Have you go the time?

20th May 2015

You'll just keep crashing if you never take your eyes off the rearview mirror. Leo Christopher

Everybody is so damn busy and rushed and stressed, we only get one life and we're just letting it pass us by in a blur of busy!  I'm aware that I have no room to take because I too do more than my fair share of work but I also make sure I have 'me time'  Friday afternoons are completely mine, I have a massage I chill out and I enjoy some quiet, I also make time to meet up with my bestie most weeks and Sunday's usually are spent chilling, apart from last Sunday where we had an area meeting and I won't lie, missing that day off has knocked me out of kilter, I need my down time, it's important to me.  So how do you find time for those things that are important to you or even time to do nothing.

Be Unavailable

Ooo when I read that it makes me uncomfortable, but when I talk to my members and see how busy they are and also how busy I am, I realised that we really need to learn to be unavailable sometimes!   I don't remember the last time I turned my phone OFF, didn't check my emails for an entire day, stayed off facebook and unplugged the internet.    Then there's saying NO to people when they ask you to do something and you've already got too much to do. 

Reduce Commitments

We get 168 hours a week and time doesn’t just spend itself: time is spent on activities.  So are you doing those activities because you want to, or because you have to?  How many commitments have you taken on out of obligation, because you felt they were the right thing to do – or simply because you weren’t thinking about it and said yes to them?  I've took on my Saturday meeting to help out a friend, I've only done it as a favour because it's not forever, I enjoy having my weekends to do what I want to, I may not want to/be able to go away and do things at this time but I still like to chill out in my house/garden. 

It's great to be helpful or try new things, but if you take on too much and are being stretched thin, maybe you need to rethink your situation, is there anything you can say no too, or get out off that you really don't want to be doing.

Spend your time wisely

Are you wasting some of your time, take notice of how you are spending your day because you can't turn a 24 hour day into a 48 hour day to get everything magically done, however you can stop wasting the 24 hours you're given each day.   I'm aware I waste a few hours on tv/facebook/candy crush but I still get a lot done on the days I work, I know I could be using my time more usefully on my days off rather than just 'chilling' but that's where I am at the moment, it's something I'm thinking on.

It's interesting to take notice of where you spend your time – so you can see where you can make changes, observe how much time tele, facebook and the internet steals out of your day.  Even just writing this is making me realise how much I do!

I love this quote;

“Time is the coin of your life.  It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.  Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. “
– Carl Sandburg 

Regardless of how busy I am I start my day with my blog, I know others read it but I ultimately write it for myself, it's some me time, a time for me first thing in the morning to focus on my thoughts, to filter through what's going on in my head and to reflect on my life.  The first hour of every day is about me, that sets me up for the day, it's a habit, a bit like brushing my teeth and having a shower. 

Strangely enough everything always gets done, regardless of how much I have to do or how little time I have, everything gets done and if it doesn't I've obviously got too much to do because I've taken too much on and that tells me something needs to give.

If you're credit card was over its limit or your bank account was overdrawn, you'd find ways off cutting down on your spending to sort it out, the same goes for time, you can't get that back if you run out so put some aside for yourself first, get a diary and decide that some of those 168 hours in your week will be about you and put an appointment with yourself in there, then everything else should be worked around that.  If you're sat there thinking don't be stupid I can't find time for me, then you seriously need to rethink your life because as I said at the beginning of this blog, we only get one Life, don't miss it BeYOUtiful because you're so damn busy!