Obviously, your health is most essential to do anything, but protecting your TIME is SOOOO important!! It’s so easy to get sucked into meeting after meeting, picking the kids up from school, groceries from the three different stores, car wash, gym, call Mom, call Gramma, make dinner, prep to do it all over again. You get the idea. So how do you delete the dead weight to get back more time?
More Time
First of all, you need to think about what you would do with more time. Having a clear vision on why you need time back helps you to make those tough decisions when your time starts to get stolen. For example, if you can sneak out of a mandatory seminar a couple hours early, would that leave you with enough time to sneak in a workout, shower and still be home at the same time you originally planned? Would you feel a lot better with two hours of a seminar or an hour workout? I was recently in this situation and realized the last couple hours of the course were things I already knew and since I wasn’t able to work out in the morning before the seminar, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take time back. Having a clear picture of what I would do with the time makes it easier to follow through on.
Where’s the Value
You must know or find the value in things that you’re devoting your time to. The things that are taking your time and not providing you with enough value have to go or be given less time. Some meetings can take up chunks of time with issues or ideas that could be solved in an email or with a phone call. It’s important to highlight where your time is going and determine if there are ways to shorten the face to face time. Looking at the example from above, I found more value in a workout that helps to clear my mind and lower my levels of stress and anxiety than sitting in a seminar learning something I already knew.
Hire Help
A quick way to gain time back is to hire help. Once you know what brings you joy to your life, spend more time doing that. Hire someone to do the errands or that take you away from the good stuff. For me, having a cleaner once a month allows me more one on one time with Mike and fewer arguments about who’s that last person to vacuum. Maybe for you, hiring someone to pick up the kids or a company to deliver your groceries would give you more time to get your nails done and cook a healthy dinner for them. Remember, figure out what you what brings joy and value into your life and begin to say no or re-assign the things that don’t.
Be Honest
It’s okay to decline. I’m a believer in speaking my truth which means sometimes saying, “I actually just feel like staying in with a glass of wine and watching the Real Housewives.” It’s not usually what my friends want to hear, but I think they appreciate a good wine and Netflix night themselves so I they get it. Sometimes, I will say I can only commit to an hour. It helps to set the expectation, so when you need to steal some of your time back or fit a few more errands in, it gives you a set timeline to fit both in. You’ll notice your friends start to be more open with you and your date night can actually be a chill pajama party because you’re both not trying to force something you don’t want to do.
Still feeling toooo busy? Always saying “I’m busy!” “Too busy!” “Can’t!” Then, we need to chat. Make time to click below and reach out.
