Time is a precious commodity. Successful people tend to make time for what’s important to them by minimising the time they spend on dull, unimportant things. If you want to advance your career, build personal relationships, relax and enjoy your personal life, you need to find ways to minimise time spent on low-value activities. Here are four things you can do to help.

PLAN YOUR TIME
This means deciding what to do, and when. A good tip is to plan the week ahead in broad brushstrokes and the day ahead in detail. Schedule complex tasks for when you’re at your best (early on, if you’re a morning person) or when you know you won’t be disturbed.
 
SET TIME LIMITS
For less important tasks, it’s worth setting yourself a time limit. If you do, there’s a good chance you’ll complete the task on time. If you don’t give yourself a deadline, you’ll invariably work for longer than the task warrants.
 
WORK IN BATCHES
Most of us think we can multi-task, but it has been proven that everybody works better if they focus on one thing at a time. This is especially true for repetitive tasks, because we get faster as we go along. It pays to do these in batches, like responding to emails in bulk. It’s also helpful to avoid distractions, such as responding to messages, in order to maximize our concentration and minimize the time taken.
 
SWAP WITH YOUR TEAM
A great way of saving time is to swap work with colleagues, allowing you to focus on what you do best and can do quickly. Meanwhile, your colleagues focus on tasks that you find particularly time consuming.