How many times have you heard the excuse, “I don’t have time”?
How many times have you made it yourself? I know I have said it a million times.
The thing is, you don’t have time to do everything. Not at all. You have only a limited amount of time in order to achieve everything you want to do.
This is why you have to choose very, very carefully what you spend your time on. If you don’t choose, or if you allow the day-to-day to float you in any direction, your experiences in life will be a result of whatever has come your way rather than what you decide.
The problem is, most people simply get carried away with the things they think they should do, rather than deciding on which actions will create the most impact for them.
Activities including watching television, cleaning, saying yes to many commitments, doing things for other people tend to get on the list and that’s totally normal – we all have to do these things! The trick is to know what you want, then prioritise it.
Sounds simple, right? It isn’t.
In the past few months, I have managed to do a whole bunch of things in a short period of time that would have seemed impossible for me to achieve as little as one year ago. I didn’t have the same time management tools up my sleeve as I do now. (When I say ‘time management’, I use the term loosely as of course, no one can actually manage time. Time exists in a continuum regardless of anything that we do. Rather, it’s the act of choosing the tasks we do and the manner in which we focus on each in order to get things done).
In addition to my full time role in corporate communications, I also write three blog posts and one newsletter for Daily Inspiration Board each week; I practice between 1 and 1.5 hours of yoga per day, six days a week; I meditate for 30 minutes per day; I completed a 60 km walk to raise money to help end women’s cancers last weekend and I also make sure I spend at least two nights a week out with friends or family. There’s plenty of other activities in there as well – things like planning an upcoming holiday to New York and Cancun, working on my novel, reading other blogs and research that I love, reading books, spending time with my partner and also taking time for myself – just to name a few. (I don’t have kids so definitely have more time than the mothers out there, who I admire a LOT!).
Here’s how I manage my time effectively to get more done in less time – and how you can too.
1. Figure out what you want to achieve, and why.
If you’re not sure what you want your outcomes to be, then you’ll have no idea how to get there or why you’re even bothering to start with. My goals and the steps I need to take to get there are clear and if I miss a day, I just get back on track the next. However, I do make myself accountable for it, and check in to see why I missed that day. Was it because I really needed a rest, or because I wasn’t feeling great about everything that day, or was it that I was making excuses? I learned this system during the current yoga course I’m doing and I’ve found that it has worked really well as a gentle process of self enquiry.
It doesn’t need to be really intense – just pick a couple of things you want to work towards and look at ways that you can fit them into your life. The satisfaction of achievement, along with the personal growth, will spur you on. Just get started with what feels right at the time!
2. Prioritise.
List down everything you want to achieve over the coming two months. Now, narrow this down to a top five list in order of absolute priority – as in, if you don’t get anything else done then you’ll be happy with that top five.
You may need to work out ways to delegate tasks that are currently on your list. Time-consuming activities like cleaning can be outsourced. Even if you can get a cleaner once a month or fortnight, and skip a night out with friends if you don’t want to be out of pocket, you will gain back many valuable hours of your time. This time can be used to spend working on the most important things on your list, enabling you to move forward in your life and kick some goals.
3. Get your diary out.
When I’m carving out a new habit, I tend to diarise everything – or at least keep some sort of record where I can measure time spent and progress. It’s great to have a visual calendar that you can stick on the fridge in order to see it every day. I also keep everything in shared calendars (if you don’t do this already, get onto it – even Google Calendar is a great one to use as it can be synced across all your devices and accessed on the go.
The crucial aspect of diarising is that it enables you to see the activity as completed, meaning it’s far more likely to happen. You can also see where (and whether) you can realistically fit it in, and cull other tasks accordingly.
4. Focus.
You can diarise and prioritise and work out what you want, but unless you can put aside other tasks and find space to focus it can be a real challenge getting things done. Focus is best done at specific times of day – for example, if it’s a task like writing and you know you’re better and faster in the morning, don’t try to slog away late at night and spend twice as long on it. Try and schedule in tasks for the time when you’ll be most efficient at them – where possible!
What are some of the challenges you face with time management?
