How overwhelmed have you been lately?

We all get overwhelmed these days.  It’s incredibly hard not to in our constantly connected world.  Even if you are in a position where you only do what you want to do, you are probably overwhelmed by all the stuff you want to do!

Considering that we all have the same amount of time, 24/7, we still seem to fill up those hours with too much stuff and too many events.

If you have then tried to schedule all those events onto a calendar, you look at your day and think “What the...!”

 

How do we busy people possibly let go of all these expectations?

By consciously minimising and simplifying.

You can learn to let go of less meaningful tasks in your life in favour of those that are most important to you.  When you have less obligations to manage, you have more time to spend on what you love.

 

Where is my life going?

Any space has only so much room, and the same goes for time.  Just as decluttering a space brings clarity, less cleaning and more time to your life, so does decluttering your 24 hours a day.

First, audit your time.

Take a day, any day, and consciously record each activity as you change it.  It is best to do it as close as possible to actually doing the activity.  List all the things that you do between waking and sleeping and how much time you spend on it.  Write it down on any scrap of paper, type it in the notes on your phone or download your FREE time audit at the end of this article.  Nothing fancy, nothing time consuming, just a quick jot-down record.

• What are you doing in the morning to prepare for work?

• What social media and websites are you visiting?

• What activities?

• What games?

• What cleaning?

• What personal time are you spending with your kids?

• What busy, ineffective work?

• What shopping?

• What are you doing on your commute?

• Where are you driving to?

• What exercise?

• How much tv are you watching?

• How much cleaning?

• What breaks are you taking?

• What are you spending your thinking on?

• What are you studying?

• What are you reading?

 

This audit will give you a sense of where your time is going and what particular areas you focus on more than others.

You do a lot in the course of a day and it is time to reclaim some space. Your time audit should already give you an idea of what can go.  It is usually the meaningless, “busy” tasks that hold no value.

Start saying “no” to wasteful “busywork” and also begin to refuse to accept it from others.  Let them know what the more important things you must get done.  If people are so adamant that a pointless task has to be done, they would do it themselves and not delegate it to you.

 

This is what you must do with your time

Hone down your audit: How much of these things can you actually get done tomorrow?

Did you know that many of us can only achieve 3 important tasks in a day?

Decide on your top 3 priorities.  If you could only complete one of these tasks, what would have the most impact and meaning for your day and you feel was time well spent?  It may bring joy or create a release from mental pressure.

Do you know your optimal working times?

• Between what hours are you most productive? Mornings, afternoons, evenings? What exact times?

• At these times, clear everything else away, including all distractions.

Time is precious and it slips away.  Be conscious of what you “spend” your “time savings” on.  It is a gift that should only be given to what counts most.

 

Reduce the meaningless and live more of the meaningful

You only have so many hours in your life!  If things don’t fit in your daily allowance of time, don’t force them to.  Let them go!

When you have space, you can be proactive in what you do, rather than reactive to events.  Many people live reactive lifestyles, and when you feel little control over your life and what you do, you experience stress.  Being proactive means taking control of your attitudes and focusing on what brings meaning and impacts yours and others lives or the better.  If you can’t create the change you want to see, you need to change your approach until you do.

If you believe that you should be able to get it all done, you will most likely pay for it in terms of your mental and physical health. 

Our ideals rarely match reality.  Often the estimates of time we predict for getting something done are an underestimation.  It is good practice to allow 3 times the time space you expect to fit something in.

Time is not like moving to a larger house as your possessions grow.  When you fill it up, you can’t move to a larger time, you can only reduce what you are doing.

 

If you would like to explore your balance of life activities even further, please download your free Time audit and Life-Balance Wheel by clicking here Now.