You Can’t Find Time – And What to do About It

You cannot beg, borrow, steal, make, or find time. Time is our most precious gift and we waste so much of it every day. How often do you hear yourself say: “I’ll find time for that”, or “I’ll make some time”. It would be fantastic if we could make or find time – we’d be rich! Truth is: it’s an ever-vanishing commodity as demands on the minutes and hours of our day increase. If you are like me, you may feel constantly behind or always playing ‘catch-up’ just to stay afloat in the turbulent seas of life.

The point here is: not to simply understand how to manage time better, but to understand what to stop doing! We are masters of doing more. You can see examples of this from our lengthy ‘to do’ lists to over-blown yearly strategic planning goals. As humans, we seem to have a manic desire to cram more and more into our schedules.

Want to take control of your ‘To Do’ List? Here’s how.

FirmBee / Pixabay

How about technology? We have almost limitless information at our fingertips, and instant gratification. We expect to use all of it – all of the time! Email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google +, the internet, countless apps on our phone, mobile games, chat, text, and the list goes on, and on. Communication, gadgets, and information is wonderful: if utilized properly and in moderation.

Think about it. What do we actually DO during the day? Being ‘busy’ doesn’t mean you are actually being productive. Activity does not equal accomplishment! It’s not the big deadlines and having families that run us ragged. It’s everything else.

Fun Fact: our brains can only process one piece of information at a time.

Our brain is magnificent and processes very quickly, but it can only do one thing at a time. It has been proven that the more we ask our brains to switch between types of processing, the longer it takes to do it each task, and you can actually cause damage by over-stressing your organic processor. There is value in focus! I used to think that I was a great multitasker – but there is no such thing!

We think we can do so much, all the time, and we are burning ourselves out.

Recognize what is eating our time! My mother calls Facebook – Facesuck.

fancycrave1 / Pixabay

Not very politically correct, but extremely accurate. I use Facebook because it’s a valuable tool for social media as well as virtual interaction with friends and loved ones. Years ago: if you didn’t call or see someone you had no idea what they were doing. Facebook has its place and a good one! However, I limit my usage times. It’s entirely too easy to become lost in the wealth of streaming information right at your fingertips. Before you know it: 2 minutes has turned into 30!

Don’t have self-disciple on Facebook? No worries – there’s an app for that and a great article discussing how limiting social media use can give you back hours of your day.

How about email?  Most of American under the age of 50 now use email as much or more than texting – particularly for business. How often have you emailed a question to a co-worker that could have been handled by phone call or better yet – a walk by their work area on the way to get coffee? If you don’t think have time for that: you will be surprised how much time email takes over verbal communication, not to mention the fact that you have to wait for an answer, or clarify the point, or respond again, and so on. In most cases: the entire correspondence could have been handled more succinctly via phone or in person, negating the potential for misunderstandings.

Now: consider a moment how much email you receive and send in a typical day. Do you also have the ‘Email Graveyard’ at the bottom of your Inbox where communications go to languish in despair? The average American business user sends and receives 120 emails per day. How in the world can we get anything done?

Remember: we can only do one thing at a time.

Here’s a Story about Email Success: a forward-thinking business owner decided to try an experiment and limited email usage to only half of the working day. He also mandated that his entire staff do the same. The results were phenomenal! The business became more productive, had more synergy, improved morale, and it reduced stress dramatically. Everyone had an out of office message during non-email times that stated when they would be available to review and respond to emails. No clients felt slighted and, in actuality, their customer service was even better than before! Brilliant and edgy, but it worked.

radoslawczarnecki0 / Pixabay

What about our kids? We ask so much of them; do they have the opportunity to be children with all of the after-school programs and extra curricular activities? It is true that after-school programs for older kids are key to directing energies in a positive fashion. But an overload of extracurricular activities also doesn’t bring the perceived benefit a lot of parents and kids are looking for: a good-looking college application. There is only so much time in the day, so help your children choose programs that benefit them, without overloading them and you.

Becoming conscious of what is absorbing our time is the first step to managing it. Be aware and be wary of the enticing lure of social media and all the associated communication applications. Know that communication does not equal connection and to be successful in life it is vital to connect with others: family, colleagues, clients, and friends. Understand what is needful and what is not – and stop doing things that are not helpful to your daily life goals.

I hope this brings awareness and adds value; please feel free to comment and share.