Most people feel as if they don’t have enough time in the day. They end up working into the late evening hours either at work or at the "second shift" at home. Often, this means they are missing out on a lot of time that should be used resting, sleeping, and re-energizing. The solution is simple. Limit your options. Let's look at how.
Schedule Everything
The way that you can prevent this problem is through scheduling and limiting your options. Use an online calendar or a paper calendar - either is fine. First, write down and schedule everything that you are already committed to, such as work, doctor’s appointments, eight hours of sleep at night, and so forth. Don’t forget to add in lunch dates, dinnertime with the family, and sports events and so forth that you really cannot (and maybe don’t want to) skip.
Now you have a real idea of how much time you really have left to do other things. Probably not much, right? When you really know how busy you are, it can help you make better decisions. Now when someone else asks you to put something else on your plate, you can look at your calendar and decide if it’s possible. Then you can say no when you need and want to more easily.
Cut Down on Choices
The next thing to do is to cut down on other types of choices. That's what "limit your options" really means. For example, if you plan your meals better, you won’t have to stand there for 20 minutes trying to figure out what’s for dinner. Instead, you simply look at the meal plan on the fridge each morning, take out what needs to thaw, prepare anything in advance that you can, and dinner will be on the table much faster.
Another thing that can take a lot of time is figuring out what to wear. If you lay out your clothing the night before, throw out things you never wear, and only have one black dress pant and one black boot, it will take a lot less time - not only getting ready but also cleaning your home. Most of us have far too many things, and duplicates at that, which causes us to take too much time choosing, cleaning, and organizing.
When you know what you have, and everything has a place, it’s easier to tell what you need more of and what you don’t need more of. You’ll save not only money but also time. When you save time, that gives you something very precious that you cannot get more of and is truly priceless. When you save money, you save having to be stressed out because of lack of money. It’s a win-win all the way around.
Coming Up
Next time, we’re going to talk about the one thing that will help you get more sleep at night and give you more energy every day.