together tomake managing your day easier,
reduce stress and increase yourproductivity.

(10:45):
So I want to ask you which oneof these strategies are you
going to try out today andnotice the difference it makes,
and I would love to hear how itgoes.
You can send me a text.
If you go to the episode, youcan click on send text and just
let me know how it goes.
And if you have any otherstrategies that really work for

(11:05):
you, I'd love for you to share.
You can also send a text, oryou can reach out to me on
social media.
All right, so this washopefully a really good episode
for you that will get yourwheels turning to see how you
can implement this in your day.
All right, thanks for listeningand I hope you have an amazing
day and I will see you next week.