Master Your (Mini)

Minutes
12 Ways to Use Your Time Better To Get
More Done and Build A Life You Love

Made by
1. Turn your to-do list into scheduled time P05
blocks

2. Work in Pomodoros P06

3. Spend 25 minutes tackling your hardest P07

task first.

4. Focus on your breathing for 5 minutes P07

5. Practice gratitude for 5 minutes P08

6. Workout for 25 minutes P08

7. Make a list of 15-minute tasks P09

8. Spend 25 minutes planning your week P09

9. Spend 5 minutes planning your day P10

10. Spend 25 minutes batching email P11

11. Spend 15 minutes decompressing P11

12. Take guilt-free breaks P12

12 Ways to Use Your Time Better
To Get More Done and Build
A Life You Love.
Do you always have more tasks than time?

It’s a stressful place to be. When you’re never on top of your to-dos, you get overwhelmed, frus-
trated, and burnt out. It affects your quality of life too because you’re always working, you never
have time for yourself, and your relationships end up suffering.

If only there were a better way to live...

Here’s the good news - there is! There are practical things you can do to make your minutes go
further so you do have time for it all. All it takes is a mindset shift.

It’s not the amount of time you have that matters. It’s how you use the minutes you’re given that
counts.

Truth is you can’t get more time (however much we long for an 8 day week just to get on top of
it all!) It’s what makes time is the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do, or
where you live; you get the same number of daily minutes deposited into your time bank – just
like everybody else.

If you want to get more done so you can enjoy life to the max, you’ve got to figure out how to use
your time more efficiently.

And this Master Your Minutes PDF will show you how. All you need is a timer and the tactics in
this PDF and you’ll be able to get more done, cut through the overwhelm, and finish each day
with a win.

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Why use a timer?
P5 - P12
“What’s gets measured
gets managed.”
- Peter Drucker

Your watch or phone can tell you the time, but it can’t tell you how well your time was spent.

It’s a problem. Time is our most valuable resource, but if we don’t treat it that way we waste our
minutes and squander our productivity.

A timer makes you more aware of your minutes and where they’re being invested. As a result,
you’ll get a more accurate perception of your time. You’ll know how long things really take allow-
ing you to make better estimates in the future.

Use a timer and you’ll force commitment, sharpen your focus, boost your motivation, and in-
crease your productivity. You’ll quit time-stealing multitasking too because you’ll train yourself to
focus on one task at a time.

So don’t just ‘going with the flow’. Instead, get in the habit of using a timer to keep you on task.
Start with these 12 timer hacks. They’ll help you free up time, get more done, and make more
time for you.

1. Turn your to-do list

into scheduled time blocks
What is it?
For maximum productivity, don’t tackle your to-do list task by task. Instead, break down your day
into 30-minute time blocks that get scheduled individually.

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 To-do List Schedule

Why it works:
A to-do list is great for emptying your head and identifying priorities, but there’s a better way to
maximize your time and get more done. Give each task a realistic time slot in your planner and
watch your efficiency soar. With a deadline to meet, you’ll have to focus on the task at hand. This
means you won’t multitask and waste time switching from one task to another. Instead, you’ll sink
into your deep work zone, which will skyrocket the quality and quantity of your output.

2. Work in Pomodoros
What is it?
Set your timer for 25 minutes and work full pelt until the time runs out. Then take a 5-minute
break before you dive into another Pomodoro work sprint (and the cycle starts again).

Why it works:
When there’s no end in sight, it’s tempting to procrastinate - especially when you’re tackling a
boring or difficult task. But anyone can sit tight for a 25-minute sprint knowing a break is just
around the corner. Break your day into Pomodoros and make your willpower (and motivation) last
a lot longer. It’s a simple timer tactic that will help you crush a lot of work in a lot less time.

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3. Spend 25 minutes tackling
your hardest task first.
What is it?
Got a beast of a task to do? Make sure you do it first thing before anything else. It doesn’t matter
how long that task will take to complete, set your timer for 25 minutes and double down until the
minutes run out. It’s the easiest way to set your day up for a win.

Why it works:
It’s tempting to procrastinate over the things we don’t want to do, but that task will still be there

after you’ve made a coffee, scrolled through Facebook, and checked your emails! Eat The Frog

first and boost your productivity for the entire day that follows. This works for a couple of rea-

sons. Firstly, you won’t waste bandwidth thinking about the task you really need to do. Secondly,

crack the nut and you’ll clock up a win that will fuel you for whatever comes next. And consider-

ing everything else will be easier, your day will get better all around.

4. Focus on your breathing

for 5 minutes
What is it?
Disconnect from tech, remove all distractions, and sit quietly for five minutes. Focus on deepen-
ing your breath to calm your mind and get yourself into a meditative state. You’ll feel all the better
for it.

Why it works:
Learning how to control your attention through the art of focus is a powerful productivity boost-
er. Deep breathing helps calms your mind, increases blood flow, and makes it easier to drop into
a deep work state. If you’re an overthinker, this practice can be hard to start with, but focus is a
muscle that builds over time and you’ll notice the positive effects the more you do it.

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5. Practice gratitude
for 5 minutes
What is it?
In a designated notebook, write down three things you’re grateful for. You can write about the

small things (such as the beautiful sunset), the big things (such as your health) and everything in
between. But don’t just write about your gratitude, feel it in your body too and unlock a flood of
happiness and joy.

Why it works:
Gratitude is one of the simplest, most powerful ways to turn on happiness and fulfillment like a
tap. There’s always something to feel grateful for (even when you’re at rock bottom). Take 5 min-
utes every day to focus on this habit and you’ll nurture the positivity and optimism that helps fuel
everything else.

6. Workout for 25 minutes

What is it?
Regular exercise is good for our health, wellbeing, and sanity. If you’ve not got time to get to the
gym or go to a class, schedule a 25-minute home-based workout into your day. You could take
a brisk walk, practice yoga, or do a class online. Raise your heart rate, and you’ll help keep your

body in a good state of physical health.

Why it works:
It’s easy to neglect your health when you’ve got so much else to do. It’s easy to make excuses
and put off exercise for later. But 25 minutes is less than 1/48 of your day. So use a timer to make
it happen and reap the benefits of more energy and better physical health.

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7. Make a list of 15-minute tasks
What is it?
Make a list of the tasks you can knock out when you have a spare 15 minutes. For example, you
could pop in a laundry load, read a few chapters, phone a client, run the vacuum around, or catch

up with some filing.

Why it works:
Make this list and instead of squandering those random ¼ hours, you can fill them with some-
thing productive and worthwhile AND tick through things on your to-do list too. It’s an easy way
to stop the little things dragging you down so you can feel on top of your life and get more done.

8. Spend 25 minutes planning

your week
What is it?
Invest 25-minutes on a Sunday evening collecting your thoughts and plan-
ning your week ahead:

Empty your head and capture your master to-do list onto paper
Prioritze your task list. Which items are a must, which items are a maybe,
and which items can be done by someone else?

Plot out your due dates so you can decide which day of the week you’ll
tackle each task

Estimate how long you need so you can plan when best to do each task to
maximize yourtime and get the most done.

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Why it works:
Without a game plan for the week, you risk forgetting something important or leaving big tasks for

the last minute. When you know what you need to do and when you won’t waste headspace try-

ing to remember it all. Instead, you can focus on doing. With your head free to focus on the task

at hand, your productivity will soar.

9. Spend 5 minutes planning your day

What is it?
Take 5-minutes in the morning to put together your game plan for the day ahead. What tasks will
you do and when? What are your top priorities? What appointments and errands do you need to

fit in?

Why it works:
Don’t leave your day to chance because you’ll just waste time. Instead, figure out your plan of
action and time block your day into 30-minute chunks. With no white space, you’ll be motivated
to keep going. And with your day already mapped out, you won’t waste time in between tasks as
you figure out what you can do next. Instead, you can just keep going and get it all done.

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10. Spend 25 minutes
batching email
What is it?
Don’t read and respond to emails the second they ping into your inbox. Instead, schedule a
25-minute slot in the morning and again later in the afternoon to deal with them all at once.

Why it works:
Batching saves times and enhances focus. Batch and get your head in email mode. You’ll also
boost your focus for the rest of the day because you won’t be distracted or interrupted by email
notifications. Instead, you can concentrate, stay in your flow/deep work zone and ultimately get

more done in less time.

11. Spend 15 minutes

decompressing
What is it?
Struggle to switch off when you’ve finished a busy day. Still got one foot in work, when you really
should have both feet in your home/family life? Make the transition by setting a timer and

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decompressing for 15 minutes. Switch off your computer and phone, then put on some music,
read a book, or do some yoga. Figure out what helps you drop one role so you can step into an-

other and see how much better you feel.

Why it works:
When you have a to-do list as long as your arm and you’ve been flat out with a busy day at work,
it can take a while to relax, let go, and switch into the mindset you need to be fully present with
the people at home. So instead of flicking from one to the other, give yourself space to decom-
press. Make the transition over a period of time and you won’t feel torn in yourself.

12. Take guilt-free breaks

What is it?
Ensure breaks don’t extend into hours by setting yourself a time limit.

Why it works:
Feel you’ve got too much on to take a proper break? Too busy to stop that you end up eating
your sandwich over emails? You can kid yourself that you’ll get more done if you just keep go-
ing, but that simply isn’t the case. Instead, schedule in a couple of 25-minute breaks throughout
the day when you can step away and have a breather. You can recharge during this downtime so

you’re ready to hit it hard again when you get back on task.

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