Reclaim 7+ Hours Weekly Using These Simple Techniques: My Real Story of Recovering 16+ Hours

Like most full-time employees, I often struggled to find time, energy, and motivation to work on my personal goals after a long day at work.

Since the start of the year, I have become more intentional about how I spend my time at work and beyond.

I enjoy my job, and beyond anything, I strive to excel at whatever I set out to do. It's a personal principle of mine to be reliable, have integrity, and do what I promised.

If you are like me, then you know underperforming at work is not an option. Not just because of the remuneration, which is a good thing, but because that is my approach towards life: excellence.

The big question then is, how can I effectively perform well at work and consistently have time to work on my personal goals?

The simple answer: You need to reclaim time.

I use the term "reclaim time" because, unfortunately, we cannot have more time in a day. We all have 24 hours, so the best you can do is reclaim some time from activities that are not value-adding and use it wisely.

Various factors contribute to people’s inability to work on their personal goals after work. For a while, this also affected me, so I had to take action. Some factors are within my control, and others are beyond it:

• The nature of work on a given day

• Tiredness after work

• Lack of clarity on steps to achieve my personal goals

• Distractions

• Procrastination

To overcome these challenges, I first tackled the issues within my control, such as gaining clarity on my personal goals and managing procrastination. However, one significant challenge remained: managing distractions from my mobile phone.

This is also a major issue for many people lacking time and a big opportunity for those seeking to reclaim time.

Don’t get me wrong—I enjoy using my phone. It allows me to easily connect with friends and family, work on tasks related to my personal goals like creating content and posting on LinkedIn, and access useful apps. However, I also found myself spending a lot of time on it without any real purpose, particularly on social media.

I’m sure you can relate: You plan to spend just 20 minutes on your phone to get a quick update and end up spending over 2 hours. It happens.

I realized that if I truly wanted to achieve my personal goals, I needed to regulate my phone and social media usage. Phone manufacturers and app developers are aware that excessive phone use can be unhealthy and affect productivity. They have provided some tools to help users manage their phone usage:

• Digital Wellbeing app for Android users

• Screen Time app for iOS users

These apps, as helpful as they are, cannot stop you from wasting valuable time. There are key personal decisions that must be made to help you reclaim time:

1. Change Your Mindset: Shift your attitude towards phone use, viewing it as a tool rather than a distraction.

2. Clarify Objectives: Define clear goals for what you want to achieve with your phone.

3. Be Intentional with Apps: Choose only the apps that align with your objectives.

4. Set Time Limits: Determine and stick to specific time limits for each app and overall phone use.

5. Create Barriers: Implement measures to restrict phone use beyond what’s necessary, making it harder to get sidetracked.

With these guidelines in place, you can follow these weekly actions to manage your phone usage effectively:

1. Set a screen time goal.

2. Implement app timers for your top three apps.

3. Use Focus mode while working on personal goals.

4. Activate Bedtime mode to regulate sleep and wake times.

Now let’s get into more detail.

Note: I am sharing my real experience, and the recommended numbers may not work for you, but the principles will.

1. Screen Time

After carefully analyzing my activities each week for over a month, I realized that I needed less than 5 hours a day on my phone to be effective. This adjustment helped me drastically reduce my total screen time from over 16 hours in one week.

Action: This week, start with a realistic time limit, set the limit, and monitor your progress.

Free resource: Screen time goal

2. Bedtime mode & peak usage time

To maintain a healthy lifestyle, I scheduled 7-8 hours of sleep using Bedtime mode. This has helped me reduce nighttime phone use, though I’m still working on it.

I also found my peak phone usage was between 6-10 PM. Now, I focus on doing non-phone related activities like physically connecting more with family and reading a book.

Action: Set your ideal sleep schedule and stick to it. Replace peak phone usage time with a productive and fulfilling activity.

Free resource: Night time mode

3. Most used apps

Identify and evaluate your most used apps. I reviewed my usage and found YouTube, Notes, and WhatsApp were the top ones. I decided to set limits and manage my interactions more intentionally.

I noticed I was spending too much time on YouTube, particularly on my phone. To cut down on casual use, I switched to using YouTube on my computer. This change made accessing YouTube less convenient, helping me use it more purposefully and only when necessary.

Action: Use a less convenient device for apps you want to limit, like watching YouTube on a computer instead of your phone.

4. Schedule Your Weekly Review

I dedicate 15 minutes each week to review my phone usage and make adjustments. This process helped me reduce my screen time goal from 5 hours to 3.5 hours, reflecting the effectiveness of my strategies.

Action: Set a 15-minute weekly review to assess and adjust your phone usage.

Free resource: Practice regular personal review

5. Use AI Tools to Reclaim Time

To reclaim time from your phone, automate routine tasks. This will help you get things done quickly and cut down on phone usage, reducing the temptation to waste time. I use AI tools daily to streamline important tasks, which has significantly decreased my phone time.

Here are some key areas where AI can make a significant impact:

• Brainstorming and Ideation: Use AI to generate creative ideas and explore new concepts quickly.

• Content Creation: Tools like GPT-4 can help draft, edit, and refine content, saving time on writing and revising.

• Proofreading: AI-powered proofreading tools can spot errors and suggest improvements, ensuring polished and professional documents.

• Summarization: AI can condense long articles, reports, or meetings into concise summaries, making it easier to digest essential information.

• Time Management: AI tools can help schedule tasks, set reminders, and optimize your daily agenda.

Prompts to Use AI Effectively:

• Brainstorming: “Generate a list of creative ideas for [topic].”

• Content creation: “Draft a post about [subject] with a focus on [specific reason].”

• Proofreading: “Check this text for grammar, punctuation, and clarity issues.”

• Summarization: “Provide a summary of this document focusing on the key points.”

• Time management: “Create a daily schedule that includes time blocks for [tasks].”

Action: Integrate AI tools into your daily activities to enhance efficiency and reclaim valuable time.

The journey to reclaiming time is a gradual process. You improve as you become more intentional, practice these techniques, and set and respect boundaries with your phone usage.

I’d like you to share your experience using these techniques.

I currently run a coaching program to help working professionals design an effective daily routine, double their productivity, and reclaim time while excelling at work and in life without burning out.

If you want to unlock your potential and reclaim time, book a free strategy call and let’s discuss.