Is your to-do list just growing longer with no reprieve in sight? To make your work week more productive (so you can actually unwind on the weekends), Camille Styles, a lifestyle blogger, suggests you need to look for time-saving hacks that will allow you to manage your week smarter, therefore building in time for creativity, thoughtfulness, and big ideas. Here are 8 ways to optimize your time: 

1. Review your calendar for the week ahead. Assess what’s been added to your calendar for the next week, and then edit – are there meetings that could be emails? As an invitee, will you be adding to the discussion of the meeting or is there someone else who would add more value? Look at where you may be able to combine or shift meetings to make space for intentional work time. 

2. Turn off your phone notifications. How many times have you been in a work groove, only to be interrupted by a social media message? Turn off your notifications during focused work time so you can spend it wisely. 

3. Schedule meeting stacks. Rather than race back and forth from meeting rooms to your desk, stack meetings back to back and spend any downtime between them checking emails or preparing. 

4. Create a no-meetings Friday policy. Give yourself space to finish up projects, follow up on action items, and prep for the next week ahead.  

5. Hold time blocks for specific projects. Instead of waiting for a project to sit too long, set aside time to break it up into less overwhelming pieces. For example, set 30 minutes on Monday to map out what needs to be done. Tuesday, set a block for 20 minutes to define how you will tackle it, and Thursday set aside an hour to get started on step one. 

6. Pair tasks together. Try and find places where you can check two things off your list at once. Maybe you’ve been feeling stressed that you aren’t getting your steps in – take a call on a walk. Try listening to a professional development podcast while doing your expense report. You’ll start to realize the power in task-pairing. 

7. Perform a weekly review. In addition to planning for the week ahead (see #1) make sure you are reviewing what you’ve accomplished at a high level. It allows you to see big wins that you may have missed, but also big opportunities where you may need to spend more time. 

8. Respond to emails at set times. Instead of being reactive with emails, carve out 2-3 times a day that you’ll respond to messages. It will help you keep focus and often will take less time because you are being intentional in your response.