First Published 15 December 2023

Do you have the Time?

I work with a lot of people who have a similar cry – I just don’t have the time, there’s not enough hours in the day, I am sooooo busy I can’t do that – or words to that effect.

Whether this is around finding time for self-care; to exercise; to eat well; to spend time with friends; to get the housework done – or any other ‘pressure’ that absolutely has to be done!

When we are time poor it doesn’t matter how motivated we might be, we are likely to feel like we are constantly deprived of being able to do what we are passionate about – because all the ‘important’ stuff takes precedence.

If you are the type of person that feel time poor, would you like to feel like you had enough time to do everything?  Before we get to that though – perhaps it would be helpful to work out what ‘everything’ is?  I’d suggest writing a list (on paper or screen is best but if that’s not an option, can you come up with a mental checklist) of all the must do items you have on your to do list on a daily or weekly basis.

What can you do to find a bit more time in your day?

From that list you made above:  

• What are the priorities?  Does everything on your list really need to be done?  Can you reduce the frequency with which some of your recurring tasks need to be done?
• What can you delegate? If you are not the only person in your household, can you share the load a bit more evenly if you currently take on the lion’s share?  What can you outsource (laundry? ironing? work tasks?)?
• Where can you set boundaries?  Remember, No is a complete sentence.  Are you taking on tasks that are helping others fulfil their goals and dreams that mean that yours are getting further away?  Are you doing stuff you don’t want to do or don’t need to do?
• Can you plan out your day in a way that has some order to it? Perhaps grouping or batching some of the tasks together?
• Where can you embrace technology to save time?  Are there repetitive tasks that could be automated?
• I would also encourage adding to that list – now hear me out – can you add in a minute to breathe?  Can you, between tasks, just pause, stand up, stretch your body out or walk 3 steps away and take 5 deep breaths before you move on to the next item?

Paradoxically, ‘giving your time away’ to someone else can make you feel time richer!  I’m not talking about hours at a time, rather just 10 minutes helping someone else can increase time affluency significantly.  You could proofread something for a friend or colleague, write a letter to someone showing that you are thinking of them and you care/support them, make someone a coffee and talk to them for a few minutes,  send someone (or multiple someone’s) a thank you note or text – even if it is for something they did ages ago! 

Interestingly research shows that helping others makes us feel more powerful which, in turn helps us feel more time affluent.

Another ‘trick’ to feel more time rich is to watch a video of something that you find awe inspiring.  This could be anything from a clip of the power of mother nature like a storm or a volcano erupting, someone performing a feat of great skill (whether that be surfing a huge wave, performing death defying or gravity defying stunts) or even animals interacting with each other that just make you think wow (or awwww if they are also really cute!).

There are countless ways in which you can turn around your feelings around the abundance of time and there are huge benefits to doing so. 

The benefits of being time rich are quite empowering – less chronic stress, feeling happier and healthier, able to pursue personal goals and dreams, better relationships, making smarter choices on food; exercise; and how long to sleep.  Being time rich can be better for our mental and physical wellbeing than being monetarily rich (although wouldn’t both be nice? 😉), it can also give us a feeling of being more in control even with a busy schedule.

If this is an area that does challenge you, do reach out and together we can tailor some small simple changes you can make that might just make the world of a difference.