Tips for Making Better Use of Time

The mind often leads people to engage in behaviors that create stress and diminish happiness, but researchers have identified strategies to counter them and promote better use of time. Daniel J. Levitin of McGill University, author of “The Organized Mind,” offers these suggestions:

Don’t overthink organization. It’s not about having rows and rows of carefully color-coded filing cabinets — it’s about what works for you, and about “cognitive economy.”
Don’t spend more time on an organizational decision than it’s worth. It’s O.K. to throw miscellaneous items into a junk drawer and miscellaneous papers into a “junk” file folder on your computer or in your office.
Take five or 10 minutes each month to do a “pre-mortem,” looking at all the things that could go wrong in your home or work life, and that could cause you to lose time or money. Then do something about them.
Use your cellphone camera as a memory aid, photographing your parking spot in a crowded mall or airport parking lot; also photograph your credit cards, front and back, in case they are stolen.
Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California, Riverside and author of “The Myths of Happiness,” recommends these steps to counter unproductive impulses:

Perform intentional acts of kindness, like letting a car ahead of you in line or buying a colleague coffee or leaving your spouse a nice note.
Pick a photograph from your phone’s photo album and think about the happy memories it brings you.
Luxuriate in your morning shower or your walk to work or a croissant or coffee or whatever; savor it.
Send a quick email to express gratitude to someone you have never done that for.
Do something every day that makes you feel tranquil or calm.