Whether you are a working professional, wife, mom or all three, it always seems like there is way more to do than there are hours in the day.
“It’s not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?”
Henry David Thoreau
And that’s before you add in the goals you want to work on and things you want to accomplish this year.
What none of us want is to feel so overloaded that don’t have time to breathe. I have been there and have almost come to tears, feeling like I’m drowning in busyness.
So here are 10 ways you can find more time to work on your goals without burning the midnight oil.
- Reduce screen time.
The time we spend looking at our phones, on social media, watching TV and browsing the Internet adds up quickly. Keep screen time to a bare minimum for one week and see how much extra time you have. - Spend less time in the kitchen.
Stock your fridge with several crockpot, freezer and quick-fix meals so you can spend a minimum amount of time in the kitchen, while still keeping your family fed. - Declutter your house to spend less time cleaning.
I have been working on this the past couple of weeks and can see a huge difference in the amount of time it takes me to clean now that I only have absolutely necessary things on the counters and floors. - Delegate chores, errands and calls.
This is not easy for me, because I like things done a certain way. But there comes a point when getting help becomes more important than having the clothes or toys put away “perfectly.” Our husbands and kids can help more than we give them credit for. - Schedule your time.
Treat working on your goals like a meeting or appointment. When you put something on your calendar, you take it seriously and block out anything that conflicts with it. - Take advantage of weekends.
Carve out an hour or two first thing in the morning or at night on the weekends when your time is more flexible. Ask your husband to keep an eye on the kids, and go to a coffee shop or library if you need a quieter place to think. - Take a break from activities for a season.
Give yourself permission, without guilt, to take a break from things like volunteering, Bible studies and other groups for a short time. It doesn’t have to be forever, just until you make significant progress toward achieving your goals. - Dedicate your lunchtime, a few minutes after dinner or before bed to your goals.
Even as little as 30 minutes every weekday adds up quickly and will allow you to make huge strides toward your goal, especially if you have already broken your goal down into small, manageable tasks. - Maximize waiting time.
Think about all the time we spend waiting– holding on the phone, waiting in line, at appointments, picking up our kids, waiting for food to cook. Keep a list on your phone of quick, 5-10 minute tasks that you can tackle during your waiting time. - Batch your tasks.
I’ve also been working on this tip more this month. Grouping like to-dos together, like washing dishes, errands and meal prep, takes much less time than doing them several times throughout the day or week. Washing dishes is a great task to test batching on. Try washing them once each day instead of several times, and see how much time you save.
Pick one of these 10 that seems the most helpful and doable, and experiment with that one first. You may need to tweak it to work best for your family, but having extra time for the things you want to do will be worth it.
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