10 secrets to finding more time
Do you feel that you are constantly busy with your to-do lists, work, taking care of yourself, taking care of your family, pets, your home and all of the other things that must be done on a daily basis? There are several ways to make your time "stretch" or make the most of your time and these are just a start!
1. Use a planner
Although it may not seem like it, this one is HUGE. Find a planner that has daily and monthly spots so you can write down your goals for each day, what you accomplished and your schedule for each day. Using a planner helps you see everything clearly and check off things you have accomplished for the day. It also helps you stay more organized and realize that you usually have more time than you think you do. I got my planner from Target, but there are so many great ones available!
2. Don't waste time over contemplating decisions
How much time do you spend thinking about and stressing over making little decisions? Instead of wasting a lot of time overthinking and worrying, try getting quiet and listening to your intuition or praying about the decisions you need to make. You will cut down on a lot of stress and free up a lot of time by deciding and committing.
3. Use an app to help you focus
One app I use a lot is called Forest (stay focused, stay present). You can find it in the App Store under Forest. In fact, I'm using it right now as I write this blog! This app is free and you plant a virtual tree that grows based on the amount of time you set it for. I do 30 minute increments a lot, but you can go up to 120 minutes. If you stay off of your phone and don't exit the app during that time period you have specified, you earn points and after you've earned a certain amount of points they will plant a real tree for you! How cool is that? You are rewarding yourself and the Earth by staying off of your phone, staying focused and staying present.
4. Delete social media apps if you need to
Sometimes social media, phones and computers can feel like an addiction and we end up missing out on living life. It is also a huge time waster and this is time that you cannot get back. If your social media use is out of control simply delete some of those apps to help you stay away from using them so often. The less accessible they are, the less you will use them and the more free time you will have.
5. Stop procrastinating out of fear
How often do you think about something that you know you need to do and not ending up doing it at all or doing it much later than you should have? More times than not the underlying reason is fear. Fear of rejection, failure or judgement are the biggest reasons we procrastinate on things that we need to do. If you just do it, you will make so much more progress towards what you need to or want to complete and save a lot of time.
6. Don't multi-task so often
I know many of us are guilty of trying to do 3 things at once (or more). It may seem like we are getting more stuff done this way, but we actually are not fully absorbing information we are learning, being completely present with our family or friends or putting our all into things we are trying to complete. There are times you will have to do a few things at once, but try to not make it a habit of it with everything you do.
7. Learn to say 'No'
Make sure you are investing your time in things that make you happy and not things that suck the life out of you or you feel guilted into doing. If you can say no to some things that you really don't want to do then you will free up time for things you really do want to do and you will feel happier more often doing what makes you feel good.
8. Don't watch so much TV
Do you spend several hours per day watching TV? Any time you spend watching TV can be spent doing things you want to do or need to do in order to reach your goals and have the life you want to have. Even cutting back on the amount of TV you watch will free up a lot of time. We all have 24 hours in the day to use how we have to for some things and how we want to for many others.
9. Time block your day
If you schedule in specific times for each thing you need to do each day you will find that you may be wasting a lot of time throughout the day. Set aside 1 hour to work on a project and stick to it, set aside 30 minutes to work on a task you need to get done or set aside 2 hours to specifically spend with your family and put away any other work and any phones or computers.
10. Meditate daily
When you meditate your body calms down and allows your brain to focus on each task better, which then makes tasks get done quicker and even better. If you can devote 10 minutes per day to meditation that is a great place to start and you will end up being more productive in less time.
In the comments below let me know what some things are that you will be doing to find more time in your life where you thought there was not any time!
