Wouldn’t it be great if we could find more time by cleaning under the couch cushions?

Or if “extra time” was stored in the “junk drawer” with all the other random necessities of life?

But it’s not. 

I know.  I looked already.

I’ve come to understand that we really only “find” time if we look REALLY carefully… at ourselves.

<gulp>

In case you’re feeling a bit too “seen,” let me assure you unequivocally that I’m not tossing shade here.  This is “no blame, no shame” zone.  It is, however, a place where I think we can talk about hard stuff and do some truth-telling for ourselves and each other.  Deal?

I’ll own up from the start that I’m not perfect about “time management” and I definitely struggle with time wasters.  So once in a while, for my own sake – as well as perhaps yours – I like to call them out.

We know that by drawing our attention to something, we’re more likely to notice it and take action.  Why else would moms throughout history have put baskets of clean laundry on the stairs?  (OK, maybe that’s not such a great comparison…)

Before we dive into the list of the top places to reclaim time in your days, here’s a framework to consider.  The things that we spend time on in any given day can be rated on two scales:  how important they are, and how urgent they are.

Important things contribute to who we are – our values, our purpose or mission, our high priority goals.  They usually require initiative on our part; in other words, we need to take action in order to make important things happen.

Urgent things require immediate attention, they act upon us, and they often create pressure on us. 

Any given activity falls somewhere on both scales.  It’s either important or not, and it’s either urgent or not.

Keeping these two factors straight and being able to evaluate our activities on these scales are at the heart of using time effectively.  We need to be able to discern what’s truly important from what’s not. 

With these factors in mind, the easiest place to “find” more time is to decrease the amount of time we spend on things that are not urgent and also not important.  So if you’ve been wishing for a few more minutes or hours in your days, I thought I’d share four suggestions of places that you might be able to find some more time. 

1.     Social media

Yep, let’s start there.  Now I’m not going to harp on “the evils of social media” at all.  Almost all of us use it.  Most of us can probably name some goodness we get from it.  So it can stay… but not without boundaries.

Remember, boundaries are a good thing.  Water is a good thing to have in our houses.  But when water breaks out of its boundaries (aka pipes), it’s called a flood.  I love having electricity.  But out of bounds electricity results in a fire.  It’s good to remember that boundaries protect us.

How many of us have finished a period of scrolling social media, set our phones down, and thought to ourselves, “That was immensely satisfying” or “That was super helpful to me?” 

Right.  Me neither.

At best, we leave it feeling neutral.  Most other times, we probably end up feeling less satisfied, less motivated, less happy than when we began.  That’s a good indication that we might want some boundaries to protect our wellbeing and our time. 

If you’re not sure that this would really create more time in your life, try tracking how often you check your social media feeds and how long you stay on those platforms.  You might be surprised by how quickly the minutes stack up.  If you bring attention to the times when you feel your thumb begin to scroll and swipe, you just might find some pockets of time that can be re-purposed for good in your life.

Each of us is different, and so we need to develop our own boundaries that make sense for our life and that bring us the peace and focus we desire.  You might not need to delete the social apps from your phone.  I’ve known people who have (and they’ve really been amazed at the difference in their lives), but that isn’t what everyone needs to do.

Start with noticing the time you spend on social media.  Ask yourself, “Does this activity help to create and support who I am, what I value, and what I deeply want in life?”  (In other words, “Is it important?”)  Then consider what you could do with that time instead.

2.    Online Games

Maybe this goes in the same category as social media, but I know enough people who’ve developed an addiction to the escape that they find specifically in online games that I think it’s worth its own category.

Again, I’m not waging war against Wordle or Candy Crush.  Can online games be a good thing?  Sure.  But in the struggle of managing time in our real lives, the decisions aren’t always between good and bad.  They’re often between good and better.

Again, only you can assess whether this is an issue for you.  For instance, if a game is part of your daily routine, takes 5 minutes or less, and helps you either focus your brain or switch your energy from one task to another, then it may be serving a good purpose in your life (i.e. it might be important).  However, if you notice that your gaming goes on for many minutes (or longer) and is a convenient way to escape from the stress of daily life, you might want to consider setting some boundaries for yourself.

3.    Mindless binging

All of what I’ve said about social media and online games applies here, too.  We don’t need to eliminate all media consumption from our lives.  It’s just important to notice whether we’re doing it mindfully and intentionally, or just defaulting to it.

Judging by this list so far, you might start to think that I’m against all recreational activities.  I’m really not.  However, I do have a particular viewpoint about them.

Recreational activities are only important and valuable if they truly re-create us – whether physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, or spiritually. 

What re-creates you?  What truly replenishes your energy or gives you new or different energy?  I believe that all of us probably need more periods of true rest and renewal in our lives.  However, I suspect that a lengthy mindless escape into binge-watching provides neither rest nor renewal, nor is it likely to re-create us into the best versions of ourselves.

So no more watching movies or shows?  I didn’t say that.  But I do try to be mindful of what, how much and how often I’m consuming, and I try to notice how it makes me feel. 

For example, if consuming media allows me to be with my husband and watch something meaningful (or even just funny – because laughter is a very good thing!), then I consider it time that I’ve invested.  It’s added goodness to my life and is important.  If there’s little to no intentionality about it and it doesn’t “fill” me in any significant way, then I’m more likely to label it as not important and a waste of time.

4.    Over-doing it

Over-doing what?  Almost anything.  Over-cleaning.  (Yes, I’m told this is a thing that some people do.)  Over-exercising.  Over-organizing.  Over-working. 

Do you know people who spend more time re-writing or re-organizing their to-do lists than they do actually getting to the items on the list? 

Yes, houses need to be cleaned, life needs to be maintained, and our calendars, project plans and to-do lists benefit from some degree of organization and updating.  But when the time spent in those kinds of tasks exceeds the time that is saved by good maintenance, it becomes a time waster. 

The Law of Diminishing Returns factors in here.  Now I’m not an economics expert, but if I may translate this economics principle to life-coach-speak:  There’s a tipping point where putting in additional time and energy to a task produces diminished results (less noticeable or important outcomes).

I can be guilty of this, for sure.  The other night, I spent three additional hours working.  But when I compare the results of those three hours (minimal) to what I could have gained from time spent in true re-creation or renewal, I can see in hindsight that it wasn’t a great choice.  The self-renewal would have been a better investment and kept me well-maintained for the days to come.

One last point about over-doing it:  If we turn to these kinds of activities as a way of procrastinating or avoiding important (perhaps challenging) things we need to do, then they are simply masquerading as more productive-looking versions of escapism.

Where will you look?

So what is all this saying to you about your own life? 

A gentle reminder:  No blame, no shame, no guilt. 

I don’t want you to be hard on yourself for indulging in “guilty pleasures” in an effort to relax and unwind.  But I do want to invite you to take a deeper look at your choices to see if they are really the best use of your time.  I’m not judging you on that.  I simply want to set the stage for you to discern that for yourself.

So your questions to ponder:

What are the “not urgent/not important” things that you do each day (or most days)?

If you were able to “add” a few minutes to each day by reducing any of these activities, what would that allow you to do instead?

And what might that add to your life?

If you want to continue the conversation, please email me.  I love to hear what you’re thinking!

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