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8 Completely Reasonable Time-savers

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Chapel Hill chapter.

Life is hectic.  Between early morning classes and group projects, staying healthy and keeping up with your favorite guilty pleasure TV series, there aren’t possible enough hours in a day!  Here are some ways to regain valuable daytime (and nighttime!) minutes.

1)  Don’t go back to sleep.  Don’t do it!


If you wake up early at the end of a sleep cycle and find yourself wide awake, consider staying up and getting an early start on your day.  You’re already awake and can save the money you would’ve spent on yet another vanilla latte.  If you feel sleepy later in the afternoon, reward yourself with a short nap.

2) Reduce your keystrokes

It may not seem like much, but learning little tricks here and there will save you minutes upon minutes.  Spend a little time learning the keyboard shortcuts for Twitter, Gmail, Microsoft Word and more, and you’ll be more efficient.  For example, instead of moving your cursor to the “Compose new Tweet” icon, press the “N” key.  See?  Quick and painless.

3) Double your recipes and freeze half

Look at that time-saving dedication.Beautiful! I know that I don’t want to be in the kitchen any longer than necessary, so instead of loading up your Pinterest board with recipes for two-ingredient chocolate mousse or chocolate chip cookies for one, try checking out some easy recipes you can stash in your freezer. It takes about the same amount of prep time, and you have a future meal whenever you’re feeling rushed — just pop it in the microwave or turn on the stove.  Voila!

4) Exercise harder, better, faster, stronger



Don’t spend an hour and a half in the gym every day!  If you increase the intensity of your workout, you can burn more calories in less time.  Cardio, baby.  Just don’t stop ‘til you drop.

5) 
and whenever you can fit it in your schedule.


You don’t necessarily have to exercise exclusively in the morning, the afternoon or at night.  Look into other alternatives to get your heart pumping, like exercising during those awkward thirty minutes between meetings.  Try Sworkit, which lets you plug in how much time you have for a workout (starting at 5 minutes!).  It breaks down the minutes into short exercises, and you can choose between strength training and yoga.

6) Don’t text — call!

Texting certainly has its time and place, but calling will save valuable time shooting messages back and forth to each other.  You won’t have to keep checking your phone, and you’ll gain experience having face-to-face conversations—something that’s quickly becoming a lost art.
Source: http://www.rumormillnews.com/p…

7) You got a smartphone, girl.  Use it.

Be sure you get the best use of your expensive smartphone.  It can do so much more than look pretty!  Download apps that will save you time and help you get through your day, like Pomodoro — the 25 minute timer will help you focus and get to work, and you get a 5-minute break at the end.

8) Monitor time spent on social media

I know, I know.  There’s always something new to investigate on Twitter, and the Internet has bottomless barrels of memes.  But control yourself!  Social media will suck away your day’s entire 24 hours, if you’re not careful. Check out Rescue Time or Minutes Please, both of which are free.


Sources:
https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSBCb8NOC5QHMRDel4BjhObwVRp7JbinvfBNLyIjTi1sIOwfKZf
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_OBqV6uemcd0/SRN7FFU4CPI/AAAAAAAABbw/mMMcLyyPLUE/s400/freezer-1602670-l.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Jc83gdcIV4/TsHDTroPUgI/AAAAAAAAXY8/jrVdQuSkxSw/s1600/waste-of-time-283×300.jpg
http://c1345842.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/assets/cdn_files/assets/000/006/925/original.jpeg?1352168301
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/files/images/0911-woman-jumprope_0.jpg

Images:
Sworkit: http://www.sworkit.com/
Rescue Time: https://www.rescuetime.com/
Minutes Please: http://minutesplease.com/
Pomodoro: http://iphone.appstorm.net/rou…

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Sarah Ang

Chapel Hill

Sarah Ang is a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying journalism and English. She writes about the arts at The Daily Tar Heel, reads too much, and strives to remember that life isn’t as complicated as we make it out to be.
Melissa Paniagua is a senior journalism major at The University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, specializing in public relations. She is currently a fashion market intern at ELLE Magazine. On campus, Melissa acts as the Her Campus president as well as the vice president of the Carolina Association of Future Magazine Editors, UNC’s Ed2010 chapter. In the past, she has been an intern for Southern Weddings Magazine and a contributing writer for Her Campus. Melissa has an appreciation for all things innovative, artful and well designed and hopes to work in marketing for a women’s lifestyle magazine in the future!