The Formula for Increased Efficiency
Managing the Madness: How to Be More Efficient on Substack When You’ve Got Too Much to Do
Being a writer means having a lot on your plate, content planning, article creation, platform management… and if you're a Substack writer, you're a whole different breed.
Substack is like a love child of blogging, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Discord.
You’re not just writing you’re publishing, marketing, networking, building community, and evolving your brand all at once.
That’s why time management is essential.
But in the face of all this chaos?
Time management alone won’t save you.
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Now, Back to the Article
You Need to Up Your Time Management Game!
Time management is a very useful skill, and it takes a bunch of practice.
You need to improve your ability to estimate how long tasks actually take. This skill helps you create more accurate schedules—and it comes from recognizing patterns through repeated practice over time.
It also takes discipline: staying mindful of your time and consistently following through is something you build with intention and repetition.
But here’s the truth:
No matter how skilled you get at planning, or how tightly you stick to your schedule… There will always be more tasks to handle.
Why? Because the work is…..
Well, Endless.
Your time and energy are not.
So… what if you still need to get more done?
(I know this sounds like a toxic productivity hack, but hear me out first.)
Getting things done doesn’t always mean “working.”
You accomplish more when you rest.
When you take a walk.
When you meet up with friends, call your mom, have a little date night with your partner, or tuck your kids into bed.
That’s life moving forward, too.
Time management is just the first step, and if you didn’t already know, well, now’s the time:
You can’t control time. You can only obey its limited reality.
A day will never be longer than 24 hours. You can’t stretch it to 25. That’s simply out of your hands.
Efficiency is the real cheat code.
When you improve it, you don’t just work faster—you work smarter and longer-term, because you're conserving energy.
That’s why I use a simple system I call F.R.E.E.D., built around five key factors:
Focus: Be fully present.
Rest: Power up like a battery.
Eliminate Multitasking: Juggle just one ball.
Every 'Yes' Counts: Know when to hit pause.
Drive Consistently: Like anything else, efficiency takes practice.
Now, let’s break down each piece.
🔍 F is for Focus
If you want to complete tasks faster, you have to close the mental “tabs” that have nothing to do with what you're working on.
That’s harder than ever in a world that thrives on distraction.
TIPS TO TRY:
🛌 Stick to a consistent sleep schedule
When your sleep is off, your focus is the first thing to go. A stable sleep routine improves memory, attention span, and decision-making all critical for getting things done faster.
🧘♀️ Meditate, even just for 3 (or start with 1) minutes
You don’t need to sit in silence for an hour. Just a few minutes of breathing and stillness can calm your nervous system and reset your scattered brain. It teaches your mind to return again and again to the present moment.
🏃 Move your body—your brain runs better when your blood does
Exercise increases oxygen flow to the brain, boosts mental clarity, and reduces stress. Even a short walk can lift the brain fog and sharpen your thinking.
🙅♂️ Let people know you’re busy
Setting boundaries protects your focus. When others know you’re in “deep work mode,” they’re less likely to interrupt you and you’re less likely to give in to distractions.
📵 Turn your devices on Do Not Disturb
Most distractions come from tiny pings. Blocking them isn’t about discipline, it’s about design. Create an environment where focus isn’t a fight, it’s the default.
You don’t wake up with it you build it. Over time, these small intentional actions help train your brain to stay in one place longer.
💤 R is for Rest
When you're overwhelmed, rest feels like a luxury. But not resting is counterproductive.
You might spend 4 hours on a task when you’re exhausted…
But only 2 hours when you’re well-rested.
You’re not saving time by skipping rest you’re wasting it.
Rest is fuel. Take breaks before burnout, not after.
TIPS TO TRY:
🕓 Build a “rest stop” into your daily schedule
Just like you'd plan a coffee break on a road trip block off a guilt-free hour to do nothing productive. Read. Stare out the window. Lay flat like a phone on 1%.
📅 Sneak rest into your weekly schedule too
Treat it like a recurring meeting with yourself. No rescheduling allowed. (Unless Beyoncé personally calls. Maybe.)
🧠 Long-term? Rest isn’t optional: it’s essential.
I learned this the hard way. When stress quietly piles up, it doesn’t tap you on the shoulder, it knocks you out.
Not resting doesn't just kill your efficiency. It messes with your health and robs you of time.
🕰️ Story Time: When My Body Forced Me to Listen
May and June reminded me that rest is part of the work. It started with small things random colds, low energy—but I kept pushing through.
I had a guide to finish (just released it the other day),
collabs to show up for,
articles to publish,
fitness goals to hit,
I have a day job,
and then my grandmother passed away.
It all piled up, but I still refused to pause.
Then came the migraines. The night I launched the guide, I was taking painkillers just to launch it. The week before that? I had a flu still is coughing up until now .
In that whole two weeks tons of time was lost time I was so eager not to waste. So if you think you’re too busy to rest, that’s exactly when you need it. Yesterday I called in a sick day in work. I rested forthe whole day and that could’ve felt better.
You can’t pour from an empty cup. Eventually, your body will make you stop.
❌ E is for Eliminate Multitasking
Multitasking doesn’t save time. It wastes it.
Juggling tasks reduces focus, lowers performance, increases errors, and adds mental lag every time you switch. You might feel busy, but you’re not getting more done—you’re just draining your battery faster.
If you're interested in the science behind multitasking, here are some studies you can check out on your own. We won't be diving into them in detail here.
The sky is not the limit: multitasking across GitHub projects
All at once? The effects of multitasking behavior on flow and subjective performance
Can You Multitask? Evidence and Limitations of Task Switching and Multitasking in Emergency Medicine
Basically, if multitasking ever feels “productive,” it’s usually just an illusion—what researchers call subjective performance. You feel efficient, but the results tell a different story.
TIPS TO TRY:
🧠 Do one thing at a time.
Single-tasking may feel slow, but it’s way faster than cleaning up multitasking mistakes.
📋 Keep a short, visible task list.
Don’t juggle 10 things in your head. Pick 1–3 priorities. That’s it.
📌 Use “focus windows.”
Try 25-minute sprints (Pomodoro-style) or block 1–2 hours for deep work. Protect that time like gold.
🧍 Be where your feet are.
Focus on what’s in front of you. Presence leads to progress.
🛑 Pause before switching tasks.
Give your brain a moment to close the last tab before opening a new one. Transitions matter.
Multitasking is the myth.
Focus is the real productivity skill.
✅ E is for Every 'Yes' Counts
Saying “yes” to everything is like opening every app on your phone and wondering why the battery dies fast.
Each yes drains attention, energy, and mental bandwidth. Eventually, you hit a wall—not because you’re lazy, but because you’re overloaded.
Know your limits. Prioritize what matters.
Protect your time by protecting your capacity.
TIPS TO TRY:
🚦 Pause before you agree.
Before saying yes, buy yourself time. A simple “Let me check my schedule and get back to you” works wonders.
🎯 Use the 3-Filter Rule:
Is it aligned with your goals? Do you have the time and energy? Will future-you thank you for this yes?
🛑 Make ‘No’ your default.
You don’t have to justify every no. “I won’t be able to take that on right now” is enough.
⚖️ Yes to less = room for better.
Every no creates space for deeper work, real rest, or something that’s actually aligned with what you want.
Remember: Not every opportunity is your opportunity.
Every yes has a cost—spend it wisely.
🛠️ D is for Drive Consistently
Efficiency isn’t about doing everything perfectly the first time. It’s about doing something regularly enough to get better at it.
Every task is a skill—writing, researching, editing, marketing.
The more you do, the faster and sharper you get.
Consistency > Intensity.
Start slow. Reflect on what slowed you down. Adjust. Repeat.
That’s how efficiency is built.
TIPS TO TRY:
📆 Create a rhythm, not a race.
Set a routine you can realistically stick to. Sustainable beats spectacular.
🪞 Track what slows you down.
Did you get stuck writing? Researching? Distracted? Awareness helps you improve the process, not just the outcome.
⚙️ Focus on iteration, not perfection.
Treat each attempt as a draft. Each rep sharpens the system.
📉 Lower the bar when needed—just don’t skip.
A small, imperfect effort still builds momentum. Skipping resets it.
🔁 End with a mini review.
Take 2 minutes to note what worked, what didn’t. Tiny reflections lead to smarter improvements.
Final Thoughts
Try new systems. Test your routines. Don’t wait for the perfect one.
Got your own tips for efficiency? I’d love to hear them.
Up Next: We don’t hate mistakes—we just hate making them consciously.
That feeling when you knew better… but did it anyway?
This isn’t about being perfect.
It’s about being proactive—making choices with intention, not regret.
Because the fear of mistakes is natural.
But what hurts more than messing up… is realizing you didn’t even try to prevent it.
In this piece:
→ How to be more proactive with your decisions
→ How to face the fear of mistakes
→ And how to stop avoiding choices you’ll wish you made sooner
SEE YOU THERE!
A little side note!
I’ve been tracking my time for four years now. It wasn’t an easy habit to build at first—I used to forget to turn the timer on or off all the time. But after years of practice, it’s become more seamless. Almost automatic.
I know some of you might think this is a bit overboard, but honestly, it’s one of the best ways I’ve found to be intentional with how I spend my time.
It’s also helped me become more disciplined and more efficient with it.
Time is the most valuable resource we have, and I think it’s only right to put more effort and invest more into how we use it. We take it for granted too often.
Here’s a look at my week from June 2 to June 8:
💛 Yellow – Life stuff
💙 Blue-Green – Side projects (like Substack)
💚 Green – Day job
⚫ Dark Grey – Sleep
Let me know if you want a breakdown of how I track it, or what tools I use!
If you want to try Toggl, the one who has been with me for 4 years, please feel free to use MY LINK, it will also be a very big help in maintaining the newsletter free as it is right now.
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- Frey.