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Where to find more time when the day isn’t long enough
Technology makes life easier by saving us time, right? Sometimes. When a surplus of entertainment and communications options become time suckers rather than time savers, it’s time to simplify.
Do you ever wonder why other people seem to get more done while you’re left wondering how to find more time to do everything? The first lesson in finding more time is to realize that you can’t do everything. Time is finite. You can use your time better by letting some activities go.
Make a Time Budget
Do you know how much time you have available in a day? Start by allotting one third of your day to sleep, give or take a couple of hours. Subtract the number of hours spent at work or in class. How many hours are left? Does that number seem higher than you expected?
Where Does the Time Go?
Completely cutting yourself loose from online social media may not be a viable option. But if you’re doubling up on your efforts, it might be time to make technology work for you. For example, why do Facebook and Twitter when you can use BigTweet to add your Twitter to Facebook?
Also, if you know calling your roommate or best friend will cost you at least 30 minutes, and you just want to set a dinner time, send a text message instead of calling. Use canned text messages to respond to texts, including “Sounds good,” “Usual time and place” or “See you soon.”
One way to measure how much of your time is spent on social networks is to take a week off. First, leave a post that says you’re on an offline vacation. Otherwise you will cause a massive influx of calls and messages from friends wondering where you are.
Resist the urge to hop back on, and experience how much more time you have in your day. Those hours spent praising your latest Oodles of Noodles recipe on Twitter are gone. Now you can find the time to study, work, do laundry, and even spend time with friends — in person!
Take notes through the week documenting “found time” and how you used it.
Measurable Time
All credit cards can be paid online, so schedule time to pay your bills in one session. Also opt out of paper statements from credit card and other companies. Spend less time wondering about bills and payments crossing in the mail. It takes less time to manage bills online than it does handling paper bills, finding stamps and mailing them.
How much time do you spend watching TV shows and listening to podcasts? You can actually measure the time you spend on this media, in minutes. Your favorite TV shows run at 30 minutes and one hour each; less if you have TiVo or a DVR and skip the commercials.
How many TV shows do you really enjoy watching? Cut back on TV time by skipping mediocre shows and reruns. Consider watching all shows on delay through the TiVo or DVR to save time. If your favorite show starts at 8 p.m., set the DVR and do something more productive until 30 minutes past the hour. Start the show and fast forward through the commercials. You just bought yourself an extra half hour for every hour of TV you watch.
Reduce time spent gaming by limiting yourself based on hours spent, not on levels or goals reached.
