Are you overbooked, overscheduled and overwhelmed? Do you always feel like you’re trying to find extra time? Trying to find the time and energy to add something else to your already full plate? Well, I have been right where you are, and I learned a crucial lesson: you don’t find time, you make time. I’m sharing a few of my best tips and strategies to help you make more time in your busy life!
Being swamped has become a normal, everyday occurrence. Everyone is swamped, and everyone is busy. If you’re not swamped, you feel unproductive. And at the same time, it feels like you can’t get anything done.
Have you ever found yourself saying things like, “If only there were a few more hours in the day!” or “I wish I just had more time!” Well, you’re not alone. As a wife, mother of five, and an entrepreneur, I know first-hand what it’s like to be overbooked, overscheduled and overwhelmed. That is until I decided to make some real changes in my life.
How do you make time?
You see, for many years I dreamed of owning my own business and being my own boss, but my life was just too busy for me to focus on my dream. Who am I kidding, my life was chaotic! With my husband, kids and working a full-time job, I barely had time to think about what was for dinner every night, let alone concentrate on a dream. Does any of this sound like your life right now?
Between little league, track practice, music lessons and dance recitals, I just couldn’t find the time I needed to get my business off the ground. And that’s when I realized that I couldn’t find time because I needed to make time.
I learned that the only way to make time in my life was to prioritize and streamline my daily activities and commitments. Quite simply this means that you can’t do everything and you have to make some cuts!
Here are a few of the strategies I used to make more time in my busy life.
#1 Take a Timeout
That’s right, pause! Take a step back. Find a quiet spot to take a good, honest look at your life. When you’re continually rushing, you can lose track of where you are in life and begin to just go through the motions. Pause, breathe, take a break to assess where you are and where you need to go, and what you need to focus on.
#2 Assess What’s Important
What’s important to you? What is it that you would love to do or have more of? It could be more quality time with your family, or like me, more time to focus on your business. Make a short list of 4-5 things you want to make room for in your life, even if you’re not actively doing any of these things right now. You need to know and recognize what’s important to you.
#3 Evaluate Your Time
Where are you currently spending your time? Take inventory of your current schedule and how you spend your time. This will help you begin to see why you are overwhelmed and identify potential areas to make cuts. What can you reduce, minimize, eliminate or cut out completely?
We have to stop overcommitting ourselves and spreading ourselves thin. We can’t do everything, nor should we try! Even if that time is spent doing good, helping others or volunteering at your church. There must be a balance. Now, don’t run out today and quit everything you’ve ever been involved in and say, “Tamara told me to quit.” I don’t want to get any angry emails from pastors and committee members about losing their good people. I will deny it. I’m merely telling you to reevaluate your commitments and determine what really deserves your time and attention.
#4 Learn to Say “No!”
If you say “yes” to every request, you will never have any free time. Get super protective about your time and say “no” to everything that isn’t in line with your goals and priorities. Yes, you actually have the right to say “No!” without feeling guilty. When someone asks you to do something ask yourself,
One, does it fall into line with the things I determined are important to me?
Two, does it help me accomplish one of my goals or move me closer to my dream?
Three, is this an opportunity or a distraction?
#5 Delegate
Share the love and the workload! Don’t feel like you need to do everything by yourself. Seek out others who can assist you and handle tasks, including your spouse and your children. Delegating frees up your time and allows you to streamline your daily activities and commitments better.
So, remember, you don’t find time, you make time, and the only way to make more time in your life is to take back control of your time and schedule and streamline your activities and commitments.
When I took back control of my schedule, I was able to do many of the things I’ve always dreamed of doing. I went back to school and earned a Master’s degree, I started a business and I wrote a book! What will you do when you “make more time” in your life?
I hope that you got something from this episode that you can really use to make some positive and changes in your life.
And there are plenty more tips and strategies where these came from. In fact, there are 21 strategies in all, and you can get them all for free on my website. Just go to www.TamaraHartley.com and download your FREE copy of my report: Don’t Find Time, Make Time, so that you can start implementing these strategies and make more time in your busy life today!
If you’ve enjoyed this post, please be sure to like it, leave your comments below and share this with others who need to make more time in their lives so that they have the time and energy to focus on what matters to them most.
I would love to hear from you. Let me know how you put these strategies to use in your life. You can connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @ImTamaraHartley. Also, let me know if there’s a topic you would like for me to cover. I love getting your comments, your feedback, and your suggestions.
