How many times have I said to myself: I would do such-and-such but I don’t have the time.
You know what I mean: take a class, work in the yard, volunteer, etc.
Time.
We all get the same 24 hours in the day.
There’s time for working, sleeping, showering, getting ready for the day and getting ready for bed. Time to cook, clean the house, pay bills and run errands. Then there’s family, friends and hobbies… and sometimes there’s just not enough for all. And sometimes .. it’s an excuse.
Here’s a simple exercise I tried recently. I encourage you to try it because it taught me I have much more “free” time available than I might have thought.
Here’s what you do … Make a list of any “discretionary” tasks or habits you carry out daily and, next to it, write down the # of minutes spend doing that.
Example:
1 hour per day watching TV
30 min per day talking on the phone
1 hour per day on the internet (or blogging, researching or Facebooking)
Add up these times per day & multiply by 7 = minutes/hours per week available to you.
Now go back to all that you wrote down and prioritize those activities, in order of importance. I won’t give up my phone time because that’s saved for my Mom, cousin and sister and all live far away. But .. there are times (get it? times .. heh heh) that I can scale it back.
TV? That can shuffle farther down my priority list. Easy-peasy-puddin & pie.
Time spent on the computer varies…. Saturday mornings I can easily lose an hour sippin’ my coffee and perusing others’ blogs. I prefer to write in the mornings but, with summer knocking on my door, I’ll be outside more than in.
In the sweet days of summer, I devour books.. poolside; in winter, I read steadily but in starts & stops.
Point being – seeing the total minutes spent has made me more mindful of how I’m spending them.
No time left for you … or is there?
P.S. Saw the “Guess Who” in concert when I was ~14. Burton Cummings was hot-as-what & rocked the house!
“Easy-peasy-puddin & pie.” Sigh…LOL…thank you for the minutes. And thank you for the hours.
I love that saying :). This exercise was an eye-opener for me .. Cheers! MJ
That’s a good exercise! I’m afraid I spend WAY too much time on the computer. But I watch no tv (except for The Weather Channel occasionally).
We probably all could find that extra time if we tried. Thanks for the reminder!
I think it’s fine to spend lots of time doing something you enjoy .. what I loved about this exercise was that it forced me to see what I was doing with my time .. and what I wasn’t. Interesting! MJ
I am trying to limit my time on the computer but that gets harder with each passing day.
I hear you, Rumbley … and sometimes I don’t limit myself at all .. I just roll in it :). Cheers! MJ
Great exercise. I can never seem to get enough done, and I suspect that deep down, I know I just need to prioritize. But it might just be easier to pretend I don’t really know why I can’t manage my time than to address the problem.
Prioritizing is key; for me … I am always aware of all that I need to do .. but then there’s the realization that probably half of it … no one cares about anyways. Making the list helped me see where I might have “opportunities.” Now, it’s up to me to do something with it .. or not.
Cheers! MJ
Great exercise. I think my time would all go to the computer. But I feel like it’s time well-spent – writing, reading blogs. I need that time too. I’ll have to see what else I can give up. TV is not a problem for me! As you said, Easy-peasy-puddin & pie!
(( and that phrase is just fun to say isn’t it? ))
I love my writing time .. and my reading (blogs) time .. and my surfing news stories time. But .. I realize that sometimes it’s good to step away and get a few other things looked after .. then I really relish it when I return.
Cheers! MJ
Keep devouring those books poolside! I love Seattle, but we never seem to have that summertime weather 🙂 Great post, MJ.
oddly, we haven’t had too much summer time weather yet either!! Our pool’s been open for two weeks but it’s been too cold to get in it … Poolside reading is my all time favorite; it feel so … luxurious. Cheers! MJ
Funny, I thought once I retired I’d have all the time in the world. But even now there are days I just wonder where it all went or how I ever was able to work full time and do everything else. And yes, computers are great time-suckers but I just won’t give it up. Well time to close the laptop and go read.
I can totally see that happening to me, too. Enjoy your day! MJ
Ooh, I love the Guess Who! I think time management is all about priorities. We all have time to do what is most important to us. I HATE it when someone says to me, “Oh, I’d love to scrapbook but I just don’t have time!” Or, “You are so lucky that you have time to blog every day.” Yeah, that’s right. I have more time in my 24 hour day than you have in your 24 hour day! It’s insulting. If something is important to you, you make time to do it. Blogging has edged out scrapbooking time for me in the past few months, but that’s OK. Hobbies change. Also, I have pretty much given up TV except for the shows that Chad and I watch together in the evenings and the Today Show for a bit first thing in the morning. I need to make more time to read, though. Just not prioritizing it! And darn it, I JUST DON’T HAVE TIME to do housework. People who have time to keep their house clean are so lucky 🙂
You are spot on as usual, Caroline; it’s all about what’s important to us. Some things are non-negotiable but many are .. and once I went through that exercise it subtly opened my eyes to what I thought I was doing vs. what was really happening!
And on house cleaning … I do the surface as needed and the deep clean when inspired. This morning, I’m up early cleaning the living room carpet. Why? Hubbs and boy are off at golf & work and old dog is at the groomers. And .. because they really need to be cleaned.
Cheers! MJ
First …. love the song.
Second… I think ‘And sometimes .. it’s an excuse.’ is accurate for each and every day. I have been very busy these past several days, unable to find the time to read blogs. Now- I literally have three piles of clean sheets, clean clothes and unmade beds needing my time/attention, as well as work due for my paid-gigs. While I have the time to tackle those tasks, I am spending my time catching up on my world within the blogosphere. One might say I don’t have time for housework and employment duties …:)
(( great song, glad you agree!! )) and yes … I think sometimes it is an excuse, sure can be for me. And I’d rather blog than put away laundry, too!! Cheers .. MJ
Ok, this is a pet peeve of mine. I always hear my mom say she doesn’t have time for this or that…the only thing she says that really irritates me! I agree we all have the same amount of time. Some days I’m sooo productive, others not as much. But it’s all about choice, priorities, saying no to the right things and yes to the right things, and then just doing!
Thanks ~ Sheila
you are so right, Sheila, and then “just doing” — and isn’t that where many of us get stuck? Cheers! MJ