Are You Making Time for What Matters Most?
Do you ever feel like it’s all too much? Every Thursday, I share one action, habit, or project you may want to undertake in order to improve your health, happiness, and sense of well-being.
PROJECT OF THE WEEK
Are You Making Time for What Matters Most?
The secret to time management is being able to see your time, see how much time you have available each day, and see what you are spending your time on.
Getting Started
How much time do you have available to you each day?
There may be 24 hours in a day, but some activities - like sleep! - are not optional!
Take a few minutes to think about your daily activities. Write down the things you have to do and the things you want to accomplish. Start with sleep; this activity isn’t optional and without sleep, you will not function at your best.
Below are a few questions to help you get started:
How much sleep do you need?
How long do you need to be in bed in order to get that amount of sleep?
How much time do you need to wind down, in order to go to sleep?
How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
How long does it take you to get the kids ready in the morning?
How long is your commute?
How long does each meal take (prep, eating, cleaning up)?
What other tasks do I need to do each day and how long do they take?
This exercise can be eye opening.
Do you have more or less time than you thought you had?
For most of us, we are terrible at estimating how long things take. After you have a list of tasks that you do every day, it may be helpful to time how long they really take, over a few days.
Next, I would take a few minutes and write down a list of categories that are important to you and prioritize this list.
Below are a few ideas:
Self
Family
Friendships
Romance
Work
Finances
Home
Health
Personal Growth
Spirituality
Community
Giving Back
This list is focused on categories that are important to your life as a whole. It may be helpful to also make a list of categories that are important in your work life. However, I would recommend doing this as two separate activities, at separate times. Otherwise, it can get overwhelming.
Now it's time to see where we are spending our time.
For one week, write down what you are doing each day, from the time you wake-up until you turn the lights off to fall asleep.
You can print out at copy of a Time Map HERE. Or you can use Excel to create a digital Time Map.
Pro Tip: If you are going digital, please make sure to leave the document open all day, so it's easy to update in real time.
You may also want to set alarms on you phone to remind you to update your Time Map hourly. It's easy to forget and the more you update it in real time, the more accurate it will be.
At the end of the week, designate a color for each category. If you did this exercise on paper, you may need to buy some highlighters. Another option is to type the Time Map you wrote out, into Excel.
Go through all your tasks and activities for each day and highlight them based on which category they fall under. For example, if you designated health to be green, you would highlight "taking a walk" in green.
After all your tasks and activities are highlighted, take a few moments to analyze where your time is going.
Are the priorities you say are your highest, getting the time they deserve?
Are you spending the majority of your time on other people's priorities and not your own?
What are the consequences for not prioritizing what really matters?
Reprioritize your day to reflect your priorities.
I recognize this sounds far simpler than it is, but armed with this information, reschedule your day to “find” time to prioritize what matters most to you. Maybe meal prepping on Sundays frees up time throughout the week to take a walk with your partner and kids. Or, scheduling as many doctor’s appointments as possible in one day - and treating yourself to lunch out and a pedicure afterward - allows you to feel more in control of your health and your body’s preventative maintenance.
Additional Resource
I highly recommend the book, Time Management from the Inside Out by Julie Morgenstern.
A Note from Happy Spaces
The goal is to add value to your life. If you think this project will add value:
Estimate how long you think it will take. I would recommend doubling the time you estimate.
Look at your calendar over the next week and pick a date and time to get started.
Make an appointment on your calendar for the estimated time.
If you estimate that completing this project will take longer than one hour, I recommend doing it over multiple days. This will support you in getting started!
Prior to starting this project, take a few minutes to make a step-by-step list of EVERY action you need to take to complete this project.
It's not all or nothing. You can choose to implement only the parts of this project that add value to your life.
An Accountability Partner can be a great support in following through on your goals and commitments.
We understand how challenging it can be to implement new habits and systems. For additional support please go to HappySpacesBySarah.com.
Creating a life you don't need a vacation from! ®
Sincerely,
Sarah Weingarten
Meet Sarah
Growing up as the oldest of nine siblings in Upstate New York, I learned to use organization to create sanity among the chaos. Today, I work together with individuals, families, and small businesses to create habits, systems, and spaces that support their needs, goals, and dreams. Clients often refer to our work together as "life-changing" and "better than decades of therapy". What I love most about my work is the lasting impact it has on real people's lives. Nothing makes me happier than hearing the many success stories of clients I have worked with.