Time: If You Could Save It, How Would You Spend It?

Jim Croce said it best:  “If I could save time in a bottle…”  Imagine the possibilities.

We all feel the daily constraints on our time.  I was recently returning from a trip to Philadelphia when we encountered multiple weather delays.  We sat on the runway for an hour and a half waiting for our turn to take off; there were a good 20+ planes ahead of us on the tarmac.  I quickly began running through my schedule in my head: flight time + landing time + baggage claim + airport parking + return trip home… Time.  If only I could save it in a bottle.

What took me to Philly in the first place was a graphics trade show I attended.  While there, I met a gentleman 80 years young—Dave, a sign maker who was telling me of the old days when he would use his 24-foot drafting table and hand-paint signs.  He’d complete 4 per day, he shared.  Today, Dave still has his sign shop and was enjoying previewing the new equipment at the show.  “Those wide format printers can do so much more, print vividly not to mention faster.  They didn’t have those when I was young,” he said.  But imagine if they did, Dave.  What would you have done with the extra time?  Would you have worked the same amount of hours or would you have continued with the same volume and used the time elsewhere, perhaps spending more time with family or doing leisurely activities?

Dave and his craft are an art, no doubt about that.  Fortunately, today’s modern creative has more options, including tapping into technology to essentially “cheat” time:  short cuts to bypass manual processes; organizational workflows; streamlined software functionalities.   Are you taking full advantage of technology?  Today’s modern creative can “save time in a bottle” by knowing the tips of everyday tools and implementing the benefits:

Automation.  Let technology do the grunt work.  Print designers, did you know InDesign has a slick data merge function to flow spreadsheet data into design templates with a simple set-up? (View video tutorial now). With this tool, standard layouts can be completed quickly and easily vs. hours of tedious cut and paste work.

Efficient Workflows. Each tool you work with has built-in time-saving tricks.  You just have to know what they are, where to find them and how to use them to their fullest capability.  Investing time and training resources in this area is wise, not to mention critical to your time-saving success.

Focus.  Though the projects are piling up and your creative resources are limited, resist the urge to multi-task.  Studies show our brains cannot quickly jump back and forth between projects and the term “multi-tasking” is a misnomer. When you give your full attention to the project at hand, you’ll be more effective overall, accomplishing more, faster, and with better results.

How we spend our time is an individual choice.  But if you could save time in a bottle—if you could do your work in less time, what would you do with your extra time?

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.  I encourage you to post a comment or email your response to denisem@fmctraining.com. The most thought-provoking response will be chosen to win a free pass to Creative Cloud Masters Conference, the conference that equips you to fully utilize your design tools to do more in less time and apply more creativity in the process.  Additionally, the winner will receive a complimentary pass to the co-located Graph Expo, to explore new printing equipment and technologies to bring your designs to life.

Sarah Frazier is a creative marketer and guest blogger for Future Media Concepts.  With over 20 years in media, she thrives in brand storytelling and creative content marketing.