I'M GETTING A SLOW START to 2021 but that means having time to read a Twitter thread containing clever time-saving tips from Vincent Hayward. I've an opinion on several of Vincent's ideas.
Set aside blocks of time.
Vincent adds meeting zones to his calendar. These are areas where he allows meetings to take place. Who books a meeting at 16:00? I have a booking system set up via Calendly and it is one of the most efficient time-savings mechanisms I've ever used.
Automate tasks.
If you automate repetitive tasks you can reclaim time. Zapier is my preferred tool. I'm training Zaps to find #clonmeldigital mentioned in various places and then stack up the information onto a shared board where the curated output populates a content management system for a blog and newsletter.
Step away from screens on weekends.
I feel better and know I teach better when I keep weekends free of screens. I need to get better at keeping weekends for family fun.
Pull important stuff into RSS format.
Vincent adds his newsletter subscriptions to Feedly. When I remove newsletters from my inboxes, I read some of the best curated content from the most knowledgeable people at the top of my day.
Tick off things.
I use a Moleskine journal and Airtable to help me get things done.
Fast.
I'm not starving myself because I don't count apples and grapes as food. Fastic helped me control my calories. And as Vincent says, "autophagy is good - look it up."
Convert your need to produce into a learning process.
If you have a compelling idea you can use it to learn by diving into YouTube tutorials. And because you need this knowledge to produce something important, you will probably retain those learnings since you put them into practice.
Automate sharing.
If you write decent content, you should automate how it is shared. I'm trying to move my content to another level powered by Substack. But first, I need to get the curation and revision processes right.
[Thanks to Vincent Haywood for sharing his ideas in a lovely Twitter thread. You should go back to the source and read the comments. And if you have Readwise.io, I recommend you save the entire thread.]
