5 Actions to Reclaim Your Time

If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of. -Bruce Lee

“I don’t have enough time.” How often do you say this?

As a mom of a toddler who is currently pregnant with her second and runs a coaching business, I get it. A lack of time is frustrating and stressful. It can feel like there are always tasks being left undone. The cycle continues day after day with things to do that are piling up week after week. Building an awareness followed by action is the opportunity we have to experience something different. When we think of time as a currency, it can invite curiosity to how we spend it. Here are 5 actions that help my clients and myself experience more time.

5 Actions to Reclaim Your Time:

1. Decide and Articulate What Your Priorities Truly Are

If you don’t have clear direction with your values, it will be difficult to choose what to prioritize. Our actions are tied to our values both conscious and/or unconscious. Our values inform what we agree to. Learning what to say “no” to creates space for you to say “yes” with more intention. You might find that less is more.

2. Identify Time Leeches

What are your wants vs needs? It can be challenging to get real with where we are wasting time/energy. What might help is to get curious about coping mechanisms vs fulfilling tasks. Are the ways you're spending your time leading to what you want to experience? An example of this might be Netflix or mindless scrolling on social media. I've been guilty of both. When that time added up at the end of the week, I had spent several hours that could have been used to more deeply align with my desires and needs. What makes this shift easier is to focus more on what you DO want and notice when you am distracting yourself out of habit and not desire.

3. Align Your Environment to Support your Goals

Swimming upstream is hard work. Parenting/cohabitation can make arranging your space to support your specific needs seem challenging and impossible. Notice the layout of your living space both inner and outer. Is it helping or hindering your goals? Gift yourself small changes that can make what you want easier. Break your day into sections and focus on each section at a time to build daily rituals. Using online calendars is a lifesaver when it comes to up leveling your relationship with time.

4. Know When to Delegate

Is it challenging for you to ask for help? It takes a level of trust and vulnerability to communicate and receive support. Truth is, we can't do it all ourselves. Believe me. I've tried. It led right to burnout. When you need to lean into your community, it's important to be specific with your needs. It's also important to recognize and honor the needs of those around you by asking them to be specific as well. Effective delegation in relationships can only happen with clear communication for the needs of all parties.

5. Keep Trying!

Have you heard the saying, "If you can't do it perfectly, it's better to not do it at all"? That statement is bullshit. Perfectionism is a killer of dreams. It can lead to procrastination and at it's worst it leads to inaction. A thought process that can help overcome this is the phrase, "practice over perfection." It's an invitation to recognize that the little steps lead to big changes over time. Honor your imperfect process by continuing to try.

While there isn't a “one size fits all” type of solution to add time to our lives, how we spend our time in small ways can greatly affect the results we get. Time management helps with stress managment. The little adjustments we make over time add up in big ways. No time is wasted when simple actions follow awareness.