Well, it’s not only the start of another year, but the start of another decade. Did you achieve everything you planned over the last ten years? If you didn’t, it’s likely that one factor will appear highest on the list of culprits. Looking for a new approach? It's about TIME!

You waste over 11 hours at work every week. That adds up to 10 weeks lost over an entire year! Most of that waste comes from three things you fill your diary with: You attend 60 meetings a month; a third of them are a complete waste of time. You spend 4 hours every day in your inbox; only 14% of your emails are relevant to your role. Finally, you spend 2 hours a day being interrupted; 80% of the time the interruption is pointless.

As you start the New Year, wouldn’t it be great to remove the biggest barrier to achieving what you really want in life?

You’ve seen lots of lists telling you what you can start doing but you’ve already got enough on your plate. Instead, here’s an anti-list; things you can STOP doing that will give you back time:

STOP living without meaningful goals

At least five people visited my stand at a recent exhibition asking how to get more time. I asked each of them one simple question, ‘If I gave you more time, what would you do with it?’. [Cue tumbleweed] They couldn’t say. The reason you lose most time is because you haven't been specific enough about what you really want.

STOP using a to-do list

To-do lists cause more stress than they alleviate. It has been shown that you can reduce anxiety by simply setting time aside to complete an item on your to-do list. Kill two birds with one stone and transfer all of your to-dos into your diary and throw away your to-do list for ever.

STOP relying so much on email

It takes far longer to write an email than it does to call or walk up to and talk to a colleague in person. A conversation is far less likely to come across in the wrong way too!

STOP using your diary just for meetings

You likely have annual objectives that you have to achieve. These are the things that you need to achieve to be successful in your role. Instead of just meetings, include time in your diary for achieving your objectives too.

STOP leaving space in your diary

Unplanned time tends to be time that’s wasted. Fill space in your diary with consciously planned chunks of valuable ‘thinking’ time to avoid losing value.

STOP saying YES when you should say NO

By eliminating space from your diary (see above), deal with unexpected requests by comparing against what you already have in your diary. Don't take anything else on if it's not moving you towards your goals.

STOP doing things that others should

Before taking on a new task, first think; if there was a carbon copy of you, who had your knowledge and who you trusted implicitly, would you be comfortable giving them the task? If the answer is yes, find that person and delegate it. If you don't have that person, hire them!

STOP attending pointless meetings

Do you go to meetings that you know are a complete waste of time? None of us is paid to waste time, so tell the organiser that you’re concerned they are not getting maximum value from you and explain why. They will either convince you that you do need to be there, or they’ll let you off the hook.

STOP giving others free reign over your diary

How often do you accept meetings without question? This is like leaving money on your desk and asking others to help themselves. Get people to convince you of their need for your time before accepting. They won’t respect your time until you do.

STOP using automatically recurring meetings

Make every meeting fight for its place in your diary. Recurring meetings are guests that are likely to outstay their welcome. Before you realise it, they will have moved in permanently.

These are all simple ways to start a chain reaction that will give you more time for work and life. Don't go crazy, make life easy; incorporate one of the above one day (or even one week) at a time and before you know it you’ll be on your way to getting back a day in your diary and closer to achieving your goals.

Happy New Decade!