No matter where you are, it seems that these days, a lot of things are pulling our time and seems that it seems impossible to do anything else. Do you know what you need to do today? Do you think you’ll be able to spend more time to do something that you like? If you can, that’s really good. I’m in a time where I think I can’t spend time for anything if I let it. My commute time is about 1 hour a day. I work over time a few times a week, and I feel like I don’t have time for anything else. To make matter worse, there will be interruption that I don’t expect to happen. It seems that those things always able to find a way to interrupt me in the time when I really need to concentrate.
Everyone has their own limitation. A mother who has a baby will tell you that my life is better. She needs to wakes up once every 2 or 3 hours if she’s lucky to feed the baby, prepare food for the husband, clean the house, give the baby a bath, and so on, and so on. If you know a mother with a young child, ask her how she manage it and see that is your life or my life is worse than her. But is it really the end of it? Do we really have not enough time for something else? I believe that this is not the end. It will be the end, if you let it be. Is it possible to save time so that you can do something else that you want? Here’s 5 tips to do it.
1. Eliminate non necessary things
When you are going autopilot, which one will you do? The one that you want to do or the one that you need to do? Most probably you’ll do what you want. It is undeniable that when I’m not thinking much, I will do the one that I want because those things are more relaxing. But those simple things can make those time gone by without you do the important things. Have you ever feel that way? Internet, social media are good tools when we use it for the best of us. But it will also distract our mind to do something unnecessary. Try to list down your activity that you have and see which one is not important. This is a challenge for you and me to reduce those time spend for that. You know yourself that checking on Twitter, facebook, or any other social media once again won’t make you die, it will only eat your time. This is a challenge for me to because I love to see the update from my friends. On the other hand, I know that it will waste a lot of time. So, at the end, it’s up to you or me. Do you really want to have time for something more important in your life?
2. Prioritize on the task that you need to do
No matter how hard the task is or how simple it is, it is better to prioritize first. No task are meant to be created equal. Some task are better to do it first, and others might be later. You decide on what do you want to do. For me, I feel that I will be in much better shape when I try to list down my to do list in the morning. I know some people prefer to write it down the day before. It’s okay. The important thing is to know what we need to do. There’s a time when I feel too lazy and I just do things as I remember. At the end of the day, I didn’t accomplish much because of the distraction that happens during the day. So, before you do anything, decide what to do first. Of course, when there’s urgent things coming up, be flexible. This point is a baseline, not a rule book. I’m sure there will be some interruption happen in your life, because we can’t predict what will happen to us. So, when new things coming to your way, decide whether do you need to do that now or it can be delayed. For example, when you know your parent falls down really bad and they need to go to hospital, it must be done now and not later.
3. Remember that time is limited
I’m sure you know this. you and me have the same amount of time. Why is that some people seems to be more successful and some aren’t? Sometimes when we know that our time will be coming soon, be it to go for holiday, to face an exam, or some important things that we want to do, we’ll do anything to make sure everything has completed before that, right? We make sure that nothing will hinder us to enjoy the time. Or will you don’t care and just do the same thing and when the time comes, you will still go for it? I like to think that those successful people was born with silver spoon on their mouth. But some part, they seize the opportunity and make use of it. Of course we have different reaction to an incident, but what we’re doing will impact on how we react to it. By remembering that we have limited time, it will make us to be more careful on how we spend our time.
4. Put it in your calendar
I don’t know whether you’re a calendar person or anything goes. In my experience, most of the time, when I don’t put it in my calendar, sometime I’ll forget about it. I believe that sometimes when you have it on your calendar or any reminder, you have higher chance to do it. I know it sounds so insensitive, but I know myself that often times, I’ll forget some important things that I need to do or remember. So, while I remember it, I’ll put it in the calendar, reminder, or notes so that I can review it later. In this case, for the tasks that I need to do, I’ll put it in calendar, so that when I’ve done the things that I need to do, I can look at my calendar and do it. And if I’m in the middle of something, I can be reminded that I have some appointment to do. Do you know that at most we only able to remember 4 things at a time? How do I know it? it’s based on some research article that I read online. Try to search it yourself. There are some articles that articulate it better about that.
5. The power of little by little
I believe that your situation or season will be different than what I have or any other people have. You might have small children that makes you can’t predict your timing. Or you might be working over time for the past few years, so that you can’t see the possibility to do something else. Whatever your situation is, for some things, you can spend just a few minutes at a time. Remember that I have 1 hour commute? I spend about 5-10 minutes to read. and by that amount of time, I’m able to finish 2 books in 6 months. I know it seems negligible, but considering that it seems that I don’t have enough time to do something else, I’m able to do it. I can say that there’s no such thing as perfect world. Try to spot some bits of time that you can spend for something else. at the end of the day or moth, you’ll be surprised to be able to do that regardless your busy schedule
I know often times, we have a lot more things that coming to our plate more than we can chew. But remember that you have control in your life more than anyone else. But also remember that there are things that you can’t control. In those you can control, take charge of it. If you let other people control it, your life will suffer. So, while you still remember and know what to do, write it down and do it. Those unimportant things can wait.
Question: how do you plan your day to save more time in your life?
“…They’re not that different from you, are they? Same haircuts. Full of hormones, just like you. Invincible, just like you feel. The world is their oyster. They believe they’re destined for great things, just like many of you, their eyes are full of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was too late to make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable? Because, you see gentlemen, these boys are now fertilizing daffodils. But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? – – Carpe – – hear it? – – Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.” – John Keating (Dead Poet Society)
Colossians 4:5 (ESV) – “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.”
