How to Find More Time

Do you need more hours in the day to get everything done? This article won’t show you how to squeeze more than 24 hours in the day, but it will show you how to make the most of those hours.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Paper
• Pen or Pencil

1. Think priorities. Not so much about what events or tasks are priorities, but what is most important in your life. Time with family? Travel? Leisure time? Community service? List all the things that are really important and rank them according to most important.
2. Take inventory of how you spend your time now. Whether you do an exhaustive inventory by keeping a timesheet of your time for a week or just become aware and jot down each day an approximation of how much time you spent on various types of tasks, it’s important to know how your spending your time now. You might be surprised just how much time you spend at some things.
3. Make a list of the things you want to have time to do. Here’s where you think about events and tasks. Make sure they line up with your priorities from Step One.
4. Compare your actual time spent with the priorities you came up with. Are there things you’re doing that don’t fit in your priorities? These would be the things you want to trim from your time budget, enabling you to add in the things you want to have time to do!
5. If you need still more time in your day: Determine how much time you have each day after sleep and work time have been taken out.
6. Think about how much time each activity actually takes. Can you cut back on how long any of the activities take? the number of times you do the activities each week or month. Try to place the activities within the time frames you have left.
7. Still not there? Make some hard choices. If there isn’t enough time in your schedule to do all of the things that you want to do and that fit in with your priorities, then take a hard look at what you have written down. Probably everything on your list is “good” stuff, but is it all necessary?

Tips & Warnings

• It often helps to think of time like money and budget it. I have frequently kept track of my time for a week or two and then I decide how much time I want to spend at each thing and work to implement that.
• Use short periods of time to get things done... I call them Little Minutes. Waiting 60 seconds for your coffee to heat? Put dishes in the dishwasher or put clean dishes away or wipe down the counter. Any time you find yourself waiting for a minute or two for anything, look around for something to do.
• Choose a spot to put things that need to go downstairs (or upstairs) and when you go downstairs take them with you.
• Rather than putting something down to take care of later, put it away before putting it down or put it in the spot that you've decided on for taking it on your next trip. It actually saves time in the long run.
• Don’t skimp on sleep. A good night's sleep on a regular basis will make you better able to focus and think clearer, thus making the most of your time.