5 Ways to create more time in your day
by Wiccid
Greetings to you beautiful soul, Something I am hearing all over the place at the moment and most especially with my clients, is that people don’t have time – Time for self care, time for fun, time with family and friends, time for creative projects and just time for the things that you love! Well I have been there myself and while yes, I am still really busy – I have been focusing on creating more balance in my life so I can enjoy all the little things again – my creative projects, writing letters to loved ones and spending quality time with my family. So when your day is already crammed full and you feel like you are chasing your own tail trying to get everything done, how do you find even more time to fit these things in? Check out my 5 best tips below: 5 ways to create more time in your day:- Eliminate whatever is not essential: If you really think about it, how much time do you waste running around spending time on tasks that are not totally necessary? Do you need to dust every day or spend hours going around picking up after everyone? Do you need to go to the shops every day or could you do 1 big shop? I like to bulk do things – We clean the kitchen at night and in the morning (that’s it) & if I need to go into town I save up all the things I need to do there so I can just make one trip. For some this will be hard and believe me, I get it. Once upon a time I couldn’t leave my house if I didn’t have all my housework perfectly done but I was consistently late for everything and it just caused me so much stress. Now I either get up earlier or I leave it till I get home from my important appointment and it is SO much easier! It’s all those little things that add up to a whole lot of time.
- Learn to say No: A hard one for some but it can be an invaluable tool in creating more time for yourself. Say no to things that you don’t have time for. Say no to things that will inconvenience you. Say no to things that will impact your family. Say no to things that will make you late for your other appointments. Some people may not like it when you say no but they will in time have more respect for your time. This doesn’t mean that you won’t say yes to helping people when they genuinely need it but it does mean that people won’t rely on you for things they could easily do themselves.
- Delegate: Are you good at delegating? I have struggled with this in the past as I had a belief that I had to do everything myself or it wouldn’t get done properly. Ask friends for help if you need it, let your kids help a bit more around the house, ask your partner for a hand with chopping the veggies for dinner. It will free up more time for you and gives the people you delegate to a sense of responsibility and accomplishment when they have helped out and made a difference.
- Have a break from technology: How much time do you spend on social media or checking emails? I run a business so I know first hand how hard it is to stay away from technology but I make sure to schedule things in such a way that I can take a break for a few hours or half a day. I also make sure to schedule in real breaks – like for a few days so I can go camping and really disconnect or I go away to visit family. I know how easy it is to think ‘I don’t have time for this or that’ but then get on Facebook and suddenly I have lost half an hour scrolling. I am so aware of it now and am sure to turn off social media when I am working or have important tasks to do. Think about it, how much time could you save?
- Get organized: Do you schedule your days or do you fly by the seat of your pants and rush to fit everything in? With children, a husband, a business and a pretty full on study schedule right now I schedule daily! Because besides all the responsibilities of my life I also need to make time for me. So, I get up a bit earlier to do a bit of meditation and yoga and I prioritize exercise for an hour a day. I set my most important tasks in a diary each morning and this helps me stay focused. By having a schedule and being more organized I am able to tick things off my to do list and actually accomplish stuff. And if I don’t get it all done because something comes up (as things do in life all the time), then there is always tomorrow and I always catch up.
Image by Louise Hay