Ah! It’s the New Year, which means it is time for New Year Resolutions.
It also means making time to add new things to our existing busy lives. Do you find yourself wanting to do more of something but never having the time to do it? If you are anything like me, time is always your greatest enemy, and it will keep you from pursuing what brings you great joy. I believe that if something brings you great delight, it is essential for your well-being. Life is short, and we must do what makes us joyful and content.
The question then is – how will we make time this year (that did not exist last year) to pursue these joyful things? Continue reading as I share three valuable tips with you.
#1 PLAN your day
This sounds so simple, right? Most of us wake up and let the day take its course. But what if we charted out all the activities we need to get done and throw in the one new thing you would like to do this year? It is like a to-do-list. This works for working professionals too. Plan out your evening after work. Getting a 15 minute cardio workout will not throw your whole evening into a turmoil. Time is a restrained entity unless you choose it not to be. Adding 30 minutes of reading, 20 minutes of playing with your kids, 15 minutes of exercising, 10 minutes of knitting, crafting, or writing will not break your time bank. Whatever it may be, chart your day and make time for this one thing too. This year, I am prioritizing reading before bed, even if it is for 15 minutes.
If you are not very good and organized at doing this, try time blocking. Time blocking is an excellent time management tool, where you block chunks of time during the day to do various things. I have free time-blocking resources on my free resource page if you want to try it out.
#2 Remove unproductive activities.
While working in corporate America, one year, I conducted a time study as part of an initiative to improve organizational effectiveness, and here’s what I found. Over 50% of the time spent even in the workplace is unproductive and yields nothing meaningful like chatting over coffee, traveling between buildings, taking long lunches, sitting in meetings you don’t have to be in, etc.
It might also be time for you to evaluate how you spend your time at home and cut out the non-essential things. You can do a mini-time study if that greatly interests you. All you need to do is keep track of everything you do as you do them in the day and see where your time is being spent. If that is not up your alley, I have several ideas to help you cut back and regain some time.
Time Spent on Phone
Here’s an easy one – reduce the time on your phone. This is a big for me this year. I’m okay with spending two hours listening to podcasts but not okay with an hour of browsing the internet, social media, or emails WITHOUT purpose and intent. A 2021 study shows that people average 3-5 hours on their phone daily. You can check out the statistic report here. The use of smartphones is causing addiction, where one mindlessly fiddles with the screen, jumping from one app to another without any specific need.
We all know that we can create boundaries with our phones and regain some much-needed time that can be channeled into hobbies and other activities.
Let someone else shop for you
We live in a world where crowdsourcing services have made life easier. You can regain time by letting someone else shop for you. You pay a nominal fee for it. Whether you have a delivery subscription like Instacart or use the store ‘shop to pick up’ option, it is one of the best time savers we have adopted for our family since the pandemic. No more shopping in stores, waiting in lines, looking for things you need. If this is an option provided to you by your grocery store, you can afford this option and it will greatly benefit you, then try it out.
Cut down driving time
I implemented a big game-changer this last year by minimizing my driving time. A year ago, I was living the hectic life of a soccer mom, taking the kids to multiple activities every day, morning and evening. As much as I enjoyed watching my kids excel at what they did, I was exhausted. So, I took matters into my own hands and reduced the activities, waitlisted them for better scheduled days, grouping activities into fewer days and fewer rides. I also started carrying my headphones and laptops to write a blog or listen to an audiobook while waiting.
Friend, you know the thing that is consuming your time in an unproductive way. Find a way to eliminate it and regain much of your time.
#3 Prioritize and Just Do It
I know I sound like a Nike commercial right now, but there are moments when you must dive in and pursue what you’ve been longing to do for as long as you can remember. It starts with you. Make it a top priority. Move Laundry to Friday so that your weekends are freed up for other things. Prep meals beforehand so you are not cooking every meal from scratch. Put off doing the dishes so you can paint with your kids. Block off chunks of time for family game time. Pick an hour for reading at home, and read a book along with your kids.
Where there is a will, we can make anything work. I can list many more things you can do to regain precious time, but I’ll leave you with these three tips, hoping you will feel energized, inspired, and motivated to try some of them out.
