3 simple hacks to help you safeguard your time

Discovering and safeguarding time is absolutely essential for doing your best work. “Shapers” — those that get energized by what they do — are militant in scheduling uninterrupted time when their energy is just right for the task at hand.

Burst working

Employees at The Muse discovered how their most productive staff worked; in bursts. Staff switch between 52-minutes bursts of focused work sprinkled with 17-minutes short breaks. While everyone has a different chronotype and working style, discovering when, where, and how you work best tees you up for success. You can listen to your energy levels and as a result, spend your time wisely.

Smart email responding

We now spend over 60% of the work week managing our email inbox or searching the web. More often than not, there’s no need to reply to a particular email, yet still we do. Learning to tame this impulse frees up a lot of time and mental energy to get those emails that actually do. Remove your notifications altogether and set specific times in the day that you’ do email. Try to cap these burst at thirty minutes if you can.

Embrace empty time

Research suggests that when you get to your busiest level, your attention is hijacked. You simply can’t take the time to control your time and exercise good judgment. The net outcome, of course, is that you end up busy being busy and experiencing increased anxiety to boot. Enter “anti-flow.” This phrase simply translates to deliberate boredom, which is not only good for us but is critical for problem-solving. Practices like meditation or journaling, help you get your mind unstuck.