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How do I find time to do what I want
Image via WikipediaI’m in for a very busy few weeks this month. I’ve just started the 30 Day Challenge with Team Lightening to learn how to develop an online business. Although my committee duties are slowing down, I still have a little to get through. My husband’s brother and his family are visiting from overseas, so we will be spending some of our weekends catching up. And then there’s the usual running the household and taking care of the family. Over the last couple of days I have been asking myself the question: “How do I find time to do what I want?”
Since we cancelled our credit cards I’ve been trying to save money on our needs (necessities) so we have more money for our wants (discretionary items). It struck me this morning that I could repurpose this little philosophy to help me manage my time.
Save time doing the things I have to do, so I have more time to do the things I want to do.
It seems pretty obvious, doesn’t it? But it’s all to easy (for me anyway) to get tied up fluffing around with housework, paying bills and running the kids around. By being organised I can get through these things, that need to be done, much more quickly. Simple things like making sure I put on a load of washing overnight, or organising all my errands to do in one trip down the street can mean that I have more precious time for the things that I enjoy doing.
The other important part of this philosophy is to focus on the things I have to do. Have to do. That means getting them done without being distracted. If I have to run an errand, don’t get distracted browsing through the shops when I have no idea what I want.
Even when I am doing things I enjoy, such as working here on my blog, I find I am sometimes distracted by other websites or fiddling with things. Things that don’t need to be done, don’t add any value to what I should be doing and aren’t really connected with what I want to be doing.
This month I’m going to work extremely hard on saving time on the things I have to do, so I can spend time on the things I want to do. I’m going to do a quick review of my routines to make sure I’m being as efficient as I can and I will be giving my To Do Lists a good working over.
How do you find time to do what you want?
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I find myself in this same situation every few months! I find that taking the time to plan ahead is time very well spent! For instance, this coming weekend we are going camping and normally I’d put off preping for the weekend until Thursday night, but this week is going to be especially challenging, so I already bought all the groceries for the weekend last night! Just little things like that really add up over time…I won’t need to make another trip to the store! (Or three, LOL!) I love how you took the spending $ philosophy and turned it into a spending time philosophy, I’ll have to remember that!!
MJs last blog post..My first Giveaway!
August 5th, 2008 at 12:33 amWell done MJ. You’ll now have a nice relaxed start to your camping weekend. I hope it’s a great one
August 5th, 2008 at 7:52 amHave to do a lot of time re-claiming myself. But I agree with you that when one focuses on one thing one has to do one will be able to do it. I was able to clean my kitchen thoroughly before I start work again next week.
August 24th, 2008 at 3:48 amHave a great weekend.