Time Machine - Convert A Day into 36 hours!

A Time Machine!! I have a Time Machine.

When you normally talk about a time machine, what you think of is a vehicle that transports you into the past or the future. And the simplest time machine you can think of is a watch!

I'm talking about something else. This one's different. It helps me control time... manipulate time...It helps me convert a day into 36 hours!

Let me tell you about it...

Time!!! We never have enough of it, do we?

This has been bothering us all our lives, hasn't it? “I just don’t have enough time.” “Where does it go?” “I still have so much to do...” and so on... We have all said this to ourselves a zillion times.

A mystery that cannot be solved! Well… I have solved it!!I have 36 hours a day!

It all started with the questions on top. I got them too and they frustrated me as well. So I sat myself down and said, “Let me think what I can actually do about it, apart from complaining?”

So I went back to the time management theories and the quadrants and organized my daily activities and put them in Q’s 1, 2, 3 & 4. I had it down pat on paper and ready to be implemented the next day. And there we go again... end of the day same old story.

Then I said to myself, “What I really need is 36 hours a day!” I laughed to myself and said, “Let me think if that’s possible?”

So the easiest solution was to make the Earth rotate slower… Voila! 36 hours. But hey no... That only makes days and nights 18 hours each. I still do the same things in the same amount of time!

My mind was wandering by then and I thought about the games I used to play as a kid on the computer. Role Playing Games (RPG) was my favorite genre. I remembered this particular game where my character was a War mage who used both weapons & magic. As the character developed he would get better in weapon and Magic skills. He learned a spell that could slow time. So all he had to do was cast the spell, slow everyone else down and cut them down with his weapons as they took an eternity to move.

There! I had my answer! MAGIC! Cast a ‘Slow time spell!’

Noooo… that doesn’t work out in real life, does it?

That made me chuckle at myself and my mind wandered some more...

I thought about the Flash & Quicksilver. And I suddenly had the puzzle solved.

These guys did the exact opposite thing. They didn’t slow time but they made themselves faster. The result was exactly the same.

So there you go. What I have managed to do is just do things faster. “Not easy”, traditionalists will tell you! “You will compromise on output quality”, they’ll say.

Agreed! So I had to think of a way of doing things faster without affecting result quality.

Focus is the key here! The human brain is a super-fast super computer that can focus on 7 & half things at a time effectively.

I let it focus on one thing at a time, when I need to slow time. What I get, is focused attention of my brain, working on one thing only. That makes me do things faster and produce the same result.

It sounds simple and frankly, it is. It just takes time to implement. I have practiced it over a period of time and I actually manage to get the same things done in half the time it took me to do earlier.

Here’s how I do it…

1.       Categorize tasks - 

Categorize not in quadrants, but depending on the brain capacity required. There are some tasks that don’t really need you to apply rational thinking; mundane, repeatable tasks that require repeatable behaviors and actions. Others however need situational behaviors and actions which need to be executed through logical reasoning.

2.       Time Slotting –

Once you are done categorizing, simply diary the tasks in your day. Be sure to club the mundane tasks 2-3 per hour. The logic tasks have their individual time slots alone.

3.       Variety in Mundane  –

The groups of mundane tasks clubbed together in one time slot have a specific manner of execution. Take these tasks on together. Do each in sequences of 5 minutes per task. The brain loves variety; it gets bored and slows down too soon. Keep it excited and energized by sequencing. Task 1 for 5 minutes, switch. Task 2 for 5 minutes, switch! Task 3! Then repeat. You’ll also stay refreshed and accomplish 3 tasks in one time slot.

 Earlier, whatever time of the day I did these tasks, I used up 3 time slots for these 3 tasks and ended up feeling bored and drained by the time I got them done. Now I finish them in 1 slot and am still high on cerebral energy.

4.       Focus on Logic –

The tasks that require logic, reasoning and rational thinking are the significant tasks that need to be executed with perfection. Don’t use multi-skilling while doing them. Focus on them one at a time. Allocate your brain, to just this one thing! Use clear mechanism to clear your mind of all other thoughts and distractions.

This step does take time to establish as a habit. However, if you do step 3 well, you’ll find adopting this step much easier as you will leave your brain with a lot more band width to train itself in this step.

5.       Take Breaks and Naps!!!

Stress is the biggest consumer of time. When you are stressed, none of the above works. And the best way to de-stress is distraction and rest. Take a break at regular intervals and completely remove yourself physically and mentally from stress inducing factors.

Research has shown that a short afternoon nap can make up for the loss of one hour of nighttime sleep. A quick nap in the afternoon refreshes you like nothing else! Just drop dead at your desk.

That’s it. Just keep doing this on a daily basis and you’ll soon have 36 hours a day. Gain half an hour per hour. As simple as that!

Do let us know if you are able to implement this and let us know your successes and challenges. We’ll be more than happy to share the successes onward and provide solutions for the challenges!

Also hop over to my new series of articles on Situational Leadership. 

Ciao!