The Gift of Time: A guide to creating positive & long-lasting habits

It is without a doubt that we are living in the most peculiar time. The past year has stretched us all left and right, turning our world upside down. Although it is very hard to gaze beyond the dense perplexity of this pandemic, we must recognize the gift that has been given to a lot of us. The gift of time.

Time is definitely the most valuable commodity, we are all given the same amount of time every day, but the way we go on spending it makes the difference. As Harvey MacKay says: ‘’Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.’’

As the majority of countries around the world now are experiencing some sort of lockdown and movement restrictions, working from home became the norm, which subsequently gave a lot of free time that we usually spend on commuting, going out, traveling, and on other social engagements. At the same time, some noticed the opposite – that the pile of new tasks has increased like never before.

At Printify, we asked our colleagues to share with us what hobby, skill, or activity they picked up during lockdown, or how their daily tasks have changed. Their experiences so far have been absolutely riveting. Analyzing these stories and doing research on the matter, we came up with the following three steps to get the best of your (free) time:

Step 1: Discern discretionary time 

It is very common to have a calendar for our weekly commitments or a to-do list, but free time usually goes by unnoticed, so for starters, we need to recognize the free-time in our day and account for what is spent on. Psychologist Nathaniel Branden said, “The first step toward change is awareness.’’ 

A simple technique is to take a lined page of notebook paper and divide it vertically into seven columns that correspond to each day of one week. Then block out known time commitments for each day that don’t allow you discretionary time such as work, evening meetings, etc. The time slots that remain are discretionary or require you to choose how you will spend them.

One can argue that even though you are organized and know where you spend every hour of the day, you still cannot find free time. However, it can be that some tasks you’re doing can be either eliminated or done more efficiently. Jeff Sanders, the author of The Free-Time Formula: Finding Happiness, Focus, and Productivity No Matter How Busy You Are, mentions it’s important to make sure you divide the day into sections, so you can work through one thing at a time. Looking for themes to help you set just one priority for the day ahead will help you focus on your most important commitments.

One of Printifyers, Anna, an organizing enthusiast who recently finished professional home organizing courses, adds that planning time in blocks works not only for adults but also kids. This way can help to define what you are focusing on now and how much time you have for the task. 

Oftentimes people talk about their priorities in a ‘’plural’’ form, which is a common and costly mistake. Our brain is not wired to deal with multiple jobs at once. This misconception is also modern as pointed out by Greg McKeown, the author of Essentialism, ‘’It was only after 1900 that people stopped talking about “their priority” in the singular’’. So instead of asking our brains to focus on several parallel commitments, we need to prioritize one and tune out all the distractions.

Letting go of unnecessary burdens could be the cornerstone of freeing ourselves from not only stress but mundane activities, which is captured best by the soundtrack of the Disney classic Frozen, “Let it go!”. It makes sense when it comes to managing time. Joshua Becker, the author of Minimalism argues that getting rid of stuff you don’t really need is a liberating experience. It frees up more time and resources, and it cuts a huge amount of stress out of your life. He gives an example of our wardrobe where a typical person wears only 30 percent of their clothes on a regular basis, so donating the remaining 70 percent not only will help others but will also help you cut out unnecessary time figuring out what to wear and teaches you a lesson of the true value of the things you have. 

Getting rid of the unneeded can be also related to technology consumption. Is tech always your friend or sometimes an enemy? Our teammate Anna, who organizes and makes systems for a living, notes that being mindful of how you spend time on social media or by the TV can also help you find more free time. 

Step 2: Discover your interest

There are several ways how you can find a new passion. Let’s put theory aside for a moment and see how Printifyers found their new hobbies, activities, or even business ideas during the pandemic. 

Way #1: Need for something specific

Not so long ago Ieva, Printify Merchant Support Specialist, bought a rain suit for her little one. For her, it seemed that the product could be improved, so she started sewing clothing for her kid. It took some time for Ieva to develop her skills not only in sewing but also in business and sales once people around became interested in buying the clothing she had made. Now she runs her own small business with the help of her husband and even an employee.

Way #2: Invitation from others around

Rets’ story shows how important it is to share your passion with others. Apart from being an Indirect Tax Specialist at Printify, he is also a winter swimmer. Rets’ friend invited him to join winter swimming on Sunday mornings. It was something that Rets wanted to try out for a long time but always put aside. Now it’s a tradition that is beneficial not only for his physical but also emotional health: “If I have daily problems, I just look at the time when I went at 9 AM in ice freezing water and survived, then other problems seem small.”

So, if you have already found your passion, maybe it is time to share it with others?

Way #3: Need to be with yourself

Lota, Product Manager at Printify, enjoys daily walks in the city center. Sometimes she goes out with a friend of hers, but there are moments when she needs time for herself. This is the moment when she can clear her head. Lota explained to us that for her, it is something similar to clearing up space around you (We see some trends here!). 

During her 30-60 minute walks, Lota also treats herself with cakes from local cafés or listens to podcasts that work like a mini therapy session, such as “Homecoming”.

Lota notes that these walks are an investment in yourself. If you live with someone else, you need time on your own. If you live on your own, you need to change the scenery. During this time we need to care about ourselves, judge less and connect more.

Way #4: True love for people around

Aleksandrs is a dad of three, a software engineer at Printify, and a person who thought that teaching is not for him. Once the pandemic hit us, he understood that managing and supporting the learning process for his beloved little ones is not enough. It was time to roll up the sleeves, develop an educational program himself and start teaching his kids. During the past few months, Aleksandrs understood that everything is possible. You can plan and do physical activities with kids even if you are not the sporty type or prepare for a kids’ chess championship with great results.

For all the parents out there, Aleksandrs recommends improving their knowledge base in all possible ways. Knowing what’s happening and why gives you peace. That’s what we all need.

Way #5: Do what defines you

Anna is an Executive Assistant at Printify. Her role at work, family life, and personality are all about creating systems and finding order. Obviously, she loves Home Edit on Netflix. For some time Anna had the idea that she would also like to help others to declutter their homes and put everything in the right spots. This way people can save time in the long run as they can focus on what actually matters more easily and, thus, spend more time with friends and family. A few months ago, when Anna saw a Facebook ad for professional home organizing courses, she was thrilled. After finishing the course, she admits that the learnings she has gained can be used not only for home tidying but also in time planning and many other aspects.

Anna suggests everyone start with tiny hills every day, not huge mountains.

Step 3: Create a habit

Once you find your interest, it is vitally important to invest in it and make it part of your daily routine, or even better, make it a habit. James Clear in his book Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones, highlights five tangible and applicable tips to adopt a positive habit:

Tip #1: Design your environment for success

The things that are on your desk in the office, kitchen counter, or your desk at home influence your behavior. If you can restructure your physical and digital environment then you are more likely to keep the right habits.

You can use your environment to stop bad habits: a lot of people complain about watching a lot of television. However, all our living rooms have chairs and couches facing the television. They are designed to make us watch. You do not need to redesign your entire living room, but you can make small changes. You can simply increase the friction of the action in the environment, for instance unplugging the TV after every use and only plug it back in if you can say the name of the show you want to watch instead of ‘’turn Netflix on and find something’’

You can also use your environment to promote good habits. In a study mentioned in the book from Massachusetts general hospital, authors went to the cafeteria of the hospital and added water to every fridge, also added rolling carts with water in them by the food stations in the cafeteria. And that is it! They did not talk to anyone about it nor promote it. Then 6 months later water sales increased by 25% and soda sales decreased by 11%. So changing the environment nudged a lot of people towards changing their habits.

Tip #2: The 2-minute rule for the start of habits

The simplest way is to scale your habits down to something that is very easy to do. For starters, you can take any habit you want to do and scale it down to two minutes or less activity. As our colleague Lota mentioned her creating a habit of a daily walk, she just started with putting her boots on. If you want to read 30 books a year you can start with reading one page a day. The idea to make it your new habit normal before scaling it.

Tip #3: Master the entry points

Habits are the entry point, not the endpoint. They are the cab that takes you to the gym. They are the entrance to your great routine. If you master that decisive moment that determines what happens next in the next period of time, then the rest falls into place. It could be that moment to either pick up your phone and check your Twitter feed or pick up a book and start reading. So what happens in the next hour is really determined by what happens in the first 30 seconds. 

Tip #4: Join a community

So many of our habits are socially reinforced, the author of Atomic Habits gives an example of moving to a new neighborhood. There, you notice that every house has a recycling bin. Because everyone does it, you sign up too. So, for the next 20 years, you’ve adopted that habit because via social reinforcement. Or, while walking to an elevator, you do not stand with your back to the door; people usually don’t do that. So, there are a lot of habits that are reinforced by the people around us. Therefore, you need to join a group where your desired behavior is the normal behavior, like our colleague Rets did with swimming in winter in ice-cold water.

Tip #5: Use variable rewards

Most bad habits have immediate rewards and long term consequences, like eating donuts. Meanwhile, good habits are the exact opposite. The immediate reward of going to the gym is a sore body, and you still look the same. However, if you stick to that for 6 months or a year then the ultimate reward is favorable. You can create a system with rewards to make good habits enjoyable. James Clear shares an example: Assume you have a jar of marbles: 90 red & 10 blue. After every good habit, pull out a marble. If red, then nothing. If blue, then reward yourself. Which is similar to the system our colleague Aleksandrs does with his elder son. If he practices sports during the week, those accumulated hours can be used as a reward during the weekend to play video games.

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Overworking can have detrimental consequences on people’s health and wellbeing. Downtime isn’t a frivolous luxury; it’s an essential part of setting yourself up for success and happiness, so always make sure to have free time in your calendar to recharge, and also create positive habits in your daily routine. For some, with the right attitude and mindset new tasks can become a fulfillment. 

Now it is your turn, what positive habits have you created during this pandemic? And what is their impact on you?

Thanks to Nora Jonāse for creating this article together with me.