Create More Time in Your Week with this One Simple Question

We have 168 hours in a week.

If you sleep 8 hours per night, 56 of those hours are spent sleeping.

That leaves you with 112 hours.

These 112 hours are then divided into work and leisure.

If you work 9 hours per day for 5 days a week, then you're left with 67 hours per week outside of work.

If you work 11 hour days, then you only have 57 hours remaining.

If you work on the weekends too... well, you get the picture.

Time is a finite resource.

And for many of us, nearly half of our waking hours are spent working.

This might not be so bad if you love your work.

But, regardless of how great your work is, there may be other parts of your life you're neglecting.

How many hours each week are you spending with your family?

Do you have time for your favorite hobbies?

If you wanted to start a side hustle, could you find the time?

Waiting for retirement to start living is hardly an option.

You go from having no time, to having too much time and not knowing how to fill the void.

So, instead, we must find a way to live now and focus on the things that matter each week.

But, how do we do this if half of our waking hours are taken up by our work?

We need to be disciplined with our time both inside and outside of our job.

If we are disciplined and focused on our tasks, then we can carve out more time for family, leisure, or that side hustle.

Be careful though... discipline does not mean working more.

Discipline means working on the activities that matter and discarding or delegating the rest.

For the last five years, there has been one simple daily tactic that has helped me be more disciplined.

It's a question I picked up from Tim Ferriss that pops up on my phone each day at 11:00 AM:

"Am I being productive or just inventing things to do?"

This question is a daily gut check that forces me to focus on what matters so that I'm not inventing "fluff work."

This simple tactic alone has saved me hours of work time each week.

You'd be surprised at how many tasks you invent for yourself that don't actually need to be done at all.

By getting time back in your days, you get more time back in your week.

This means more time for family, travel, leisure, or doing whatever your little heart desires.

Sometimes we make the mistake of differing our life plans until after we make a certain amount of money.

We tell ourselves, "that's when I'll rest" or "that's when I'll start my dream venture."

But, money isn't the most critical thing you'll need.

It's time that you need to create.

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PS: My wife, Pema Sherpa, and I have another blog called The Mindful Minute ! Check it out.