Ways On How To Find More Time In Your Day?

With modern day inventions to help save us time, you would think our life would be filled with time to do anything right?

• We have our meals made in 30 seconds or less versus slaving over a hot stove for hours.
• We simply toss our dirty dishes in the dishwasher and viola, they come out clean.
• We no longer need to wait for snail mail…we can simply push a button on our keyboard and it zips off an email instantly.

Jump to Blog

Why then are we so “busy” all the time?

We are a society that has been taught that more is better. Not only in material items, but also in the expectations of what we need to get done. We have learned to cram every nook and cranny of our time into activities and time fillers. Here are some great examples of how families spend time today:

• Kids no longer play outside with their friends, rather they are in organized sports that take up several evenings a week. For example, up until two years ago, we had two kids in hockey that my husband Bob coached. It was not unheard of to have a dozen or so hockey-related commitments per week that took up at least two hour blocks of time each.

• We are bombarded with outside influences more than any generation before us and we are trying to cram in social media everywhere we go. According to a blog post and podcast from Michael Hyatt, the average adult sends over 400 texts a month while the average teenager sends over 3700 texts a month. This doesn’t include the average 8 hours a day we spend in front of computers or the average of 153 hours a month we spend in front of the TV (according to Weightwatchers)!

• In addition, to keep ahead of the rat race, technology has allowed us to work longer days which allows our careers to bleed into our family life. We are not having the “breaks” from work as they use to – we are simply bringing work with us whenever we go.

The above examples if done for long periods of time, can not  only rob you of time, but also leave you feeling depleted of energy, depressed, and feeling like you are running, but not getting anywhere. It is if we let the busy hustle and bustle moments in life control us versus us controlling our schedule.

What are three ways you can help with taking the “busyness” out of your life?

• Time Robbers - Take back your schedule! How? Start tracking where you are spending time and trim out the time robbers such as excessive TV watching, video game playing, surfing the internet, etc. You will be amazed at what you can do with all the extra time when you cut these things out.

• Intentional Scheduling - Plan your schedule out. Don’t like how it looks? Change it. With our family, we intentionally cut out sports such as hockey. Was it hard? YES, especially as our kids had started when they were three years old and enjoyed it. Was it worth it? Yes, both in terms of time and money. We are together more as a family and things aren’t as RUSHED as they use to be.

• Margains - When planning your schedule, add in “margains” of time. These are basically chunks of time that are used for life events that WILL come your way. Got a family member or friend in need, now you have time carved out to help. Building margains in your life basically puts a cushion between you and life happening. Margains will help you keep your schedule under control.

Becoming intentional with your time is empowering. It will lead to becoming a not only a better person to others, but also to yourself.

Question: What methods are you using to carve out more time in your life?