Early in my career, I had very few limits on my company. I was always working and chasing after more work. My hours were insane. There were days I was getting up at five am and not getting to bed until midnight.

I simply cannot be that person anymore. It’s not only unhealthy but it affects my family in a very negative way.

The funny thing? The more limits I put on myself, the more work was getting done. I no longer needed to have an insane schedule to get that insane amount of work done. I could fit my life in again.

So what does that look like?

Limit when you work

I actually got this from Gini Dietrich years and years ago. If you take weekends off the table, you all of a sudden become super productive during the week.

It’s a very odd psychological tool, but it works. I no longer view the weekends as a time to help me catch up. It’s a time for family unless there is a very special circumstance. The second I fully realized I didn’t have that parachute on the weekends, I did a whole lot less dawdling during the week. My time management was loads better, because I had no choice. I was able to get more done in less time.

If you view your work day as endless, you are going to treat it that way. But if you see hard limits with deadlines, your brain will respond. And then having that free time with friends, family or your own thoughts will let your brain wander and make you a much more effective problem solver when you are officially on the clock.

Ten minute limits

The way I work is probably different than mosts. I list out everything I need to do in ten minute or less tasks. I then schedule those tasks throughout the day. The reasons behind this are plentiful.

Doing one big task is too much for me to bite off. I can’t always wrap my brain around it. But if I list out that one big task into tasks that take ten minutes or less, all of a sudden it seems doable.

And as I do the tasks, I get that little dopamine hit of stacking up wins. Once you get one win in, you keep wanting to do what it takes to get more. Taking these little bites off of the task eventually gets a task that was way too big for me to wrap my brain around done. It’s more relaxing and effective than anything else I have tried.

It also works with my idea of limits because I really do stick to that ten minute timeline. If I get the task done in less than ten minutes, I can use that time for a past task or for the next task. If I don’t, then I hope a future task takes less than ten minutes so I can go back to it. These self-imposed limits force me to be really honest with how fast I can do something and to really focus on each task as it comes.

I am able to get more done by planning my day sensibly and keeping the limit. Years ago when I adopted this practice, I thought it might be a bit too rigid. But the fact is that it works really well for me. That stands even as I have to be a bit more flexible thanks to my feral toddler.

Limit where you work

When you work from home, there is such a fine line between your work and your life. You have to draw them yourself and be firm, which frankly is hard when you are the only one holding yourself to them.

A great line to hold is having an office in your home and only working there. When you work elsewhere, things get very gray very fast. Your schedule goes awry and knowing when work stops and your real life begins becomes near impossible. “Well, my laptop is right here, so I might as well do a little something.” You will think that more than you want.

You should have a place where you work and where your work materials and equipment are kept. This is the only place you work and you stay there during your work hours. It’s even better if you have a door on this room that you can close as soon as you are done with work. Doing this will underline the beginning and the end of your work day. Then it will be a little harder for your work life to start creeping in on your real life. Being able to close that door at the end of the day to tell your brain you are done really does work.

Also having that place tells your brain when you’re there that it’s time to work. That little signifier gets you into work mode so much faster, meaning you have the capability to do more. It’s amazing what little mental tricks can do to make you more efficient.

Limits aren’t perfect and they can’t always be held. Sometimes there’s a big event and you have to work during hours you normally wouldn’t. Or you really have to do a head down day and ten minute tasks just aren’t going to do. Or you have to change your location to work because your child is sick and working from the recliner is the only way you could possibly work. Things happen. We adapt.

But if you stand firm on some limits, your work will get more efficient and you will be able to fit your real life in again. Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

How are you putting limits on your work life to make yourself more efficient?