Perhaps you have said, I do not have time for anything.
Although there are circumstances in life, obligations, and commitments that in many cases are unavoidable, the truth is that we all have the same 24 hours per day. Why does it seem that some people manage to complete several tasks at once, and others cannot accomplish tasks that seem simple?
For experts in time management, the first step to better manage your schedule is to set priorities. To do this, ask yourself: How do you spend most of your time?
Out of the 24 hours we all have, if we subtract 8 hours for work and 8 hours for sleep, we have 8 free hours, not including weekends. How do we use that time?
At the end of June, the Bureau of Labor Statistics published a survey on the use of time in the United States. The average American spends an average of 5 hours a day, from Monday to Friday, on recreational activities. The main recreational activity is watching television. Every day, people spend an average of 2 hours and 46 minutes in front of the TV.
According to the study, Latinos over 15 years old spend an average of 4 and a half hours a day on recreational activities. Per week, Latinos spend about 32 hours on these activities.
If you say that your priority is your family, or your studies, or personal development, or spiritual growth, how much time do you actually devote daily to those priorities
?
Once your priorities are clear, the next step is to regain control of your schedule. According to time management expert Laura Vanderkam, author of various books on the subject including What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, when someone says, I do not have time
for an activity, in reality that person is saying that activity is not a priority for me.
Vanderkam adds that instead of saying I do not have time to do something,
we should be honest and say, I really do not want to do it now.
The author states that changing our language reminds us that time is a choice.
The next step is planning your tasks, even the recreational ones. Writer Rory Vaden, who is also co-founder of Southwestern Consulting, says that there are several time multipliers. For one of them, he proposes the following formula: You multiply your time by giving yourself the emotional permission to spend time on things today that will give you more time tomorrow.
Finally, we must adapt time to our reality. Each person and family can have different situations, circumstances, and schedules that consume their time differently. The idea is to find a way to combine activities with our priorities. For example, if you cannot enjoy dinner with your family because of your work schedule, you may be able to make changes to your morning routine and turn your breakfasts into family time. If you spend more than an hour a day traveling in your vehicle, instead of listening to music, you can listen to an audio book or learn another language. A trip to the park with the family can become a time for physical exercise if you actively play with your children.
Time is a very valuable resource, so you should never waste it. According to Jim Rohn, author of the book Twelve Pillars: Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.