How to Create More Time in your Busy Day to Do the Magic Things That Matter
/In my wellness coaching practice, I often work with people who say they have “no time”, are “too busy”, or find “planning is difficult”. But, like most of us, they also want to be more conscious in the choices they make - so that they’re able to look and feel better, get more energised throughout their day and know that they’re actively making the right decisions that work for them.
We all have full lives with many different interests - I’m living proof of this… as an Executive Producer at one of the world’s top advertising agencies, I’m also balancing my passions in health and wellness - teaching yoga and meditation, as well as coaching other high performers to find balance in their lives - I’ve learned a few things along the way that have helped, so I want to share in today’s post.
1. Get Clear on Your Priorities
There are so many different things in life that will mean different things to different people, depending on what you value.
All the elements of what make a “good life”: Family, friendships, finances, career, personal development, hobbies, relaxation, fun, personal contribution, spirituality… each of these can be interpreted and valued very differently, depending on who you are.
Out of all these elements, think of:
What’s important to you?
What are the “magic” things in life you want to make more time for?
What do you need to make less time for, in order to “free up time” for the “magic”, or whatever else you deem important?
2. Recognise You Can’t Do Everything
Sometimes we have a mega to-do list. We want to do All. The. Things.
It’s great to have ambition. But it’s also necessary to be realistic, otherwise that mega to-do list will continue being a mega to-do list, with nothing on it done.
Start small. Pick the 1, 2, or 3 things you feel that could be achievable by X amount of time, and start with those.
All the other things on your mega to-do list can be put on the backburner, or scheduled on your 2-year, 3-year, or 5-year plan to work towards at a later time.
3. Prioritise/ Re-prioritise
Which leads on naturally to this point - those 1, 2, or 3 things that you REALLY want to focus on will need to become your priority.
If anything else might pop up along the way asking for your attention (and other things will always pop up), you need to always view it from the lens of:
Is this my priority right now?
Will this help me achieve my priority list I set out to do?
If the answer is “no” - then politely decline.
Of course - it’s also important to recognise when priorities might shift again… and perhaps re-prioritising when needed. But always bring it back to getting clear on your priorities:
Is this important to me, and why?
4. Create + Stick to Personal Rituals
In order to get sh*t done, you have to get organised.
Create and stick to routines that will help you make this automated behaviour, eg.:
Spend one hour every morning/ evening on this.
Preferably make it the same time of day - eg. everyday/ every other day/ every Monday of the week, so it becomes ingrained.
Put it in your calendar - so it becomes a priority and you’ve cleared time for it.
Make it non-negotiable time, so you plan the rest of your day around it.
5. Understand This is an Ongoing Work-in-Progress
If you’re starting to change your regular patterns, it will take some time before you create and develop another pattern that will become routine - even if it’s making the time to do the magic things that are important to you.
Research has shown it takes at least 2 months (if not longer) for a new habit to become automatic and ingrained.
So be patient with yourself, understand that you won’t wake up and automatically start down this new path… and know that some starts and stops will be completely normal and expected… you just need to keep going with it.
6. Work with Someone to Help You Find What Works
Of course, all of the above can be done on your own, in your own time. But if you want to be more consistent, stay accountable, and speed up the process - as with anything in life, it’s always good to get some help from someone who can guide you along the way.
Sometimes it could simply be finding an accountability partner in a friend - if you’re both looking to go to the gym X number of times a week - go together!
Other times, it could help to work with a coach who’s skilled or knowledgeable in the area you’re looking to improve on.
Whichever way you choose to do it - on your own, with a friend, or with a coach - the most important thing is that you quit over-thinking it, and just start now.
Need Some Help?
If you’ve been struggling with “I HAVE NO TIME TO STAY HEALTHY!” and looking for some guidance on how to create your own personal rituals around the right nutrition and fitness activities that work for you - I may be able to help you.
Get organised, create and stick to your personal routines, so you can go onto do the magic things that matter in your life while looking and feeling amazing! (yes, it’s possible!)
Read some of the results I’ve helped people achieve, then please feel free to reach out to me here and see if any of my coaching programs might help you. Book a free, no strings attached call today and let’s chat!
