Are your to-do lists taking over your life? Do you feel as though you are working for every available hour, but not seeing results? Are you desperate for more views on your blog or sales in your business but feel that it’s never going to happen? Are you asking yourself how you could possibly fit more in, or do more, to make things work? Well, often, to get the best results, we don’t actually need to work harder. You might actually find that your business is more successful, and you enjoy it more if you do less. 

Typically, how you choose to spend your time, and which tasks you decide to tackle, are more important than how many you get done, or how many hours you work. If you are struggling to fit it all in, or you’ve had enough of working hard for nothing, here are five of the ways that you should be working smarter, not harder, and certainly not longer. 

Get into a Great Routine

Great routines are one of the easiest ways to get more done in less time. When you have a routine that works for you, whether it’s what you do when you first get up in the morning, how you start your working day, or how you organize your household, it helps you to manage your time more effectively and means that less time is wasted wondering what to do next.

Routines help you to feel good, to save time, and to work more effectively. They also mean that you never have to think about what to do next, whether you have got what you need, or how you are going to do your work. 

Of course, your days aren’t all the same. But, filling them with routines makes fitting other things easier too, while knowing that you won’t run out of time. A positive morning routine can help you to start your day well, and to be more productive when you get to work. Everything else often seems easier from there. 

Have a “One Day” List

To-do lists are a brilliant way to organize your time and get more done. They also help you to prioritize what needs to be done most urgently and to segment your day. But you may find that if you write everything that you need to do down, it gets a little overwhelming.

So, instead, have a today list, and maybe even a weekly list, and then a “one-day” list. Fill this with things that you do need to do, but that doesn’t have a deadline, or that can wait for a while. When you get some free time, or something off your today list gets canceled, look at your one-day list. This way, you still get it all done, but you put far less pressure on yourself. 

Focus on Continuous Improvement 

You may already be familiar with the meaning of continuous improvement, but if not, put simply, it’s the practice of continually improving your business or doing things every day, to improve your business. It’s about never resting, or taking things for granted, and trying never to do anything which could damage your business. Keep this practice in mind, and before doing anything, ask yourself if it will help with continuous improvement, or if you are wasting your time. 

Start Saying No

Often, the best way to get more out of your time is to start saying no. If you say yes to everything anyone else asks of you, you soon run out of time, or begin rushing the things that you need to do. Remember, it’s ok to say no, it’s ok to prioritize your business, and sometimes, it’s even ok to say no simply because you need to rest. 

Actively Manage Your To-do Lists

Every time a new task comes in throughout the day, don’t simply add it to your already overflowing to-do list. Take some time to think about where it belongs. If you can do it in less than two minutes, get it out of the way as soon as you can, and don’t even bother writing it down. If it’s going to take longer, ask yourself if it needs to be done today, whether it can go on tomorrow's list, or if it could be added to the one-day list. 

Finding ways to get more done in less time is a dream come true for many of us. But it’s not impossible. Being more selective with what you do, and sometimes doing less, allows you to enjoy your work, to give it more focus, and to see far better results. Don’t feel like you have to do everything, instead, do what you reasonably can, but do it really well.