Nate Riggs: Social Business Strategies; communication, social web strategies, & passion in Columbus, Ohio.

Your time is valuable.

With email inboxes always full, not to mention the dozens of social channels we use to communicate, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re balancing work and life.  Sometimes I get frustrated because I feel like I spend all day online and then do the actual work I need to do in the evenings.

The answer, I’ve found out, is working to trim the fat off of any process you can.  Here are a few ways I do that with my own routines in running Social Business Strategies, as well as my family life at home.  This isn’t the be-all-end-all on productivity, just a few things that work for me.  Hopefully you can adopt some of the tips and tricks in your own daily routine.

1. Replace your local radio station or favorite band with a podcast or audio book related to your business or personal development. This makes for better use of your daily commute.
2. Keep idea parking lots.  This can be as simple as piece of paper that hangs by your desk at work, notes on your mobile device or even text messages sent to yourself.  When you get a new idea, put it in the parking lot and move back to what you were doing.  Then, revisit it after you complete your task to prioritize it on your to-do list.
3. Steven Covey talks about the P/PC balance.  When at home, take a few minutes to teach your kids how to do various tasks that they can help you with.  My son, Jacob, has become very good at dusting the living room in the past few weeks, while I clean the kitchen.
4. Turn off the TV.  Seriously.  No one on their death bed says:  ”Damn.  If I only I would have had time for one more episode of Lost.”
5. Get up when it’s still dark out.  For some humans, the most focused part of your day is in the wee hours of the morning when it’s still quiet.  I use that time to build my to-do list or even write a few blog posts.
6. Take your lunch to work and eat at your desk.  Not only will this save you time, it’s easier on the pocketbook as well.
7. For extra bonus points on lunchtime savings, get some Tupperware containers and prepare 2-3 days of meals at one time and pop them in the fridge.  Grab-and-go lunches are a winner.
8. Opt for coffee meetings when you are networking rather than lunch meetings.  Unless you have something in stone to discuss, 30 minutes should do on a first meeting.
9. Watch how many networking events you attend.  You’ll end up canvasing the same groups of people with skin-deep interactions.  I focus my networking strategy on multiple one-on-one meetings.  That’s where I find the real business value.
10. More on networking: find ways to mix in your other activities.  For instance, I like to run and often run with professional contacts.  Networking is about building relationships and if you can find a shared activity you and your connection enjoy, that’s all the better.
11. Learn what David Allen has to teach you in Getting Things Done.  To save time, listen to the audio CD (not an affiliate link) while you’re in the gym or driving.
12. Keep a small voice recorder in your pocket.  Dictating short notes and thoughts throughout the day is much less time consuming than writing them down.
13. Get a second computer monitor at work and at home.  A bigger desktop will help you spread things out and save time from jumping in between screens.  I’m working on getting my third soon.
14. Rather than meeting in person, meet on Google Wave.  Google Wave eliminates the need to retype meeting minutes because, well, it essentially is the meeting minutes.
15. Use mobile applications to manage your social media monitoring and email on the go. Seems like a no brainier, but you might be surprised as to how may people are still communicating via desktop only.  Mobile management helps you keep the piles under control.
16. Create a personalized business communications dashboard for yourself.  Think hard about your objectives before you begin.
17. YOUR TURN

What did I miss?  What do you do that saves you time?