My life is so hectic! Where do I find more time?
Generally, it is quite easy to make time for the urgent and necessary things in life, but finding time for the non-urgent things seems to be an obstacle in most women’s lives. Since most self- care, goals, and dreams seem to fall into this category, I thought I would share some ideas that I share in my book The Woman’s Guide to Living Your Dreams!
Below are some ideas that may work for you, and most of these I have used throughout my life:
- Use a calendar to find any discretionary time; schedule an appointment with yourself, blocking out that time slot
- Learn how to say “no” to requests for your time that do not benefit you
- A nice way to decline a request is to say “I’m sorry. I have looked at my calendar and I already have plans for that time.”
- Do not take on extra tasks that take you further from your goals, and agree to only necessary favors for others
- Ask yourself this phrase “Will this take me closer to or farther away from my goals?”
- Plan a regularly scheduled day and time for your children with a babysitter
- Plan a consistent babysitting trade schedule with someone you trust
- Plan a daily or weekly movie time for your children
- Substitute your TV time for self-care or dream achievement time
- Unsubscribe to unnecessary emails and be conscious of your time on the web
- Consolidate like tasks and complete them simultaneously or consecutively
- When you work (inside or outside your home), take advantage of your lunchtime break, and any other breaks that you are offered
- Don’t feel guilty, this time is yours, you have earned it
- Plan your day on a calendar or planner; schedule what you will accomplish during any break you have
- Make a call
- Plan your next day
- Complete an action step
- Run an errand during this limited span of time to free up a larger block of time later for dream achievement
- Share your self-care time or goals with your husband, children and others who are close to you so they will be more respectful of your time
- Keep your family focused and motivated to respect your time by planning rewards for them or planned together time
- Use your opportunity clock (metaphor for alarm clock) and get up one hour earlier
- Note: When you wake up 1 hour earlier and devote this full hour to yourself and/or your dreams, you will gain 7 hours each week which is almost 1 full working day. Each year you will accumulate approximately 50 extra eight-hour dream achievement days!
- If you are more productive at night, go to bed one hour later instead of getting up early; the same concept in the note above applies here
- Get better sleep by being careful to keep a consistent schedule
- Plan your next day in the evening so your mind is clear
- Add anything you must do the next day to a list
- Keep a notepad next to your bed to write down anything that may come to mind after you lie down so you do not keep thinking about it
- Note: You can relax your mind when everything is written down and you will fall asleep faster
- Carry a book or project with you that you can read or work on during any unexpected downtime
- Take note of any ideas, thoughts, and reminders on your phone’s notepad or voice recorder
The value of your time cannot be measured; taking advantage of 10 minute increments can make a big difference in your life, especially if those 10 minutes are planned and put to good use. Proper planning and effective time management actually snowballs and creates more free time.
“You will find the time to accomplish the things that are truly important to you” – Shanna Beaman
