In today's extremely hectic and fast-paced life, one of the most important things people wish for is free time. Time is an invaluable asset, and we could all use more hours in the day, whether it's to spend time with loved ones, friends, or ourselves.

Since increasing the hours in a day is beyond our capabilities, the only other choice is to cut down on work hours. Fortunately, some easy techniques can effectively reduce your working hours.

Here are four recommendations for optimizing your work-life balance so you can spend fewer hours working without compromising productivity.

1. Prioritize Energy Management Over Time Management

Making the switch from time management to energy management entails working more on your terms, including when, where, and how you work. Shift your focus to how you spend your time, not how many hours there are in the day. This will not only cut down your work hours but also prevent excessive stress and burnout.

If you want to get more done in less time, start by giving less attention to things that distract you. Pay more attention to things that help you get things done. Next, focus your efforts on tasks that advance your goals and initiatives.

Use techniques like Eat the Frog to complete the most difficult tasks first before other work. Even simple things like enabling Focus Mode on your phone can drive small but significant impacts.

2. Don't Be Afraid to Delegate

You should be able to delegate when necessary if you're a seasoned professional. However, people often get confused about assigning labor because they are unsure which tasks to complete themselves and which ones to delegate.

To effectively delegate, you can use the Eisenhower Matrix to organize your tasks. The Eisenhower Matrix is a productivity, prioritization, and time-management paradigm that prioritizes tasks by categorizing them based on their urgency and importance.

Easy, teachable, and tedious tasks can be delegated to others, so you can make up time for more significant tasks and save time for yourself. You can go simpler and use a to-do list, or get the best of both by using the Eisenhower Matrix to create a to-do list.

You can leverage collaborative task management apps to manage and keep a close eye on delegated tasks.

3. Streamline Calendar Meetings

Many meetings can leave you dissatisfied, fatigued, and agitated. One of the best ways to save time and save yourself from burnout is to streamline your calendar meetings by using online meeting tools.

Additionally, you can improve your meeting productivity by taking measures to declutter your meeting schedule. You can do this a couple of ways, including:

• Setting a clear purpose for each meeting you attend and sticking to it.
• Declining any invitations for unnecessary meetings that don't add value.
• Deciding which recurring meetings can be cut in duration and which ones can be cut in frequency.
• You can also try combining all meetings into one full day or two half days to reduce task switching and improve focus.

You can leverage meeting scheduling apps to quickly view your available times in line with others. This will help you cut down the time wasted finding a mutually convenient meeting time.

4. Co-Working and Mutual Accountability

You can increase your productivity and efficiency when you work with someone and have someone holding mutual accountability. Regular human interaction minimizes the likelihood of procrastinating or getting distracted. For example, pair up with someone and work with them at the same time to drive more motivation and get more done.

There are good online work gyms that let you partner up with someone online. You can choose the time you want to work at and match with someone else looking for the same, sharing your goals and staying on track together.

Get Back More of Your Time

The pursuit of free time amid the hustle and bustle of life is a universal aspiration. We all have the same 24 hours in a day, but how we manage it makes all the difference. By using these simple tips and tricks, you can reclaim your time and focus on your life objectives all without compromising your productivity.