Tips to take back time in your busy day

(NC) In our fast-paced world, the demands of daily life never seem to slow down. If you find yourself constantly behind on deadlines or struggling to stay on top of everyday tasks, here are four ways to save some time.

Track and organize your time
Make a list of all your recurring daily, weekly and monthly tasks. Then, track how much time you spend on each. After a few weeks, you’ll have a clearer picture of which activities take up most of your time. Tracking your time can show you whether you can pass on some of those tasks to a colleague, an employee or outsource them to a third party.

Avoid the myth of multi-tasking
Many people claim to be great at multi-tasking and wear the title as a badge of honour. But researchers have repeatedly shown that it’s not possible to juggle complex tasks simultaneously without making mistakes. Research also suggests it takes longer to complete two jobs at once compared to focusing on completing one task at a time.

Schedule breaks
When you’re facing looming deadlines or struggling to complete a new pitch, it can be easy to work through or skip lunch, push back a planned holiday or avoid going to the gym. But we all need some time to recharge our batteries. If you don’t take some time for yourself, you run the risk of burning out, which can have negative impacts on your health - and your job.

Automate routine tasks
If you run a business, tracking expenses, issuing invoices and following up on those that are overdue are key tasks for your financial well-being. But they are also time consuming. A cloud-based accounting program such as FreshBooks will automate many of those jobs, while safely storing these important details for you. Small business owners can also apply for grants from the Canada Digital Adoption Program to help fund cloud-based accounting solutions.

Find more information about how cloud-based accounting can help small businesses at freshbooks.com.