How to Find More Time

By far the most common story that I hear from new or interested clients is, “Well I would love to do that more often, but I just don’t have the time."

Maybe so.

But maybe you come to realize after some reflection that your relationship with time is fueled by a deep, unclear belief that holds the story together for you without much coherent logic.

We are walking assumption making machines. And assumptions are critical. They help us to make sense of the circumstances we are currently presented with when we don’t have all the information, but they often lead us astray because are colored by our past experiences. These assumptions then create beliefs we hold to be true, but when examined are often biased or downright irrational.

One of the most common limiting beliefs that people hold is that they don’t have enough time.

Let’s examine that:

There’s 168 hours in a week.

How many hours do you spend at work?

With your family? Friends?

Exercising? Eating? Sleeping?

Before you assert factually that you don’t have enough time, take stock of where your time is going each week. Peter Drucker famously laid out the importance of this in his book The Effective Executive. Never mind that this book was written in 1967, it is as important and timely then as it is now!

When it was written it was aimed at executive, but in the 21st century managing our time effectively doesn’t just apply to those in the C-Suite, it applies to everyone. We must be the CEOs of our life and on critical skill way to do that is to manage our time effectively.

Here’s The 3-step process to manage time that Drucker lays out in his book:

1.?????Record. Find out where your time actually goes.

-?????????Use a time log to see where and how much of your time goes where each week. This might sound daunting, but if you do it for just 1 week you will have an exponentially better understanding of your relationship with time.

2.?????Manage. Cut back unproductive demands on your time.

-?????????Eliminate. Asks of all activities in your week: “What would happen if this were not done?”

-?????????Delegate. Ask: “Which of the activities could be done by somebody else just as well, if not better?”

-?????????Control. A common cause of time-waste is the time of others we waste. Continually be checking in with yourself daily by asking others around you, “What do I do that wastes your time without contributing to your effectiveness?”

3.?????Consolidate. “Discretionary” time into the largest possible continuing units

-?????????Estimate how much discretionary time you can realistically call your own each week. Then they set aside that time on their calendar and protect it.

How we spend our time reflects our identity, who we believe we are. It is an outward express of our values in the world.

If you look at your schedule and see a bunch of “to dos” that make you cringe, don’t panic. It’s not time to go find a new job (not yet at least) or take a vacation to Bali (that does sound nice though), instead start by simply reflecting on what it is you deeply value and making time for it each week.

If you want more on values check out this article I wrote to help you develop your core values while also understanding the difference between core and acquired values. ?

About the Author: Alex Barilec is an ICF Certified Professional Coach with a focus on health and well-being, and he is also the co-founder of The Mindful Health Collective. His mission is to help family-oriented professionals and entrepreneurs balance the personal and professional demands of living in the modern world. And he aims to accomplish his goal by helping you build a healthy life for you and your family using my superpower to help people maximize their potential.?