➕ Find more time in your life by doing less mindless things. ➖
How many of us use the lack of time as an excuse? I know I have, and to be COMPLETELY honest and transparent, still do at times.
It's the ultimate reason we all use to justify procrastination. I don't mean procrastination in the sense of leaving a work or school project to be done at the last minute. I mean procrastination from the perspective of not achieving your personal goals and not becoming the person YOU WANT TO BE.
Instead of taking control over your life, the hours in your day and the minutes you spend on each task, you choose to "go with the flow" and let the current take you wherever that is
Well, newsflash - life isn't ever going to suddenly make you want to work out, eat better, start a new project or fulfill your karma.
How many of you find yourselves saying things like:
if I had more time, I would work out more
if I had more time, I should do more gardening
if I had more time, I would eat better
if I had more time, I would create more
if I had more time, I could connect more with those in my life
if I had more time...etc, etc.
What's absolutely crazy though, is that we spend a TON of time on mind-numbing and thoughtless activities without even truly realizing it. With so little time (as we all tend to claim), you would think that we would be driven to spend it better on meaningful experiences and richer more in depth moments.
Let's break it down.
We all have 24 hours in a day. Forget the weekends for a second, for five of the days in your week you are going through motion after motion.
Of those 24 hours, 16 are primarily used up for sleep and a full-time job (or school) - and that's if you're lucky. That leaves most of us with a mere 8 hours to spare. You can think of your day in thirds if you'd like. A third is spent on sleeping, a third on work and a last third on yourself.
Whoops - that's a lie. That last third, isn't truly all yours.
You may have to travel from one place to another, obligations, chores and don't forget to shower, pee and eat! After all that is done...you MIGHT have 4 hours left.
What do we all do at the end of the day?
"I want to shut my brain off"
and what do many of us do unconsciously at the end of the evening? Check instagram, facebook, Netflix...the list goes on. We impulsively choose the option that will give us the most immediate reward, similar to the way a pathological gambler makes his or her immediate decisions (2014 Grecucci et al.).
Did you know that on average, a person spends up to 2 hours a day on social media or more than 10 hours online video per week (ref Statista Research Department, Sept 2021). That's roughly 3.5 hours a day. Remember that 4 hours we just calculated earlier? Well, you just used up 87.5% of it up doing something that, for the most part, adds ZERO value to your life.
What we are doing blindly though, is draining energy from our bodies and soul. When was the last time you finished binge watching Netflix and said "Wow, I feel energized and great!"
NEVER.
Typically, you end up feeling groggy, maybe a little fog brained...and not particularly motivated to do anything.
On the flip side, If you were to mindfully do each action in your day, you'd be surprised to discover how much EXTRA time you had. Things actually don't take a lot of time to do.
What takes up a lot of time are the mindless procrastinations that we've enslaved ourselves to. This is easier said than done. None of us are truly in the driver's seat of our lives unless we nurture something called self-awareness, but that's a deeper topic for another day.
EASY TIPS TO GET YOU GOING
Be aware by breaking down your day. Bring awareness to how you are CURRENTLY spending your time. Break down a typical day hour by hour and see what are the things you are doing. What are the tasks that you bring you satisfaction and what are the ones that being zero value to your life.
5 Second Rule (by Mel Robbins), whenever you feel yourself JUST about to procrastinate, break that pattern and count 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Then DECIDE what you WANT to do.
Tip from Jay Shetty, ask yourself each day what is the ONE thing you should do before going to bed to FEEL like you are satisfied with your day. It could be as simple as drinking a cup of tea in solitude to running 10k.
Meditate in the morning - even if it's just for 5 minutes - on who you want to be that day, or what you want to accomplish. Studies have shown that meditation alter the perception of time, both while meditating and after.
Set your alarm clock to when you ACTUALLY need to get up. Automation with lack of intention is futile. Wake up when you actually need to, otherwise get those extra ZZZs in.
Date your tasks. Leave those ongoing to-do lists in the trash. Do your tasks when they are relevant and meaningful. Do them when they serve a purpose and you know WHY. Otherwise, spend that time doing things that are worth more your while.
TODAY, not Tomorrow, not the day after or next week. TODAY, break down what that typical day looks like and start making adjustments that help you go to sleep tonight feeling a bit more fulfilled and satisfied with what you have accomplished.