Time Management

How Much Time Do You Have?

by Laura Interval

Ordinary people think merely of spending time.
Great people think of using it. - Author Unknown

Do you know that feeling of not having enough time? Do your days fly into weeks that are suddenly months that quickly become years? It can roar by… or slip by quietly… but, one thing in life is sure; time will move on with or without you!

The good news is there are ways to make the most of it. There are ways to make sure you are using it to your advantage and getting what you want with it. It just requires becoming aware of it and focusing on what your time means to you. How are your time management skills? Are you just spending it… or are you really using it?

The other day, I caught myself saying, "I want to learn to play the guitar". All of a sudden, I was overwhelmed with the feeling of deja vu. I was standing in that same place, in the same posture, talking to the same friend about 10 years ago… saying the same thing. Wow. HOW had that happened? How could I have let that time just go by without learning something that I really wanted to learn?

I don’t want to have that feeling again. So, I’m dedicated to time management now. And I have to tell you, it changed my life; my days feel longer… and I get more done. I now have time to do both the things I don’t like to do… and the things I love doing!

Here’s a great simple exercise to get you on the road to handling your time:

So, grab some paper, a pen and a little time (well spent!) for this! Funny, huh? This little time you spend now… will give you a lot more time in your future!

Draw a line down the center of your piece of paper to make two columns.

Ok, in the left column, I want you to make a list of what you usually do when you have free time. When you’re not working, when you don’t have to be on someone else’s time, what do you do? When you have an “hour to spare”, how do you spend it? Do you watch TV? Do you call your mom? Play with your kids . . . surf the net…. fantasy football…. What?

Now on the right column, I want you to make a list of everything you wish you could do “if you had the time”. All those things you’ve been wanting to learn or experience or try that you just haven’t been able to fit into your schedule. Got them? Ok… now, put this wish list in order of importance. Just number them… 1 being the most important. What do you most want to do?

Now, let’s get a grip on how you presently spend you time.

Your daily activities can be divided into three categories of TIME:

1. “Not Your Time”: This is your time that you basically don’t get to choose for yourself. For example, a job where your hours are set by someone else. An activity that you are obligated to that requires your full attention. How much of your day is “not your time”?

2. “Your Time”: This is your time that is yours but you generally need or choose to give it to someone or something else. This includes errands and tasks that you do to run your household. For example: cleaning/cooking, errands, car pools, paying bills, etc… How much of your day do you spend doing something for someone else?

3. “Swing Time”: This is your time that is yours that you chose to give to YOURSELF. For example: exercising, lunch with a friend, learning a new hobby, charity work, etc . . . Do you make sure you have “swing time” in each day?

When you begin to focus on how you are using the hours in your typical day, you will begin to understand how they feel like they are slipping away from you.

Try this just for your day tomorrow:
On another piece of paper (or your daily date book if you have one!), write in the hours of your day. Write one hour per line going down the left margin. Start with the hour you usually wake up… writing every hour in until the hour you normally go to bed. You should have a page the looks something like this:

8:00

9:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

And so on…

Start with “Not Your Time”. For instance, if you will be going to work… fill in exactly what hours it will occupy. (Remember to leave open lunch or commuting time if it is more “swing time”.)

Next, fill in “your time” activities. Household duties, chores, errands etc…

Now write in the “swing time” activities you have planned. Gym, lunch engagement, nails etc…

What does your day look like? Is it a balance of these activities or is one taking over the other? Are you surprised by the actual hours in your day? Have you planned anything for the available hours you have in your day?

The first time I did this for my week, I was really surprised by the blank spaces. What was I doing with the time that wasn’t scheduled? I had a huge realization that if it was undesignated, unplanned time… it just leaked away. I would often waste it with unfocused, unproductive activities.

So, here’s a big trick to get your time back! PLAN and MARK your day the day before. Be conscious and aware of the hours in the day to come and PLAN how you will use them. This may sound like overload to you. And you may not want to be on a schedule when you are “off work”… but, if you do this for one week, you will see the time it actually SAVES for you. Planning this way will help you to be conscious of the minutes in your day and what you are doing as they tick by!

For example: PLAN and MARK when you will go to the grocery store. Try to be prepared and go less often than you usually do. PLAN and MARK when you will do your household business. Organize where you keep the paperwork and take care of all the business in one sitting. PLAN and MARK your laundry, your cooking, and your “must get dones”… all of “your time” activities that you know you will have to do.

Every day before, you will see what’s left. Are there any white spaces? Empty hours just WAITING there for you to fill with “Swing time”?

If not, you simply must challenge these activities that you just marked. How can you consolidate? How about some help? A maid? A babysitter? Let me tell you, this is money well spent if it’s the only way you can get to “swing time”.

Aaaaahhhhhh. “Swing Time”! This is your time for YOU. This is YOUR CHOICE. You can do with it whatever you choose. So… make sure you make a conscious choice here!!! How many white spaces do you have left? I want you to go back to the two lists you made of how you spend your time. Really look at the activities.

This is when I realized my harsh reality. Where was my time going? Well, I can tell you this. I knew who was on Oprah. I knew who won “Deal or No Deal”. I answered about 200 emails recently. (Sound familiar? read about soft addictions) But, I still didn’t know how to strum a C chord! I FOUND MY TIME!

Take a look at that first list. How important are those activities to you? Now, look at that number 1. on your second list. Isn’t it time to use your time for that? Isn’t it time to finally make time work for you?

Take control of the hours in your day. Make the conscious decision to CHOOSE to USE your time. When you do, you will find that you have more time that you thought!

Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.
- H. Jackson Brown

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