We all have the same amount of day and night, and the time we do have is not only finite but also subject to endless demands. Some of us find or make time for doing what we love and what pleases us, while others succumb to allowing the never-ending demands and burdens of the responsibilities and commitments of daily life to rule over them.
Like myself, I am sure you could probably come up with many different things you would rather be doing with your time on any given day, but we push them off into the distant future with the promise these things will be in our life someday.
We just don't seem to ever have the time to do what we want, what we most desire and dream of.
I think that needs to change. I think we need to start to reclaim our time and take it back. It is time we start making the most of the time we have and start creating the life we want for ourselves.
We can all start small by reclaiming our free time. Yes, it will be challenging and it will require commitment and dedication, but with some devoted effort, you should begin to see quick results.
Your life should be what you want it to be, and not run by the schedules and timeframes of others.
Having more free time can be achievable. It all boils down to how much you are willing to make changes to your circumstances and situation. These changes need not be big or all-consuming. Even just freeing up some spare time for you to get back into a hobby, an activity, or to simply take time out for yourself to do a little relaxation is often enough to have a positive impact on a person's life and outlook.
10 Easy Ways to Have More Free Time
Not all of what is written below will apply to everyone, and nothing is guaranteed to work perfectly for you. All I can recommend is that you go with what speaks to you personally and give it a try.
1. Take a Step Back
To free up your time, the first thing you should do is take a step back and look at your life as it is right now. The goal should be to free up at least one hour per day, several hours if you can manage it. What things are filling up your day and consuming your time? Put things into perspective. Is everything essential? Draw up a list of things you do with your day and ask yourself if is there anything you could cut out or reduce to make more time.
With the spare time you do manage to find, have a think about what you have always wanted to do. What is it that you love doing but haven't had the time to enjoy?
2. Where Do You Waste Time?
What are the things you find yourself spending the most time doing but aren't essential for you to get by? Often we do things out of habit and routine or because we are under the assumption they are important and necessary. If we were to sit down and think about them, on many occasions we could minimise them or cut them out altogether. This could be things such as browsing YouTube videos, and social media, watching TV, playing video games, gossiping about trivial things, and the list could go on.
To get back into doing the things you truly love, you are going to need to reduce the time-wasting things to make room for the things that make you happy.
3. Shut Off Technology
Whilst being a fantastic source of knowledge and information, the Internet and our electronic devices are two of the biggest distractions for our time in the modern world. We have to learn to disconnect from them and go back to the time of our childhood (or the childhood of our parents for you younger people reading) where there was no Internet, no Google, no social media, no Facebook, no mobile phones, and no tablets and iPads. We can be so productive and achieve so much when we shut off technology.
You don't have to go off the grid and hide away from the world all of the time, but if you are serious about wanting to accomplish more tasks and goals, then disconnecting yourself is the best way to do so. Aim for being free from technology for certain parts of the day, and only connect back on outside of these time periods.
4. No More Distractions
Take a look around you and pay attention to what distracts you. What do you see? A distraction need not be a person or a task, it could just as easily be clutter, a messy room, instant messenger notifications popping up on your computer, noisy phones ringing or beeping. See which of these distracts you the most and start to cut them out.
By cutting out as many distractions as you can, you will be able to clear your mind, focus better and pay better attention to detail. This, in turn, will help you be more efficient and get things done quicker, thus you will be wasting less time. And the time saved means more time for you to do the things you love and enjoy.
5. Tell People No
If you are a person who always feels you need to say "yes" to every request people come to you with, then you need to start saying "no". Always taking on the work of others, and even continually helping other people out with their problems, while honourable, means you will never have any free time for yourself. Become more assertive and learn to say "yes" to only the most critical requests and people with the most genuine requests for help.
You need to protect your time and give it first priority above all others.
The time of day you allocate your tasks can also play a big role in freeing up spare time. Here is how you can have more free time in different parts of the day.
6. In The Mornings
I find mornings are the best time to get anything done. I am a natural early riser (often around 5:00 am) so I like to schedule the things I want to do – read, write blogs, exercise, and spend time with family before work – for the morning. I especially enjoy mornings because the day has only just started and it is often too early for it to start being filled with other demands and to-dos that will jostle for my attention.
I don't like to put my morning tasks off until the afternoon because by the time it is the end of the day, I might have other things competing for my time, forcing me to put off something essential or something that makes me happy.
7. On Your Lunch Break
Lunch breaks at work can be a useful time to schedule some things. Rather than sit at your desk and eat your lunch, which can leave the door open to people giving you more things to do, take the opportunity to go outside to exercise, read a book, work on a non-work project, or simply have some quiet chill-out time.
8. In The Afternoon After Work
The time after work but before the evening meal is another great time to do some essential things. This time of day is also great for doing exercise, spending time with family, or doing nothing more than relaxing with your thoughts on your way home from work.
9. At Night Before Bed
Make use of a couple of hours before you go to bed. You get this time every night, so think about what you would most like to do at this time. Enjoy a hobby or a pastime. Work on a project or a side business you are developing. Call and talk to (don't text on your phone or use instant chat messenger) a friend or family member. Perhaps you would like to read or play with your kids. Or you could, say, fold the laundry whilst watching a movie you have been keen to see. This gets two tasks done at the same time.
10. Take a Look At Your Daily Routine
Often we get set in our ways out of habit and from our routine. We get stuck each day doing the things we don't want to do because we get so used to it that we begin to see it as being normal or just "the way things are". Deep down inside, though, we know what we really want our days to be like and what gives us enjoyment and pleasure. So take a look at your daily routine. Is there anything you can shorten, reduce, speed up, cut out or not do? Is there a better way you can be doing something?
Remember, it is your life and you have the power to control it. Don't be afraid to throw out your existing routine and replace it with a new one that is enjoyable, realistic, and built on the things your love and enjoy doing.
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The information contained above is provided for entertainment purposes only. The contents of this article are not intended to amount to advice on your personal situation and you should not rely on any of the contents of this article. Professional advice should be obtained before taking or refraining from taking any action as a result of the contents of this article. The Writer and Shoshin Therapies disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on any of the contents of this article.
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