Four steps for making more time for what matters most to you
Today we welcome a guest post and many terrific suggestions from Annabel Candy who regularly blogs about productivity and self improvement at Get In the Hot Spot.
How often do you hear people say they don’t have enough time? Like me, you may have used the “not enough time” excuse as a reason for not following your dream.
We all have goals, the problem is making time for them in our busy schedules.
For years, I wanted to write but didn’t. I often used the “not enough time” excuse and thought it was true. I didn’t have time to write because I was running a business and raising kids.
But my life was totally immersed in doing, not being, and the more I did, the more unhappy I became.
Until I decided to do something about it, accept the blame, and prioritize better.
First, I worked out where my time went.
I wrote down everything I did and noticed my days were cluttered. A typical entry would be: 10 minute personal call, 10 minutes planning meals, 20 minute business call, 15 minutes e-mailing.
By lunchtime I often felt so frazzled I just slumped in front of the TV with Dr. Phil and rejoiced that at least I wasn’t as messed up as his guests.
After a week, I made a pie chart showing where my time went, where I could save time, and what I could remove. I recommend doing this as a visual guide to see how your time is spent.
There were 10 main time traps I noted and what I needed to do to control them:
- The Phone – I don’t have to answer it every time it rings.
- The Internet – Log in an few times a day for specific purposes only.
- Housework – Let some things slide. The state of my house is not an indication of my emotional well-being and it doesn’t have to be perfect.
- Friends and Family – Manage them into times when I want to see them or socialize. Don’t let them encroach.
- Cooking and Shopping – Streamline them, bulk buy and cook.
- Sleep – Try cutting out one hour of sleep. I’ll probably function fine and gain an extra hour a day.
- Commuting to work – Can I cut out the commute and work from home a few days a week?
- Reading – Reading about writing, travel or starting a business is good unless it takes up time when I could have been doing them.
- TV – Limit it to the shows I actually enjoy. Never channel hop.
- Dreaming – At some point I have to stop dreaming about following my passion and start doing it.
Stop yearning for more time and work out how to create it with these four steps:
- Make a pie chart that reflects your tracked time.
- Work out which time traps are stopping you from following your dreams.
- Write a weekly schedule for yourself and stick to it. Make sure you log at least three sessions for following your dream.
- Schedule times in your calendar for the things you want to do and follow through.
No more “not enough time” excuses needed.
Posted by Annabel on Mar 10, 2010 |
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29 comments posted
Posted by Adventure-Some Matthew - 03/10/2010
I’ve never sat down and created a pie chart showing how my time is spent, though I’m sure it would be an enlightening exercise.
I have already put some of your suggestions to use, however. I don’t answer the phone unless I know who it is, and then it depends on what I am doing. Generally, I’m content to let it go to voice mail.
My wife and I only watch tv online or after borrowing/buying the season on DVD. It’s so much more enjoyable without commercials!
Great list full of useful suggestions. Thanks!
Posted by Ashly - 03/10/2010
This post couldn’t have come at a better time — I really needed a reminder to prioritize. Thanks and great suggestions.
Posted by Maureen - 03/10/2010
Good ideas. I would suggest caution about cutting back on sleep. While you might be able to function with less your productivity may suffer. A lot of teens and adults shortchange themselves wrt sleep.
Posted by SimplicityBliss - 03/10/2010
Want to have more time for what really matters? Number one advise: Don’t waste it by tracking everything you do and create a pie chart from this data. Life is joyful when it is simple and analytics are neither simple nor joyful.
Posted by cv - 03/10/2010
Yeah, cutting down on sleep is a terrible idea. Most Americans don’t get enough sleep as it is, and it can really hurt your long-term health.
Posted by Erin Doland - 03/10/2010
@SimplicityBliss — A week or two of tracking what you do can be very helpful for some people — especially for people who love numbers and charts. As we discuss often on Unclutterer, we are all different and defining and finding simplicity varies from person to person. Don’t dismiss an idea just because it might not be what would work for you.
Posted by Ronique Gibson - 03/10/2010
I think the family and friends suggestion is good, but difficult. I think you can try and manage them into times with socializing, but it’s hard with family members. Especially children! What works for me, is to have a weekly discussion at dinner. We call it our “family meeting” This is time where mom, dad, teenages, even toddlers, can talk about their days, weeks, important events. Then there is always the discussion of scheduling everyone else’s time. It helps, because the kids have a way to start “managing” their time and it helps the parents not get bogged down with the happenstance stuff, that sucks time out of our lives! It may not work for everyone, but even my 4 year old will say, “this week I’m going to do…”
Posted by Susan in FL - 03/10/2010
@Erin – Don’t dismiss Simplicity’s advice just because you don’t agree with her.
Posted by Erin Doland - 03/10/2010
@Susan — Actually, I’m not dismissing either method. Different methods work for different people.
Posted by Dave - 03/10/2010
Like others have mentioned, cutting out sleep is not just a question of willpower, it can increase the effects of aging and other health problems. I don’t think that should be thrown out as advice without consulting a doctor.
Posted by chacha1 - 03/10/2010
@Susan – Simplicity didn’t offer advice. She just shot down the topic of the post. If she’s not interested in the topic of organizing/uncluttering, why is she even reading this blog?
Just my personal observation … the people who are most about “follow your bliss” or “let life happen” or “go with the flow” are typically not the most productive people. They may have a great time, but usually there is someone picking up behind them so they can continue to goof around.
This isn’t to say that ALL bliss types are this way. It just annoys the heck out of me when all commenters have to say is “this is wrong blah blah because all you need is blah blah.”
I myself would never make a pie chart, but that’s because I streamlined my life years ago. Just because it doesn’t apply to me doesn’t mean I should write in and say “this is stupid.” Someone else may find it exactly the approach they’re looking for.
Posted by Becca - 03/10/2010
i am inspired. i plan to track my time this week and see where the heck it all going. thanks for the inspiration!
Posted by Laura - 03/10/2010
Even if you don’t do the pie chart, putting time on your schedule to work towards your dream is a really good idea. I have been doing this since January and s-l-o-w-l-y I am writing my book. If I didn’t schedule the time, I would never get around to it.
Posted by Handy Man, Crafty Woman - 03/10/2010
I agree with really looking at where your time goes. I heartily disagree with cutting out sleep at ALL. most people are sleep-deprived. as someone who is very sick right now, I know how important sleep really is! We could all function much better with even just a little more sleep.
Posted by bradw - 03/10/2010
I appreciate the list, but item #4 causes me concern: “# Friends and Family – Manage them into times when I want to see them or socialize. Don’t let them encroach.”
The older I get, the more I realize that people are more important then my list. Sure, people *can* encroach and eat up a big chunk of your time if you allow them free access. I don’t want them to do that. I do want to be available to my close friends/family that need my help or just want to connect. I guess the way I “manage them” is to go to a coffee shop to work a few hours alone and not answer the phone if I *have* to get a project completed.
Posted by Beth - 03/10/2010
Boy – when I read this post, I knew it was going to get some comments.
Here’s how I view item #4 – which really got me on a slow burn when I first read it. Sometimes we get caught up in being all things to all people – the perfect wife/mother/friend/insert title here. I know I try never to say “no” to a dinner/drink out with friends. But, sometimes we all need time for ourselves – to do the laundry, clean around the house, or simply lay around the house all day in our PJ’s. Its then I proclaim to my friends – I am having an alone weekend. Which means – I’m not going out no matter how many times you call. They know me well enough that, if there is an emergency or they need something, they can call. And they also know that I ask for alone time so infrequently that they should respect it and not bug me!
That’s how I have chosen to interpret #4 – whether it was the author’s original intent or not!
{{sarcasm alert}} Now off to print my pie charts!
Posted by Jess - 03/10/2010
I am a PhD student and recently started keeping a time chart to help figure out where my time goes and how I could manage it better. One very useful result of the time chart was that it helped me be a bit more realistic about everything I wanted to accomplish. Having a small child takes up A LOT of time (for me, c. 5 hrs./day of family time on weekdays); that being said, I treasure our fun mornings getting ready and playing together before pre-school and our relaxed evenings together as well. So the bottom line is, if my son is a top priority, there is only so much work I can do. The time chart helped me to accept this reality.
Within the time that I am at school, the very act of tracking my time on the time chart helps me be more productive– do I want to have to put in my time chart “2 hrs desultory web surfing”? No, so I don’t do it. I shoot for 4-6 hours of hardcore productivity a day (by which I mean brain intensive activities, not checking e-mail), which, frankly, is a lot of focused concentration (I’m in a very math heavy field). I build in time for breaks (like 15 min to check my fave blogs
but try to stay focused during the limited hours I have before I need to be home for family time.
Of course, before I had a kid and started a PhD program I had time for lots of hobbies and fun stuff, and I do build in time for a little of that. But uncluttering my long list of goals has also been important for my own personal happiness and sanity. My biggest goals right now are raising a healthy, happy family and finishing my PhD on time–and that’s what I spend almost all my time doing (as the time chart proved!) so I’m ok with the fact that I don’t have time to knit sweaters, take dance classes and take 5 yoga classes a week… those days may come again, but not now.
Posted by WilliamB - 03/10/2010
You must be getting a lot of sleep, to be able to afford to cut back an hour a day!
The pie chart sounds like a great idea for many. I admit, though, that my reaction to the scheduling was “If I could do that, I wouldn’t be wasting my time in the first place.” I would be interested to hear from readers who waste time but for whom scheduling works.
Posted by Annabel Candy, Get In the Hot Spot - 03/10/2010
While I was sleeping (7.5 hours) this blog was posted and all your comments came rolling in. Thanks so much for all your feedback, it’s been an eye opener.
Maureen, CV, Dave, Handyman – Re sleep I definitely don’t advise less than 7 hours a night. I think I was thinking back to the days when I was a student and slept for ten then had another hour dozing after that. You’re right, sleep is vital for our mental and physical health. I do okay on about 7 hours though I prefer 8. I catch up any I missed out on at the weekend with a wonderful siesta:)
Simplicity – I think the pie chart worked as a wake up call for me and I hope it will for other people. Taking the time to work out that one hour of tv equates to 360 hours a year might make people pull the plug on it.
Jess – That’s a great point that working out where your time goes and then being realistic about how you can make time to do what you want. We do have to make compromises and also committ to long term projects if we want to make them happen.
Laura – Glad it worked for you too. This method also helped me reach my goal of writing a book and I wrote about 80,000 words. Keep at it:)
Ronique – I like the idea of working out how to spend your family time as a team. Time management definitely gets harder when you’ve got kids and all the more reason to focus on it and come up with solutions.
Thanks again everyone. I hope to see you here again soon.
Posted by Elizabeth - 03/10/2010
I also caution against cutting back on sleep. And remember, people need different amounts of sleep at different ages. Adolescents and young people actually need more sleep, which is one of the reasons that you may have needed more sleep as a student, not to mention that your brain uses sleep to process new learning. You probably wouldn’t cut out exercise or eating regularly, so don’t cut out sleep, as it is also something your body needs. It isn’t just ‘wasted time’. Maybe better to make sure that you get good quality sleep in the time allowed by keeping regular hours, practicing relaxation techniques, etc. That way you can sleep more ‘efficiently’.
Posted by Another Deb - 03/10/2010
Plotting your time is a tool that helps you act, not react to the demands of the day.
Lately I have discovered that going to bed very early and getting up very early (4 AM) leaves me much more alert than struggling to plod through homework with a tired brain. I can do an hour and a half of homework in the morning that would have stretched out into 5 or 6 the night before due to energy levels.
I would advise the time budget to take your peak productivity times into account so that you are matching energy levels with the task.
Posted by MissPrism - 03/11/2010
Good post!
(I was amused by the fact that some of the things that are “time traps” for you are exactly the kind of things I want to make more time for: cooking, time with friends and family, and sleep. Which underlines Erin’s point about individual differences, and taking the parts of the advice that work for you!)
Posted by Barbara Tako|ClutterClearingChoices - 03/11/2010
Weight Watchers just put up a post earlier this week that said weight gain happens more if you are getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep.
I liked the reminder in #5 to cook. Fast food isn’t fast or good for us.
Posted by Emma - 03/12/2010
Another Deb made a great point a couple comments above, which I’d like to repeat: instead of just sleeping fewer hours, try experimenting with different bedtimes and wake-up times. You might find that you can be really productive at unexpected times, either late at night or early in the morning!
Posted by Stacia - 03/13/2010
Lol.. in general we all just have to accept that at some point in doing a particular activity we have to stop and leave the rest for another day. It’s hard! and yeah I definitely agree, skimping on sleep is such a bad idea.
http://www.nytimes.com/interac.....amp;st=cse
Terrible. we’ve got too much insomniacs.
Posted by » How To Sleep Self Improvement and Personal Development: Get In the Hot Spot - 03/15/2010
[...] had a guest post on Unclutter about how to make more time for the things you really want to do and a few people questioned or misunderstood my suggestion of reducing [...]
Posted by heather - 03/24/2010
so you want to sleep less, cook more, clean less, spend less time with your family and friends and stop dreaming. You have it ALL backwards!
Posted by Leszek Cyfer - 04/08/2010
A powerful method for making the most out of your sleep is body and mind relaxation before falling asleep.
You relax your body by tensing and then releasing your body – part after part (I usually start with feet and end with face) also you comment in thoughts that your muscles relax, your body is limp, your blood can easily enter into your relaxed body parts. There are many audio relaxation tapes and books about it.
You relax your mind by letting it drift while observing – as you would observe a forest from a high hunter tower – you’re silent, just observing how different thoughts enter your visual field and then go away.
One hour of sleep – starting from relaxed body, peaceful mind – equals about three hours of normal sleep. For years I’ve slept 3-4 hours, waking up fresh and ready for the day. In fact I felt much better than I felt earlier, sleeping 8-9 hours a night.
Posted by How To Sleep - 05/09/2010
[...] had a guest post on Unclutter about how to make more time for the things you really want to do and a few people questioned or misunderstood my suggestion of reducing [...]
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