Have you ever taken a deep breath and quietly thought, “where did the time go”? Been there. Done that. Still saying it. I remember 50 hour work weeks. It wasn’t so bad. Going to the office early and staying late was quite common. Heck, I even spent 1 hour for lunch where I could mindfully eat and relax.
I don’t know about you, but somewhere along the way technology took over and we have become a community relying on connectivity.
“Work has decided to impede onto home life more and more. It’s not uncommon to find excel spreadsheets and email inboxes open at weird hours of the night or all ours of the night! We are always wired. Other cultures do not suffer from this demanding round-the-clock work life.
On a scale from one to 10 from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Denmark enjoys a 9.8 in quality of life, while the U.S. scores a 5.3″, taken from an article from Psychology Today.
We wake up in the morning and check our phones. We go to the bathroom and the phone comes with us so we don’t miss a call or text. Our devices come to all our meals and stay with us all night until we go to bed. Then we ask ourselves again, “where did the time go?”
Sound familiar?
I am ready to create the time I need to do the things I love.
Hours are at a premium these days. It’s hard to find someone that complains about having too much time on their hands. Most of us are so busy with work, family, and various obligations, there’s little moments left to do the things we’d really like to do! It’s not easy to find time to pursue your passions, but there’s usually a way if you’re truly serious.
Here are a few techniques to help create more room in your day for things that are important in your life:
- Decide what you want to make room for. The best way to motivate yourself to create more free space in your life is to identify what you want to make room for! What are the most important things you’d like to spend more time on? Do you want to want to read, take up photography, travel or simply spend more time with your kids and spouse? Figure out how you’d spend that extra block of hours and make sure you have some good reasons. Create a list of reasons that give you an emotional response. Being logical is unlikely to inspire you.
- Use your mornings wisely. Most people waste their mornings. They stay in bed as long as possible and barely manage to get to work on time each day. Make the most of your mornings. Go to bed earlier and get up earlier. It’s often easier to do something worthwhile in the morning than in the evening. What are you missing by going to bed earlier? Probably not a lot.
- Understand the ways you waste time. We’re quite ingenious at wasting time. Watch yourself for a day and write down all the ways you waste time. When you understand where your time is leaking away, you can start working on solutions.
- Make a schedule. A schedule can keep you on track and help to ensure that your time is being spent wisely. A schedule can help to minimize the amount of time you waste. You can also build time into your schedule to do the things you enjoy the most.
- Delegate. Create more time for yourself by utilizing the people around you. This can work at work and at home. There’s a good chance that someone in your life has time on their hands. Put your employees, coworkers, children, and partner to work! A little help can free up quite a bit of time.
- Prioritize and eliminate. Perhaps you just have too many non-essential things going on in your life. It might be time to cut back on a few of those obligations. Take a look at everything you have to do each day/week/month and think about how much value those things add to your life. You can probably find something to remove from your life.
- Multitask. Multitasking sometimes helps. You might make phone calls or do important reading while sitting on an exercise bike. Get your exercise while taking the dog for a walk. Make a few phone calls while you’re waiting in line. You can even work on your tan and mow the grass simultaneously!
You can find time if you have a good enough reason!
Determine what you want to create time for and make it happen. Delegate, schedule, eliminate, and avoid wasting precious minutes. It’s been said that the average life is plenty long enough, provided you don’t waste any time. What are you willing to give up to spend time on the things you love?
Always remember, YOU ARE WORTHY OF YOUR DREAMS
Peace and Blessings,
Dawn Hurlebaus