The common cry of today’s generation is simply this - I
don’t have enough time.
Work is asking for more hours.
The commute is taking longer.
Family schedules are super busy.
Even the church is asking for 5 or more hours a week from
your schedule.
Our weekly rhythms are so busy, very few of us feel able to
take time for the very things that bring the greatest meaning to our lives.
That seems a little messed up. Depressing really.
- When’s
the last date night took with your partner
- When’s
the last time you focused a few hours on being present with your kids
- How many
jobs are waiting around the house for you when you have a “free Saturday” (Like
those exist).
We’re just too busy right?
Maybe not.
Americans spend an average of 23 hrs a week texting and
being on social media. Some women confessed to spending over 45 minutes per day
in taking selfies (prepping, editing, posting). That’s more than three hours a
day invested into clicking “like” and “OMG” on pictures and videos. It’s hard
to say we’re busy when 3 hours get lost each day on YouTube.
We constantly multi task. Most studies show that while we
multi-task because we think it makes us more efficient, it actually wastes a
lot of time and makes us less efficient at everything we do. As a result we
feel rushed and less efficient. We’re so unfocused we don’t even realize that
our ADD style of work is completely working against us.
33 million people are currently playing fantasy football.
The president of the Untied States filled out a NCAA March Madness
bracket. Online betting, and gaming
numbers are at all time high. In fact more people find time for entertainment
than there are people who find time to vote. Or to volunteer in the community.
There always seems to be time to do things for ourselves, but not so much time
for someone else.
Even the way we start off our days shows a decreased ability
to manage our time. 60% of people seem to be using the snooze button, with 10%
using it 5 or 6 times. The actual rest we are getting during the continual
interruption of the “snooze” function is actually very minimal, and the giant
waste of time in our day’s is irretrievable. We’ve blown an hour of our days
because, “we just needed 5 more minutes of sleep (that we probably wasted the
night before on our phones when we should have been going to bed.)
Obviously the reality is that we have no more or no less
time than previous generations did. In fact modern conveniences of cars,
working from home, email, and other inventions made to make life easier might
actually give us time advantages rather than disadvantages.
We’re not over worked, we’re under planned.
We put time into things that really don’t matter all that
much. A simple adjustment of where we invest time might not only might make us
feel more productive, but actually help us feel less rushed as well.
1) Put down the phone.
How much time do you want to invest on social media each day?
What seems reasonable to you? If you have 2-3 hrs with your family, hopefully
you don’t want 2-3 hours with your phone as well. Social media is fun, a great
outlet and way to relax. However anyone claiming that they don’t have time for
work/family/friends that regularly maintains an Instagram account and plays
online games… needs a priority check.
2) Clock out at work.
We’re working longer hours, but becoming less and less
productive. Check out this article on Economist.com showing that the average worker’s output peaks at about 50
hrs. In fact there is almost no difference to how much we get accomplished in a
70-hour work week compared to a 55 hour work week. It’s 14 hours of complete
waste. Working longer is not a badge of honour. Work hard while you’re at work,
and then check out to move onto the other important things in your life.
3) Maintain a schedule.
Too many of us are controlled by the tyranny of the urgent.
Whatever problem pops up onto our radar is what we tend to. While emergencies
obviously do present themselves from time to time, each of us has the power to
be control over our own schedules. If something is important t you, set aside
time in your schedule to tend to it this week. If it’s not something that’s
important, just because someone else draws your attention to it doesn’t mean
you need to address it immediately. Empower yourself to say, yes that’s
important, and I plan to get to that tomorrow. Right now I am dealing with
something else.
4) Prioritize Fun.
Maybe it’s not going to be #1 on the list of priorities, but
life wasn’t meant to be all work, no play. Down time and hobbies are the things
that enrich our lives. In our weekly rhythms we should have regular times to
relax and read, go out for walks, spend time with loved ones. If your online
time, work hours and other schedules are regulated, you’ll find lots of free
time to be able to enjoy all the “additionals” in your life.
We’re not too busy.
We have the power to give ourselves the gift of time.
Make it a purpose to take back control and live the life,
and have the time to live the life you always wanted to live.
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