Posts Tagged ‘finding time’

A few days ago a wrote an article titled Learning Something New about pursuing the things you want to do and not being put off by the fact that they might take a long time to learn. To get good at something you will need to put in quite a bit of time, and I am guessing that your schedule is probably already pretty full. So to try something new you are going to need to “find” some more time or better yet, “make” some time.

The big difference between “finding the time” and “making the time” is basically a mindset. I have a number of friends who have goals and things they want to do, but those things always seem to be off in the near future somewhere because they are still trying to “find the time”. If you are serious about doing something, then you should decide to do it and then make the time.

Two Simple Ways to Make Time in Your Schedule

Efficiency and Effectiveness

This method doesn’t require that you give up any of your activities in your time schedule. Only that you do them more effective and efficiently. Maybe you are spending an hour at a gym three times a week to keep in shape. However, by changing your workout routine to a more effective one you can get the same results in only 30 minutes. You have just created an extra hour and 30 minutes a week in your schedule.

Remove Wasted Time

This method is really more a part of becoming more efficient and effective. The essential point is to stop doing things that don’t give you the benefit or result you are seeking. This can be anything from cutting down the number of times you read your e-mail at work, cutting down your TV watching and internet viewing, or quitting activities you are no longer interested in. If you are not sure which activities to get rid of, simply start considering any activity you do because you are bored or because you are avoiding something else.

Some ideas for making more time in your schedule

• Plan further in advance to reduce the amount of time/number of times you go shopping
• Group errands by location to minimize your driving time
• Reduce/remove TV/Internet time
• Group like tasks
• Focus on one thing at a time
• Stop doing things you no longer enjoy

This is just a shor t list of ideas. Please feel free to add more.