How to Maximize the Hours in the Day

No matter what we do, there is one thing you can guarantee--time is constantly moving forward and we wish we had more of it. Also, it is one commodity everyone can always use. After all, we only have 24 hours in a day, and a big fraction of that is spent sleeping--around 5 to 10 hours. That leaves around 14 to 19 hours for things you should or need to do.

Anyway, wouldn't you want to know how you can squeeze more time out of whatever time you have available in a day? Maybe even get a couple of hours worth per day? If so, then read on.

Everyday, you probably spend at least one hour a day doing "no brainer" tasks (i.e. activities that doesn't require you to do productive thinking). Also, think about situations that involve waiting. All these are opportunities to reclaim time. Think hard; you should be able to come up with at least two specific situations.

Here are some examples:

• When you are doing number 2 (i.e. you are making a personal deposit of solid waste in the restroom)
• At a clinic, waiting for your appointment (in most cases you could be killing 15 to 30 minutes of time here)
• Waiting in line at the DMV or post office (these places known for long lines and long waits; you can easily kill 30 minutes to 1 hour here)
• When you are biking or jogging (if you are a long distance runner, this could be anywhere from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours)

OK, now that you've got yourself a list of time killing situations, we can look at activities you can do in parallel to become more productive. Are you starting to follow me?

Below are very simple, yet productive things you can do during "no brainer" or waiting times:

• Read a book or listen to an audio book: Learn a new language, discover success stories of others and how they got there, learn about search engine optimization, and so on.
• Organize your to do list: You can review your "to do" list so that you can stay focused or re-prioritize your tasks.
• Brainstorm on topics for HubPages or write a hub: Sometimes you can get inspired when you are doing something that helps you relax.
• Read the news: Stay current with events and news that can impact your life.
• Watch useful videos: There is so much content out there for almost anything. Learn how to cook, how to use a program, or even how to do your own videos.

All of the above can be done using traditional pen and paper. And with the prevalence of web capable smart phones, and the availability of application rich iPad or Android tablets, you can do almost everything electronically--read, write, and watch!

There are certain things you can do in parallel depending on which "no brainer" or waiting activity you want to use. Let's take a look. I leave it to you to figure out the ones that aren't in this list.

Number 2

You probably never thought you could be very productive while performing number 2; we'll you can be. Look at some examples of what you can do:

• Read a book or Listen to an audio book
• Brainstorm on HubPages topics
• Write a hub
• watch a video; use your smartphone, iPad, Android-based tablet, or even a colored nook

Biking/Jogging

The only thing I can suggest here is to listen to an audio book or the news. You can also brainstorn writing topics, but you'll have to remember them since it is hard writing or texting while running or biking, unless you are on a stationary bike.

Waiting at Clinic/DMV/post office

Everything you can do while doing number 2 can be done here. I separated it just in case you can think of something different in this area that is unique to "waiting" situations.

You've just discovered how to squeeze more time from your day by doing something in parallel of "no brainer" tasks or when you are simply waiting.

Can you think of other scenarios? If so, let me know by commenting below.