8 Ways To Create More Time In Your Day
Recently I have become very passionate about the concept of time. I notice that the main thing that we struggle with when we want to introduce new habits, or simply enjoy our life is that we always seem to run out of time. There seems to never be enough time.
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
"Where have the years gone?"
"They grow up so fast."
"Summer holidays go by too quickly, the school year too slowly."
"Time is money."
"If I only had more time."
"I don’t know when to make the time."
"I don’t have time."
"I am too busy."
"The day doesn't have enough hours."
I thought so.
But actually, we have so much more time than the generations before us for two quite substantial reasons.
Lifespan and technology.
Firstly, we live for more years thanks to improved health standards, advances medicine and knowledge about the human body and our life essentials.
And secondly, technology has automated work processes and replaced human man-hours by, let’s say, A LOT.
How come we have less time today than we have ever had before?
How come we are busier than ever before?
As a society, we have gone from ennui to overtly busy in a blink of Mother Earth’s eye. Nearly seems a little bipolar from her perspective, doesn’t it?
But being idle is not dishonourable.
Quite the opposite.
It is unnatural not to rest, also during waking hours.
When we look at the year's seasons, winter is the season of rest. All nature sleeps (some animals literally) and prepare for spring.
It is the natural cycle of things.
The time scarcity mindset our society lives with can cause anxiety and stress which will ultimately harm our body and mind.
But we don’t need to live like that.
Is it even a life when we trade our most valuable asset (time) for the honour to live?
So, let’s have a look at 8 ways in which you can create more time in your day
➛ to do nothing, or at least the things you most enjoy.
Set priorities
This is a biggie. Are you actually spending your time on the things you enjoy and treasure? A friend recently shared an activity with me which I found very eye-opening and I am sharing it with you now.
Get ready with a piece with paper and set yourself a 3-minute timer and write down all the things you want to do in your life that you enjoy doing, that you want to spend on.
Then, take another piece of paper, set yourself another timer for 3 minutes and write down how you ACTUALLY spend your day. Write down all the activities - from working to fun activities, mundane activities, chores, … all the things. And write down how much time you spend on them each day. For activities you don’t do daily, write down how much time you spend on them per week or month.
Now, compare the two lists. Are you actually spending a good half or majority on the things you want to spend you life doing?
The result can be very confronting.
I did the exercise myself and honestly found out that I wasn’t by far spending as much time on my beloved activities as I could. I found out that I am spending a lot of time with what I call NOBLE PROCRASTINATION. That is not scrolling through Instagram, but cleaning, reading, studying, instead of writing and putting in the actual work.
Ouch.
But the first step is always awareness. You need to be aware of how you spend your time in order to have control over it and change it where you want to.
Simplify
Now. Have you discovered how you actually spend your time as supposed to how you WANT to spend your time?
Good job. As I said - awareness is key. Always.
And some of the activities you may be doing instead - chores, reading, watching TV - are also okay. Don’t think that it is a bad thing having made this discovery. Some of these things actually need to get done.
But I promise you that most of those things can be SIMPLIFIED.
I don’t mean to go minimalist or Marie Kondo your house (although that would be great).
What I mean by simplify is
Why make it complicated when you could as well make it simple?
In the kitchen, for example, you can cook reducing the tools and pots to reduce the clean up later. You can cook with fewer ingredients, making the dish itself more simple and often more digestible. I am not talking about batch-cooking. Batch-cooking is a SYSTEM that you can apply, a thing you do in order to save time later. But what happens when this system crumbles because one Sunday you are not feeling well enough to batch cook? Then you may get angry or upset which is what we don’t want.
I want you to think of ways in which you can simplify the actions you are already doing. I don’t want you to save time but to be able to make time for the things you love and want to live for, and to be aware of how you spend your time.
Be intentional with your time.
For example, I use one type of special dish soap for ALL my cleaning. It is made for all the different things of cleaning, so I am not making this up. I use it first to do the dishes, I use it to wipe surfaces, clean the bathroom, wipe surfaces and mop the floor. It keeps my cleaning simple and also needs less space in the cupboard. It is affordable, lasts for ever (1/2 year) and is super amazing for my skin. You can look up the soap here ➛.
Simplify where you find it suitable, without reducing the pleasure you gain from enjoyable activities. Simplify those activities you don’t enjoy doing or that you are using as a form of distraction or procrastination.
Set a time limit
Have you ever watched Fantastic Beasts? Do you remember the creature called “occamy” that grows and shrinks in order to fit into the available space?
That’s what your activities do with your time. The more time you give them - the longer they will take. The less time you give them … You get the idea.
By setting a time limit to activities you will work faster and more efficiently towards them.
But be aware to use the time you have gained not to “do more”.
Do less.
Or: Only do more of those activities that are on your priority list of how you want to spend your time.
Use a simple timer or your phone or an old-school egg timer, or go fancy with an app. Set a timer for chores, work and passive activities (watching TV, reading blog articles - yes, also this one) so you can get doing the things you want to do or spend time doing nothing.
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Review your schedule/commitments - and let some go
This goes hand in hand with setting priorities but is also connected to your outside world.
Do you find it difficult to say “no” to people? Are you accepting each invitation (IRL or online)?
Are you spending time with people who you would rather not spend time with?
Set social priorities. Don’t be afraid to cancel or to say “no” in the first place.
It is not your responsibility to entertain others at the cost of your own hobbies, interests and wellbeing.
Leave things undone
This one is tough and for the occasional perfectionist difficult to handle.
For me, this applies to leaving the kitchen unclean for a while or, at times, not cleaning up at night when it is my time to go to bed.
"The truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen." - Pema Chödrön
Because often that thing you have an urge to do doesn’t matter. At least not as much as you make it out to.
Letting go of the need to make everything perfect or the urge of getting everything done RIGHT NOW - that is a learning curve.
I am an Enneagram 7 and I can get impulsive when things don’t get done the way I want right away. That impulse can lead to frustration and words that had better not been said. It can lead to stress in my body because I will also force myself to do things that I think need to be done right away - even if I don’t want to do them.
Letting it sit, letting the situation be, until the impulse has passed, is something I have started learning a while ago and when it works - gosh, it is such a relief.
Later I can come back and do the thing when I am in a better place. For example - I don’t even mind cleaning the kitchen. I like doing it for myself with my fun soap. So, why not wait until the wave of emotion has passed and do it when I am happy to do so?
When we forcefully get things done, we lose a lot of energy.
But unfortunately, we live in a society where things happen quickly, information is acquired in a matter of seconds, and slowing down doesn’t come natural to many of us.
Letting the thing be and coming back to it later or letting it be for good, preserves your energy and emotions.
Outsource
What is more valuable to you? Time or money?
This is a question you need to answer for yourself. If you don’t enjoy doing the thing and it takes you a lot of time - why don’t you outsource? This can be a smaller or bigger financial commitment.
It can mean putting those pans and pots into the dishwasher instead of washing them every single day…
…hiring a cleaning help
…getting take-away
…hiring a PA
…getting a food delivery service (from a super market or a meal-kit company)
…getting your website done professionally
…hiring someone to do your taxes.
In the end, you want to weigh up if the time you spend on that thing is worth your time.
Schedule in time affluence
Time affluence is one of the few things in your life that are proven to gift you long-lasting happiness.
What is time affluence, you wonder?
Time affluence is when you wake up in the morning and you have enough time to choose in peace the things you want to do.
Time affluence is not having to rush out through the door in the morning.
Time affluence is doing a few movements of yoga and then changing your mind and going for a walk instead, without judgment and without time pressure.
Time affluence is not a vacation in Italy, rushing from sight to sight.
It is staying at your accommodation, boiling an egg or two, eating them in silence with a stalk of fresh asparagus, wiggling your toes in the sun.
Time affluence is la dolce fa niente.
Tasting time on your tongue, not letting it upset your stomach.
Time affluence is bliss.
And yet, you may find it very challenging.
It is the opposite activity of what we are told to do, being constantly busy and booked out.
It is the remedy for modern anxiety.
It is the way to remember what it feels like to be a child.
When time doesn’t matter and you do whatever you feel like doing.
So, what do I want you to do?
Set a time aside to practice time affluence.
Schedule 15, 30 or 60 minutes to do nothing specific.
Don’t do any chores during that time.
Don’t work during that time.
See where your intuition will carry you.
Don’t make a plan.
Don’t plan ahead to what you will do after this designated time affluence.
It may feel uncomfortable at first because you are not used to doing nothing, but it is bliss, my friend.
See where you are drawn to naturally, slowly, organically. If you decide to make some food, keep it very simple and do it very slowly, being present in each moment.
Be present with yourself throughout this time to really hear your intuition.
You may end up sitting in a chair the whole time, watching the clouds, or you may do 3 minutes of yoga, then go for a walk.
Take it moment for moment.
Live in a natural cycle
This is such a wonderful and crucial way to change your time mindset.
If you are a woman, I highly recommend avoiding any hormonal brith control - if your country/society and health allow for it.
Your female body has an innate wisdom and getting to know the four different phases of your cycle, tracking your cycle and the types of work you do easily during the different phases, and following the advice by wonderful people like Kate Northrup will CHANGE YOUR LIFE.
Menstrual phase (inward energy, easy tasks, rest, reflection, evaluation)
Follicular phase (outward energy, planning brainstorming, new beginnings)
Ovulation (outward energy, communication, collaboration, being out there, attraction)
Luteal Phase (slowing down, inward energy, focus, detail, putting in the work, finish projects)
If you don’t have a female cycle, use the moon.
Why the moon?
It has the same cycle duration as the average female cycle and each moon phase correlates with one of the menstrual phases.
Why should you live with a cycle?
To keep it short and sweet (because I could go on about this for ever), living in a cycle makes you understand that there is a time for everything.
That you don’t need to push for something to happen when it is not the right time.
That the right moment will come.
That your energy levels will go up and down and when you are in a down, you can trust that a the next up will come.
That you should use the lows for rest, recovery, evaluation, regeneration and doing “more nothing”.
This is the natural cycle of all things and as humans we have ditched the time for rest and replaced it with more productivity and go, go, go.
But that is how we burn out.
By living according to a cycle, you will schedule time in for rest REGULARLY.
You will not work yourself to exhaustion until you need to take time off.
You will not schedule so many social commitments that in the end you cannot stand seeing people anymore and get exhausted, staying at home netflixing.
This has become the norm, and I know it first hand as I have just gone through a burnout myself.
It’s not pretty.
And it is not necessary.
Scheduling in time for rest and slowing down - in your daily cycle and a 28-day-ish cycle - you allow your body to get into a recovery state and heal those bits and pieces that need healing that you are not even aware of. Without breaking down or getting sick.
And by living according to a cycle (your female cycle or the moon) you will feel more connected to your natural surrounding which is a beautiful way to live.
