7 Time-Saving Work Hacks You Need To Try
Most Americans feel pressed for time. There are just too many things people want to accomplish each day - both professional and personal. Did you know that today, most Americans work multiple jobs at once and according to The Balance Careers they are more likely to work on an average weekday than single-job holders (92% vs. 81%). They were also nearly twice as likely to work on a weekend day (57% vs. 30%).
Because the American lifestyle comprises constant hustling to meet payments and afford a sustainable life, incorporating even the smallest time-saving hacks could make a big difference. Now is the perfect time to take a few moments to read about these 7 time-saving before and during work hacks that people can incorporate into their daily lives right away. Every second counts!
1. Switch to steaming instead of ironing
This is so simple, but effective enough to make a difference in the time you save. So many people have been ironing their clothes for decades, so they may be hesitant to switching to steaming or aren’t even familiar with this new trend for busy work professionals. Steaming is an excellent time-saver, plus it’s just as effective at eliminating wrinkles as ironing.
For a shirt or a pair of work pants that’s only wrinkled, you’ve heard of the helpful tip of putting it on a hanger and leaving it in the bathroom while taking a hot shower. The steam will smooth it out perfectly. For considerably wrinkly items, though, it’s worth investing in a steamer. Steamers can be relatively inexpensive - the low end one's cost about $30 and the higher end ones can cost over $200. Check out Business Insider’s article on some of the best clothes steamers you can buy as well as the different types available.
Not sure how to steam clothes? No need to be embarrassed - check out the video below and you’ll be a pro in no time. Steaming clothes can take anywhere from 5 - 20 minutes depending on the state your clothes are in, as opposed to the half an hour or more it takes to iron clothes.
2. Use clips to organize wires
Dealing with a tangled mess of wires can be a real drag and cost you 10 minutes just to locate the cord you need. Instead, use clips to manage each wire and keep it in place.
A binder clip is the most popular clip to use for this hack. Simply clip them to the edge of your desk, computer, or other flat surfaces with edges, and run each type of cord through one. No need to get stressed out and spend inordinate amounts of time dealing with wires anymore when they are clipped and ready to go. Glorious!
3. Create a magnetic display to organize tools (scissors, clips, staplers etc.)
Similar to clipping your cords, keep all your tools handy and ready to be grabbed at a moment’s notice by creating a magnetic display to keep them in view and organized at all times.
Your most-often needed tools will be right at your fingertips; this will help keep your work space organized and your mind clear to work! It’s the small things that make a difference.
4. Terrific templates
Plenty of people waste precious time by creating the same templates repeatedly. It’s so simple, but it works - save tremendous amounts of time by saving templates so the wheel won’t have to be reinvented each time.
If a template is created once, create a designated folder or place to store duplicates of each template in case you need to reuse them. You can also access already created, free templates online to quickly download. Venngage designs user-friendly report templates and infographics that are perfect for data visualization; you can start with a report builder plan for FREE. Word & Excel Templates, Template.Net, and Microsoft all offer free templates for designers, business reports and personal use as well.
Another time-saving tip is to create all the templates needed before beginning to work on a new project. Thoughtfully considering how to save time with templates can improve the efficiency of your workflow.
5. Put a timer on your social media and personal phone use
It’s so easy to waste time spent on your phone.
A recent study by mobileinsurance.com has revealed that the average person spends 90 mins a day on their phone. 24% is spent on web browsing, and calling people was ranked as the 6th most used function with others being things like social media and gaming. Today, 57% of people are now saying they have no need for an alarm clock and 50% of people no longer wear watches as their mobile phone is their first choice for knowing what time it is.
You can save a huge amount of time every day by putting a timer on your social media or personal phone usage all together. There are a lot of awesome apps available today that can help people taper phone use - here is an extensive list of 15 apps that do just that. For those less interested in researching the various options, you can download Moment - it’s free and effective for managing screen time.
Many social platforms like Instagram continue to steadily see growth in their number of users. Since 2014, the platform has been seeing a year over year increase of no less than 100 million in terms of monthly active users. Between September 2017 and June 2018, the number of monthly active users on Instagram had increased by 200 million.
Facebook usage among adults in the US has remained more or less the same. 68% of US adults claimed to use Facebook in 2018, which is the exact number of US adult Facebook users reported in 2016. The number of monthly active Instagram users has grown to 1 billion according to the latest social media statistics. Since 2016, there’s also been a 7% increase in the number of US adults who use the platform with 35% of them currently using it.
6. Schedule automatic billing
Paying bills the old-fashioned way is incredibly time-consuming; meaning sitting down and paying each bill individually each month. Finding the paper bill, writing out a check, searching for an envelope and stamp, filling out the address and putting the stamp on, putting it in the mailbox... ugh!
Even though you can pay bills digitally, you still have to take the time out of your day to do so. There’s no reason to do all of that. Just schedule all bills to be paid automatically either through the company’s website (such as a credit card company or utilities company) or have your bank send a check at regular intervals (for example, the first of every month for your rent check).
Scheduling your bills to be paid automatically means you’ll never miss a due date, never have to remember each bill, set calendar notifications, which will be beneficial for your credit, and you’ll save boatloads of time and stress.
7. The one-minute rule
This hack comes from happiness expert and prolific writer, Gretchen Rubin. The idea is that any task that can be accomplished in less than a minute should be taken care of right away. Perhaps it’s filing a paper, loading the dishwasher, or shooting off an essential email. Procrastinating often makes tasks take longer than they need to. So reach maximum productivity by following the one-minute rule every day and getting things out of the way.
