I love the late night infomercial where the guy puts the chicken on the iron stick, places it in the revolving oven, turns the dial says, “Set it and forget it!“

That’s a great time management tip! And it leads us to our final principle of the week…

Time Management Principle #3: AUTOMATE AUTOMATE

What are you spending time on right now that you could automate so that you do it once and then you ‘set it and forget it?‘

I first learned this lesson thanks to bill paying. I used to spend an hour or more each month paying bills that stacked up on top of my computer monitor (that’s what people had before we had laptops). One day, I was reading a book by David Bach (one of my favorite financial writers) and he mentioned that most utility companies would regulate your bill so that you could pay the same amount each month. His point was on budgeting, but it struck a time management nerve with me.

If you could predict how much your bills would be each month, you could pay them automatically by setting up an auto-withdrawal or having your bank send over a check. (Another time management short cut – I can send a check online much faster than I can write one).

I currently auto-pay everything. . . from my monthly bills to my tithe (and when God blesses me I have my bank send another check as an offering). This has saved me at least two hours per month.

But I’ve gone beyond bills. I am constantly looking for things to automate. I have automated my Mac by having it automatically open the three programs I use most when it powers up. I have automated my cell phone voice mail by having voice messages automatically sent to me as text messages. I have automated prescriptions. . . the website for my pharmacy allows me to set-up for refills to be automatically sent (I love it!). Same thing for my daily wear contacts. And for my . . . well, you get the point.

If I can automate it, I will. Set it and forget it!

What could you automate in your life that would save you a ton of time? It may take a few extra minutes on the front end to set it up but it will save you hours each month in the future.

Nelson

P.S. You can find 33 other time management principles in my newest resource. Click here to order Time Management for Busy Pastors

P.P.S. I even automated this blog post! I wrote all three of these time management posts in one sitting (another time management practice: group like projects) and then set them to ‘go live’ each morning. Here are the previous two in case you missed one:

What the BEST Use of My Time: Time Management Part 2 of 3
Living Off Peak: Time Management Part 1 of 3