If you have a never ending to-do list and no idea how to get it all done, this is for you. Here are 7 insanely good tips on how to get things done faster when you’re in a time crunch.
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We all have crazy busy lives these days! There are always a 1000 tasks that you have to complete at any given time, ugh! And having a phone that buzzes every 10 minutes doesn’t help either.
Therefore, it’s so important to learn how to get things done faster and not waste time and attention on unnecessary things. Because in reality, you’re wasting 5 of your 9 working hours on things that won’t move the needle.
If you feel like you’re always busy, but work NEVER ends. If you keep adding things to your to-do list without completing the 3-week-old tasks, this guide on ‘How to get things done faster’ will save your ass! You’ll wish you knew these tips sooner.
Important – You do not have to sacrifice the quality of your work in order to complete it faster. That is not the goal, and it is not sustainable!
This post is all about How to get things done faster when you have a never ending to-do list!
7 Tips On How To Get Things Done Faster
1. Brain Dump
Get your journal out and write down everything that’s on your mind. The thing is our brain loves to exaggerate! So, the list of 1000 things that’s been bothering you might just turn out to be a list of 10 tasks on paper.
And when you can see all the tasks clearly, it’s easier for your brain to start looking for solutions to get them done. So, you can easily start tackling them one by one.
2. Cut the crap
That task on your list from 3 weeks ago is no longer relevant! Go through your to-do list and strike the tasks that don’t need your attention anymore.
The next thing you need to do is prioritize. Learning to identify the most important tasks is the key on how to get things done faster.
Choose no more than 3-5 priorities (you don’t want to overwhelm yourself). These should be the things that you need to absolutely get done, no matter what! And start with them.
3. Estimate time correctly; then Give yourself less time
Hear me out!
Estimate how long it will take you to complete each task on your to-do list and to complete your entire list.
Don’t try to underestimate time, i.e., don’t think that you can watch a 4-hr workshop in 2 hours. That will not help anyone and will only keep you stuck in the same cycle of having unfinished tasks on your to-do list. So, estimate time correctly.
Now, give yourself less time to do things. I knoww, sounds contradictory!
The problem is that your tasks usually take as much time as you give them. You can write an email in 15 minutes or 3 hours, depending on how much time you have.
So, if you want to learn how to get things done faster, you need to practice taking less time to do things.
Again, be practical and don’t overburden yourself. But, at the very least, try to complete tasks in less time than usual.
4. Deadline Are Key For How To Get Things Done Faster
Set very clear deadlines for each task. Remember things take as long as you give them. Have you ever noticed how the week before the vacation is always the most productive one?
We work best with deadlines! So, set timers for small tasks. You can also try the pomodoro technique and set a group of tasks to finish in each time block.
Set a time when you’re going to close the work for the day. In fact, you should practice this every single day.
5. Stop Work By 11 a.m.
Here’s another popular hack to try is you’ve no idea how to get things done faster. Assume that you’re finishing work by 11 a.m. (I know, sounds like a dream! lol.)
This just imposes that urgency to start your day productively and builds the momentum for the rest of the day.
Most people waste their days till 12 pm even if they woke up by 7! That’s obviously not helping anyone. Try this hack, and who knows, you might just get everything done by 12 p.m. and call it a day!
6. Delegation For How To Get Things Done Faster
Now that you have your priorities in place, delegate the tasks that don’t need your attention. You can hire someone to do the extra work, ask your colleague to help, or request your friends to lend a hand.
Most people are always glad to help you, which makes getting things done so much easier.
It’s also a good leadership quality to know which tasks are worth your time and which ones are not – that can be taken over by other people!
10 minute rule
You can also set a timer for 10 minutes and finish all the miscellaneous tasks that don’t require a lot of focus.
7. Don’t multitask
You don’t have to attend the meeting and write the email at the same time. This way, you won’t be able to pay attention to what’s going on in the meeting and give your inputs, and your email will end up having spelling errors.
You don’t just want to complete tasks for the sake of completing them; you also want high-quality results, right? So, it’s best to focus on one task at a time.
8. How To Get Things Done Faster With Movement
Finishing a long to-do list can get really exhausting. And you can only do so much in one sitting.
Try to take regular breaks in between work, even if it’s just for 15 minutes.
And don’t waste those 15 minutes watching a YouTube video. Be intentional about spending your breaks doing things that’ll help you destress. Stretch, take a walk around the block, talk to someone nearby, and return refreshed.
9. Have Accountability To Not Waste Time
If you have trouble focusing, having some accountability can help you get things done faster.
We usually work in co-working sessions within the mastermind that I’m a part of – basically, we all get on a zoom call and work.
You can find co-working rooms online. Or ask your friends and colleagues to work together. You can also go to co-working spaces like wework.
It just helps you in holding yourself accountable to a higher standard rather than being distracted every 5 seconds.
The main reason why you’re not able to get anything done is because you’re not actually working half of the time. I can hardly focus on something for 10 minutes without picking up my phone. As sad as it is, it is the truth.
Put your phone in another room, or turn the notifications off using the freedom app. Even better, ask your partner to take your phone and return it only when you have completed the task.
10. Noise cancelling headphones
Another reason why you easily get distracted is that someone is always approaching you to talk about something.
What I’ve found is that when you have your earphones plugged in even if you’re not listening to anything, people think twice before coming up to you and you can avoid a lot of unnecessary convos.
Or if you are in a noisy environment, you can use noise cancelling headphones like this one,
You can also listen to focus music. Binaural beats are scientifically proven to improve your focus and memory retention. So play some music, get in the zone and get shit done.
11. Pat Yourself On The Back
Congrats! You’ve finally finished your never ending to-do list. It’s time to pat yourself on the back and take a moment to celebrate.
I don’t want you to be jumping from one to -do list to another. It will only leave you feeling exhausted and eventually procrastinating. And you don’t want to get into that cycle.
The best solution for how to get things done faster is to adopt a system that helps you organize your tasks on a regular basis (I do weekly planning on my Google calendars to ensure I get everything done!).
If you want to learn my exact system that’ll help you focus on your goals during the week, and relax and have fun hanging out with your friends during the weekends, enroll in the course ‘Take Your Weekends Back’.
This post is all about how to get things done faster when you have a never ending to-do list. These 7 insanely simple tips will up level your productivity game for real!