This is, of course, not an all-inclusive list, but it’s a good start to reclaiming some time back. These were some of my biggest time-wasters:
Television – just stop it. Besides the occasional news, a movie every once in a while, some documentaries, I found it to be a huge time-waster.
Internet/web – It’s really become the new television, and as such, an equivalent waste of time. Ask yourself this, “Do I really need to see another cat video?”
3. Email – This was a more difficult one for me since responding to emails made me believe that I was being more productive. However, responding to emails all day was actually making me less productive by taking my focus off things that I really needed to get done. I now limit my time and frequency of responding to emails.
Seven Ways to Create More Time In Your Day
Get Up Earlier
Get up fifteen minutes earlier. If you‘re like most folk, your morning probably feels rushed: you drag yourself out of bed at the last possible minute, grab a hasty shower, maybe get some breakfast if you‘re lucky, sort out the kids/cat/partner and dash off to work.
Getting up just a bit earlier can give you some breathing space. Perhaps it‘ll give you time to actually sit down and enjoy your breakfast for once. Maybe you can use that fifteen minutes a day to read through that book or stack of journals that you keep meaning to get to.
Create a Plan
At the start of your workday, before you even check your emails, make a plan. Jot down the three most important tasks you want to accomplish that day. Put a big star next to the most important. Now, before you get into the busy work of emails and photocopying and tidying your desk, start on that important task and see it through to the end.
Surprisingly few people take the time to plan their workday, and end up spinning their wheels on a number of low-priority tasks without really accomplishing anything big.
Batch Tasks Together
When you‘re going through the workday, try to keep similar tasks together. When you switch from one thing to another, your brain takes a few minutes to catch up and settle in: constantly jumping between answering emails and writing a report and tidying up your desk just means you‘ll lose track of where you‘d got to. You might feel like you‘re working super-efficiently (because your mind is buzzing all over the place), but you‘ll actually be wasting a lot of time.
If you need to answer a number of emails, do them all at once. The same goes for phone calls, filing, photocopying and other similar tasks.
Block Out Chunks of Time
Do you have some big project that you‘d love to get round to? Maybe it‘s writing a novel, starting a business, training for a marathon… whatever your particular venture or goal, you never get around to making progress.
The best way to tackle big projects like this is to force them into your schedule. Spare time doesn‘t just appear from nowhere – you need to make a conscious effort to create it. Block out a weekend afternoon, for instance: tell family and friends you have another engagement that day. Then storm on ahead with that project. Trust me, you‘ll feel great for having made a start.
Don‘t Multitask
Although multitasking feels efficient – because it feels busy – it actually loses you time. By sticking to doing one thing at a time, you‘ll be much more focused and able to produce your best work: there‘s nothing efficient about rushing a job which you then end up having to redo.
Stay Focused
When you are working on a task, make a conscious effort to remain focused. Sure, you‘ll have intrusive thoughts like maybe I should check my email or this desk could really do with tidying. Just recognize that those thoughts are impulses which you don‘t need to give into. If you think of something while you‘re working on your task like I really must phone Joe, then just make a note on a bit of paper or in your diary so you don‘t forget – and get on with the task at hand.
You‘ll accomplish much more by working in a deliberately focused way than if you let yourself jump around from task to task as things come to mind.
7. Finish Work On Time
Finally, one of the best ways to make more time in your life is to finish your work on time! If you work for an employer, make an effort to leave the office on time – at least a couple of days each week. (I know this is difficult if your workplace has a long-hours culture).
If you work for yourself, you need to be even more self-disciplined, as your work is likely to be very easily accessible when you‘re at home! Some good ways to create a boundary at the end of the day are to keep your work separate from the rooms in your house where you relax. You could also schedule something social in the evening (perhaps meeting friends for a drink) so that you can‘t get caught up in “just one more email”.（优美英语散文 www.lyy5.com）
翻译：
当然我没法给出一个囊括所有可能的列表，但这个列表会是一个好开始，保证帮你争取不少时间。下面这些都是我本人浪费时间的常见行为：
电视——直接忽略。我发现，除了偶尔看看新闻、电影和纪录片，电视对我来说纯粹是浪费。
互联网/网络——这些其实也都是变相“电视”，纯粹浪费时间罢了。何不问问自己：“我就非得再看一个喵星人视频吗？”
邮件——这个还真难下手。毕竟，我一直认为回复邮件可以提高效率。但事实却是，每天回复邮件反倒转移我的注意力，大大降低了效率。现在我已经限制了自己回复邮件的时间和频率。
每天创造更多时间的七大方法
早起
提前15分钟起床。你要是像大部分人那样起床，早上可能会觉得有点赶：在最后一刻挣扎着起来，赶紧冲个澡，来得及的话就吃两口早餐，安顿好小孩/猫咪/爱人后冲出门上班。
稍微早点起床就不至于那么匆忙。或许至少可以真正坐下来吃顿早餐。你也可以利用每天早起的15分钟看看书或者整理一下记事本。
制定计划
在你刚开始工作时，趁着还没查看邮件，赶紧定个计划吧。写下当天必须完成的三个最重要的任务，最重要的那个打上标记。然后趁着还没开始检查邮件、影印资料或整理办公桌等工作内容前，赶紧着手那个最重要的任务并保证完成它。
奇怪的是，很少有人能有计划地工作，一天下来后还是周旋在几个效率甚低的任务上，最后其实什么实事都没做成。
分批处理任务
工作时可以将相似的任务并在一起处理。当你从一个任务换到另一个任务时，大脑会花几分钟进行调整：同时既要回复邮件、撰写报告，又要整理办公桌，到头来你可能会手足无措。虽然这样你可能觉得自己效率超级高（因为大脑一刻没停），但其实并没有优化利用时间。
腾出大段时间
如果要回复的邮件很多，那就一起处理掉。电话、整理文案、影印等同样如此。
你是否有个大计划总想花时间去做？比如写小说、创业、或马拉松训练，不管个人想法或目标是什么，你就是还没时间去落实吧？
对付这种大计划的办法就是强行做出安排。时间就像海绵里的水，你得用心去挤才行。比如，你可以腾出一个周末下午的时间，告诉亲友自己另有安排，然后开始拿出行动吧。相信我，一旦开始你就会感到妙不可言。
不要一心多用
虽然同时处理多个任务会使你感到很有效率（因为一直在忙），但其实很耗时间。坚持一次只做一件事，你会更专注更有效率：与其匆忙“鬼画符”后又返工，还不如先专心做好一件事呢。
保持专注
工作时一定要努力保持专注。当然，你可能会时不时想到“该查看邮件了”或“办公桌真该整理一下了”，但请记住：这些都只是一时想法，不要陷进去。如果你工作时想到别的事情，比如“我真得打电话给乔了”，那就在纸上或记事本上写下来以免忘记，然后继续手头的工作。
刻意保持专注比思想散漫时的工作效率要高得多。
按时完成工作
最后，在生活中创造更多时间的办法就是——按时完成工作！如果你是上班族，就确保能按时下班——至少每周能有那么几天。（当然，如果你的公司有加班的习惯，这么做也不那么容易。
如果你是为自己工作，那就得更加自律了，因为这样你在家也很方便办公！区分一天工作结束的办法就是，将办公的地方与休息的地方分开来。你也可以在晚上安排一些交际活动（比如跟朋友喝一杯），这样你就不会为“又来了一封邮件”犯难了。
