6 ways to be more efficient with your time

6 ways to be mora efficient with yur time6 ways to be more efficient with your timeIts hard to be efficient.Sometimes it feels like the world doesnt make any sense. Sometimesyoudont make any sense. And sometimes it feels like its all a conspiracy.As well see shortly, these are all, in a way, true.DanArielyis the king of irrational behavior. Not that hes more irrational than you or I, but hes studied an impressive amount of it. Danis a behavioral economist at Duke University and the New York Times bestselling author of three wonderful booksPredictably Irrational The Hidden Forces That Shape ur DecisionsThe Upside of Irrationality The Unexpected Benefits of Defying LogicThe (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty How We Lie to Everyone- Especially Ourselvesfruchtwein recently hes turned his attention to the irrationality of how we use our time and has helped create a new smart-calendarapp,Timeful. Whats great is the data fromTimefulis helping us learn thingsabout what works and what doesnt as it relates to productivity.I gave Dan a call to hear what he had to say about how we can improve time management, how to be efficient and how to get more done.1. The worldisworking against youThis isnt a conspiracy theory and atinfoil hat isnt required, but we are spending more of our time in environments thathave their own agendas.Billboards and TV ads want you to buy. The links on the internet encourage you to click. Notifications on your smartphone beckon you.Ourdefault isnow a constant, aggressive chain of siren songs from our environment.Heres DanThe world is leid acting in our long-term benefit. Imagine you walk down the street and every store is trying to get your money right now in your pocket you have a phone and every app wants to control your attention right now. Most of the entities in our lives really want us to make mistakes in their favor. So the world is making things very, very difficult.If you followed every directive from your surroundingsthese days youd quickly b e broke, obese, and constantly distracted.Its like were surrounded by scheming thieves thieves of our time, thieves of our attention, thieves of our productivity.And how do pickpockets steal your stuff?Distraction.Heres DanI have a friend whos a magician and he pickpockets people in his show.He said when he started he used to tap people to distract them. Hedtap them, they would lose theirconcentrationand he could take their watch.He said now he realizes thatmerelyasking people questions is enough to make them lose the ability to focus.Not having a plan, goals or a system in todays world is dangerous because the default isnt neutral.(For more on what the most productive people do to reduce distractions, clickhere.)So what does this mean is the first big step to productivity?2. Control your environment or it will control youWe cant control our environment everywhere we go, of course, but we have more control than we usually choose to exercise.If youbanishdistractions and control your calendar youcan make sure your environment is ripe for productivity.Heres DanOne of the big lessons from social science in the last 40 years is that environment matters. If you go to a buffet and the buffet is organized in one way, you will eat one thing. If its organized in a different way, youll eat different things. We think that we make decisions on our own but the environment influences usto a great degree. Because of that we need to think about how tochange ourenvironment.What does research show the most productive computer programmers have in common?Its not experience,salary, or hours spent on a project.They had employers whocreated an environment free from distraction.ViaQuiet The Power of Introverts in a World That Cant Stop Talkingtop performers overwhelmingly worked for companies that gave their workers the most privacy, personal space, control over their physical environments, and freedom from interruption.Research showsdistractions make us stupid.Your surroundings shoul dmake the things you need to do easy and the things you shouldnt do hard.What happened when Google put MMs in containers instead of out in the open? People ate 3 million less of them in one month.Heres DanHeres an experiment that Google did recently. The MMs in their New York office used to be in baskets. So insteadthey putthem in bowls with lids. The lid doesntrequire a lot of effort to lift but itreduced the number of MMs consumed in their New York office by 3 million amonth.(For more on how the most organized people stay on track, clickhere.)Okay, so you need to manage your environment. How do you manage your calendar?3. Write everything downWe all know how fallible our brains can be yet we routinely trust ourselves to remember and follow through on things. Bad.What did research from theTimeful apptell Dan?Most people dont write down the things they need to do.When you do write things down, youre more likely tofollow through on them.If its important, write it down.Reminders,post- its, andcalendarsare all good tools.Stanford professor Jennifer Aakerpoints to research showing thatyour calendar can make you happierTake the things that make you happy and energized and schedule them more often.Sound stupidly simple? Research says we dont do it enough. HeresJenniferthere is often a gap between where people say theywantto spend their time and how theyactuallyspend their timeonce you identify the activities and people with whom you want to spend more time, calendaring your time thoughtfully becomes critical. When you put something on a calendar, youre more likely to actually do that activity partly because youre less likely to have to make an active decision whether you should do it because its already on your calendar.(For more on how to schedule to-dos like a pro, clickhere.)So youve written down everything that needs to get done. Should you just run down the list in order? Absolutely not.4. When you do what you do is keyAll hours are not created equal. What did DansTimefulresearch show about our most productive hours?You have a window of 2-2.5 hours of peak productivity per day, starting a couple hoursafter waking.Heres Danit turns out that most people are productive in the first two hours of the morning. Not immediately after waking,but if you get upat 7 youll be most productive from around from 8-1030.Those are the hours when you should be working on your most cognitively demanding tasks. The big projects. The stuff that really moves the needle.But what did Dan find that most people did with those hours?Email and Facebook.You need to guard those hours for important tasks. Designate that part of your dayas protected time.Ive posted before that2.5 to 4 hours after waking is when your brain is sharpestStudies show that alertness and memory, the ability to think clearly and to learn, can vary by between 15 and 30 percent over the course of a day. Most of us are sharpest some two and a half to four hours after waking.When Iinterviewedwillpow er expertRoy Baumeisterhe said thatearly morningis also when youre most disciplinedThe longer people have been awake, the more self-control problems happen.Most things go bad in the evening. Diets are broken at the evening snack, not at breakfast or in the middle of the morning. Impulsive crimes are mostly committed after midnight.Instudies of geniuses, mostdid their best work early in the day.(For more on the schedule very successful people follow, clickhere.)So you need to shape your environment and protect your peak hours. What should youavoiddoing?5. The four horsemen of the productivity apocalypseDans research found4 things that were the biggest time wasters1. MeetingsWe all know how meetings waste time and multiply like rabbits. The solution?Schedule your work time on your calendar. Have a presentation to work on? Block out hours for it.If people try to put a meeting there, you can say you have a conflict. You do. Your work matters.A calendar should be a record of anythingthat needs to get done - not merely of interruptions like meetings and calls.2. EmailMost people simply spend too much time in their inboxes to accomplish anything of substance.Heres how tostop emaille from taking over your life.3. MultitaskingPut aside the distractions and do one thing at a time. Across the board,multitaskinglowers productivity.4. Structured ProcrastinationWhats structured procrastination? Its doing little things that give us thefeelingof progress instead ofdeep workthatreallymakes progress.Heres DanSo making to-do lists and crossing them off is an example of this. Because those things are easily measurable, they make usfeelas if were achieving things. But real achievements take time. Progress is not always linear. Big projectsarent always immediately rewarding.Things that are really complex dont give us the same sense of momentary enjoyment but those are the things that give us the real sense of achievement and progress once we get to them. But I dont think we get to them enough.Avoid these four and youll see an80/20 stylejump in your productivity.(For more on work-life balance, clickhere.)So you are making progress. Youre more productive during the day. But we all get tired or bored. Whats the best thing to do then?6. No, you dont need an email breakYou tell yourself youneed an email break, and that youll be rejuvenated and work better afterward. Problem is, thats just not true.Getting your head into and out of your work takes time. Switching taskshas cognitive costs that reduce efficiency.Heres DanPeople think that checking email refreshes them. It doesnt.If you want to get refreshed, close your eyes, meditate, breathe deeply, or think about some things that are important. The reality is the right way to do things is shut your email down and focus on what youre doing.In fact, research shows that frequent email checks can temporarily lower your intelligencemore than being stoned.Constant emailingreduces mental ability by an average of about 10 IQ points. For men, its about three times the effect of smoking marijuana.ViaYour Brain at Work Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day LongA study done at the University of London found that constant emailing and text-messaging reduces mental capability by an average of ten points on an IQ test. It was five points for women, and fifteen points for men. This effect is similar to missing a nights sleep. For men, its around three times more than the effect of smoking cannabis.Some of you are already saying But I have to check email Yes, you do. But probably not that often.AsCal Newportsays, Shallow work is what stops you from getting fired. Deep work is what gets you promoted.And email is shallowest of work. We got men on the moonwithout email.And email can wait while you get the important things done.(For more on how the most successful people manage their time, clickhere.)So Dan has a lot of tips for us. How do we pull all of this together and be more efficient?Sum upHere are Dans tipsThe world is not designed to help you achieve your long term goals. Passivity is not going to get you where you want to go.Control your environment or it will control you. Optimize your workspacefor what you need to achieve.Writethe things you need to do down on your calendar. Youre more likely to do what you write down.You have about 2 hours of peak productivity, usually early in the morning. Protect those hours and use them wisely.Meetings, email, multitasking and structured procrastination are the biggest time wasters.No, you dont need an email break. Switching tasksreduces effectiveness as your brain transitions. The more you do it, the less effective you are.You dont need to account for every minute. You dont need to agonize over wasted seconds. Its just about improving.And none of us are infallible. When I asked Dan about work-life balance, what did he say?I struggle with it every day.You and I are doing this interview and itsSatu rday, Eric.So nobodys perfect. But with Dans tips we can all get better at managing our time.Join over 127,000 readers.Get a free weekly update via emailhere.Related postsHow To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done 5 Expert Tips6 Things The Most Productive People Do Every DayNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulThis article originally appeared at Barking Up the Wrong Tree.