Time is a funny concept. Do you ever ask yourself where has time gone or why is it flying so fast? And then there you are staring at your watch, counting down the hours, minutes and seconds left until your workday is finally over. We’re always in a rush for summer to come, for the kids to grow up or to grow up ourselves. For Halloween to come and go so we can wait for Christmas and all the madness to be over soon. Right now, I’m waiting for my birthday in February so I can be 25 because I feel like 24 is a weird number. That won’t be the case when I turn 35 though, that’s for sure. I’ll be holding onto 34 like a kid holding onto a parent’s leg.
It’s this paradox nature of time that’s got us running in circles, always trying to catch up, yet always feeling behind. Creating a balance between work and family and finding a minute for the things that we love seems hard. I have read all sorts of suggestions on how to save bits of time here and there, so you can have it for the really important things. Some people would record their favourite TV shows so they can fast forward through the adverts. That saves them enough time to cook a healthy meal instead of ordering a takeaway. Do you know what else can save you that time? Not watching TV at all.
I saw a TED talk a while ago about gaining control of your time and as I was writing this I remembered a story. The lady giving the talk was studying this group of people with extremely busy lifestyles and schedules for a book she was writing. She came across a businesswoman with 4 kids who had a broken pump in her house. All the work surrounding the broken pump cost her 7 hours of her week. Yet if someone asked her at the beginning of that week if she had 7 hours, she would have said no due to her busy schedule. This just goes to show that we cannot create more of it but time will stretch itself to accommodate what we choose to put into it. The key to time management is to treat our priorities as if they were that broken pump.
Using time wisely can mean different things to different people. Some would like to wake up early in the morning and have a twenty minute workout. Others would prefer to spend that time sleeping or reading a book in bed. I love spending my lunch breaks outside even if it’s cold just because I find it relaxing. If you say you don’t have time to read but you want to, what about reading on your morning commute to work? Even audio books are a thing now, so you really can’t make excuses anymore. We all find time for what’s important to us and usually the phrase “I don’t have time” means “I don’t want to do it.” Not having time is an excuse that we make when something is not our priority.
I’m not going to say start planning your life and you’ll find time for everything. Writing a weekly plan does not guarantee you will end up ticking everything off your list. It’s hard for me to count the amount of times I’ve written my weekly schedule and then things have popped up last minute and messed it all up. I think if you break down a week into 168 hours and take out the hours that you work and sleep, that still leaves you plenty of time to focus on other things as long as you decide to make them a priority.
I’ve said that before. I never used to be a watch person and didn’t really see why people needed them until I got one myself. Now the days I go to work without a watch, I’m just feeling lost and confused. Having an idea of the time helps me plan my day better and more effectively and allows me to focus on making time for the things that I love doing. The Classic Petite Ashfield watch by Daniel Wellington is the perfect companion for those short winter days when it seems like time is just flying. The rose gold detail is like a little ray of sunshine which I’m really missing in the cold months. You can use my code MIHAELA for 15% off everything on www.danielwellington.com
Michelle x
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