How to get more time in your day!
No matter what you want in life, if it’s worth having, you will have to work for it. It could be opening up your own business, making partner at your firm, losing weight and achieving a strong, lean body, or training to run that marathon you always wanted to.
The things we want take effort. And time.
Most people will say, “I don’t have time for [fill in the blank].”
That is your perception and perception can be reality. But those who are successful—truly successful in achieving what they really want—will MAKE the time to do what is necessary to reach their goals, and they will also have a plan.
Let’s talk about time. We all have the same exact amount of time in a given day. Twenty-four hours or 1,440 minutes. That’s it. There is not a single person on earth who has figured out a way to make more hours in one day. So regardless of time and its finite amount, those who are successful still have the same lives as everyone else: hectic, stressful, chockfull of family and career obligations, as well as the pop-up obstacles that hit us every day.
Not having enough time to strive to reach your goals is not something successful people will tell you that they say. The point is you need to carve out the time. I want to share with you some tips I have learned to avoid that age-old statement, “I don’t have time.”
#1 Watch Less TV/ Engage in Less Screen Time—
Though watching TV can be a stress reliever and being in front of your computer or phone can be very informative, these things are typically the biggest sap of time on our modern society.
The average American spends more than 24 hours a week online and in front of a screen (computer, tablet and phone included) and more than 30 hours in front of a TV. As much as you don’t want to admit it, most sit-coms and tv dramas offer no value (or very little) to our lives.
TV will essentially hypnotize you. Think about what you might look like while you’re in front of the tv, “vegging out,” staring off into space. You’re thinking about nothing, accomplishing nothing and being nothing. Most of TV is full of mindless programming—and though there is a place for a little mindlessness in our lives and you certainly don’t have to give it up altogether, we certainly should be reducing the amount of TV time hours to pursue our other achievements. Come on, 30 hours?
The same goes with our screen time. Does not matter what age you are, you will see kids as young as three and seniors, and every age group in between, on their screens. If you’re not researching on how you can specifically achieve the goal or goals you want to attain, then shut the computer or phone off!
My suggestion is this: Use discretion on both time-zappers.
When you turn on your computer to tool around or when you’re surfing around your cable channels, ask yourself each time:
Could this time be better spent doing other, more productive things?
I bet the majority of the time, your answer will be yes.
So, hop on those things!
#2 Be a Planner:
One of the most essential things to do to save you time is to plan ahead! This is for all the list-makers out there. Make a list every night with your Major Activities to Do. In this list, you will include the things that matter that you want to accomplish that you consider major, or that will have a major outcome. This can easily include working out, drinking more water, reading up on or going through with part of your marathon training, taking on a new important project at work that will advance your career. You get the idea. Keep this list with you –on paper, or in your phone—and check off items as you complete them.
The thing is, if you “wing it” each day because you have no idea what you’re going to do tomorrow until tomorrow arrives, then you are truly wasting a ton of time. The thing with being a planner is that you are being much more proactive and a lot less reactive. It also will help you to control the rest of your day, not just your time and how much time you might waste.
You will be surprised at how much planning ahead will allow you to accomplish. This is not to say that things won’t come up, because they will, but you’re more likely to be able to still accomplish more even on those days where obstacles are thrown at you. Scheduling your day takes only a few minutes of your time, and it acts as an investment which will ultimately allow you to save time.
#3 Get Regular Exercise
You may be one of those people who says, “I don’t have time to exercise, and you’re telling me to exercise in order to save time??”
Yes.
Those people who believe they don’t have time to exercise are precisely the people who need to exercise in order to make better use of their time. And, I’m not saying to spend hours upon hours in the gym. We are talking three to four hours per week.
The thing about exercising regularly is that it gives you tons of energy and mental sharpness, so when you’re done with a quick hour-or-less workout, you have the stamina, endurance and laser-focus to attack your to-do list to accomplish things you might not have in the first place. You will, quite simply, be more effective at everything you do. Additionally, your sleep will improve! With better sleep, you will accomplish even more, and have even better mental focus.
#4 Eliminate Mindless Texting
If you’re pressed for time, get off the phone and stop texting! It is estimated that people spend between 13% and 15% of their day texting other people. Most of the time the texting is just for people to stay busy. The communications are not urgent or important texts.
If you feel you must text as much as you do, it is a good idea to do so when you’re on the treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike getting your regular exercise (see #3). At least you will be “killing two birds with one stone,” as they say.
#5 Have a Sense of Urgency
We are addressing, here, the need to pick up the pace a little. Some folks do things so slowly that it can drive you crazy. Picking up the pace, and having a sense of urgency translates, essentially, to pushing yourself. If you approach each task you need to do with this urgent demeanor, then you can be remarkably more efficient and productive.
I think often of how football games are played. It seems that the last two minutes of the first half or at the end of a game, it suddenly comes down to “super urgent.” Before you know it, the ball is being moved down the field, accumulating yards and points that you wish you could have seen the whole game! This is the pace you should attempt to keep all day.
Attempt to complete your tasks in business, school, or home, or at the gym with the utmost sense of urgency—that idea that you must get this done as efficiently and as quickly as possible—and you will fly through projects like you never thought possible. Just don’t skimp on quality in order to have speed, or you will be doing things over again. “Haste makes waste.”
So, as you can see, “I don’t have time” is a misconception, and not reality. All it takes is for you to be a lot more conscious of your time and how it is spent, and you will get more things done in an effort to achieve those goals!
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Bill Yeager is an entrepreneur, leading mindset success coach, virtual online personal trainer, inspirational writer and health & wealth enthusiast. He’s helped over 500,000 people worldwide become inspired to transform their lives most widely known for becoming a Body-for-Life Champion & co-Author of Champions Body for Life. He is the author of several fitness articles, books and president of multiple companies.