There Are Only 24 hours In A Day!

Last week I was feeling bad about not getting everything done that I wanted to.  I started thinking about all the things I was NOT doing.  I even got out my journal and started to list all the things I used to do but can't seen to find time to do now, and then I listed all the things I wished I was doing.  I was getting harder on myself with each item I added to the list.

I needed a solution - a way to fit more into my days.  I started by listing out all of the things I am currently doing on a daily basis.  Maybe if I could figure out how long those things really took, I could find a way to add more. I identified items from my list that I consider non-negotiable and added up the minimum hours it takes to do them.  For me those included work, commuting to and from work, sleep, showering/grooming, one meal/day with my family, and some exercise.  Do you know how many hours the non-negotiables in my day add up to?  21 hours.  21 HOURS! That only leaves 3 hours per day to do everything else including helping with homework, cleaning, laundry, errands, kids' activities, family time,  working on my blog, etc.  No wonder I'm feeling pressed for time!

So if there aren't very many hours left in the day to work with, what are my options?   I decided I have to be content with not doing a lot of extra things in this season of my life, and when there is time for extra, I want that time to be spent with my family.  Once I gave myself a pass on all of those things I thought I should be doing, I felt so much better!  I was the one putting most of the pressure on myself.  

I encourage you to give this exercise a try! 

1. You may want to start by tracking your time to really see how you are spending your hours.  Use this free time tracker worksheet for this step! 
2. Summarize your time tracker into categories with total time spent on each category  (example: work =8 hours, cooking = 2 hours, cleaning =1 hour, etc.)
3. Then mark the items that are non-negotiable and find out how much time you have left in your 24 hours after the necessary items are complete.
4. Fill in the blanks of your day with other tasks.
5. Give yourself permission to say no or to NOT do something if it will take away from something else you want or need to spend your time on.

If you're a bit of a spreadsheet geek like me, shoot me an email at info@mylifeinorder.com and ask me to send you the How to Spend 24 hours spreadsheet that does all the math for you! 

Check out all of the other time management posts on the blog to help you find ways to balance all that you want and need to do into the realistic framework of a 24 hour day!  

Time Management Blog Posts

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Sources
Photo by Alina Grubnyak on Unsplash