Where does the time go?
We all have 24 hours in a day but when it comes time to work on an important long-term project or something just for us…we never have enough hours in the day.
We’re all busy. There are a lot of demands on our time.
We find ourselves drained and frazzled and it’s hard to find mental rest between all this frantic activity.
So, the topic of Time Management isn’t really simple after all.
It’s not about how you use your calendar or tracking your time on devices.
Mastering the Art of Time is about your biggest priorities, your need for restorative rest, and how you want to spend your life.
It’s a really important conversation you have with yourself. So, below I’ve created a guide to that conversation.
CREATING SPACE TO LISTEN
If we are frazzled, pressed for time, and feeling stressed, we will not be able to do the work of finding and prioritizing what is most meaningful in our lives.
You can’t hack this into your busy day.
If you’re feeling that your time is not going where you want it to go, you have to get off the merry-go-round for long enough to see what’s really going on with your time.
Finding a schedule and a life where you spend your time deliberately on the things that are most important to you starts with making those decisions from a quiet, calm place.
I really encourage you to ask yourself the questions and try the exercises below…but not during your morning email check.
Write these exercises on a piece of paper and come back to them when you’re ready.
Make a cup of tea. Take a deep breath. Take your time back.
HOW DO I WISH I WAS SPENDING MY TIME?
What does your ideal day look like? Write down the number of hours you’d like to spend doing each activity.
Here is an example:
- Writing My Novel (2 hours)
- Teaching (5 hours)
- Lesson Prep (2 hours)
- Cooking/Cleaning/Driving (2 hours)
- Eating/Visiting (2 hours)
- Exercising (1 hour)
- Reading (1 hour)
- Unassigned Free Time (1 hour)
- Sleep (8 hours)
Write a version of your ideal day for yourself. If you could do anything with your time, how would you spend it?
Be sure to include restorative activities like sleep, hobbies that give you energy, and socializing.
You can do a different version for your work day vs. a weekend. You can break down your ideal year if you want to divide important projects over a year rather than a day.
Take your time. Allow yourself to dream. How would you create an ideal day for yourself?
WHAT DO I CONSIDER A WASTE OF MY TIME?
Now let’s look at what’s happening now. Break down the hours of your day over the past few days.
Where is my time really going? What are the Time Vampires in my life – taking time I wish I had for my own priorities?
Maybe there are some things you really hate doing – like preparing your taxes! But they only take one day a year.
You might see something on your list that isn’t your highest priority for yourself but is paying your bills. Does this activity give enough back to your life to justify the time commitment?
Do you see any things you spend a lot of time on that aren’t on your priority list? Activities that just seemed to have arrived unbidden in your day?
You might see…
- Social Media Scrolling
- Email responses throughout the day
- One person at work who take a lot of your time
- A side project that you don’t really want to be doing
These are the activities and responsibilities that you didn’t pick intentionally. They just showed up and we can kick them back out of our lives again!
TIME IS FLUID
Now that you know what you want to do and how you want to change just remember to remain flexible.
Priorities change. Some days get out of control. Time is fluid.
Time literally slows down when we concentrate. It speeds up when we do too much.
Use that knowledge to become a master of time.
Like a tree that bends in the wind when circumstances require but is held fast to the earth by strong roots. Remain rooted by your priorities but flexible to each individual day.
CREATING BOUNDARIES AROUND YOUR TIME
In Part 2 of Mastering the Art of Time, we’ll discuss how to create boundaries around the activities that you most want to protect.
To learn more about this week’s blog watch Sarah’s video here.
