7 Easy Ways to Find More Time in Your Life

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One of the most common complaints you will hear from people is that there are not enough hours in the day for them to accomplish all the things they want to get done. They are always having to compromise or leave something undone because they do not have enough time to do them all. For some people, this is actually true. They have so much on their plate that there simply are not enough hours in the day for them to get everything done. Many people, however, have far more time than they realize. They actually have more than enough time to accomplish everything they need to do, they simply misuse their time in ways that prevent them from getting everything done. The odds are good that you fall into this same trap. You think that there is simply not enough time in the day for you do everything you want or need to do, but there are likely hours of useful time hidden in between habits that are less helpful.

Everyone wants more time in their day, but few people realize that creating that extra time is far more simple than they realize. Here are some easy ways to find more time in your life.

Unplug

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If you want to have more time in your life, the first thing you need to do is unplug from your electronics. Most people spend hours every day scrolling aimless through Facebook, tapping away at their smartphone or staring at the TV. If you were asked to list what you really wished you had more time for in your life, it is unlikely that you would say you wanted more time to play Mahjong on your phone. So, stop wasting time doing things that you have limited interest in doing. Leave the TV off and put your phone in another room. Then, go do whatever it is you wish you had more time to do. Go play with your kids, get a cup of coffee with a friend, paint, learn to dance or garden. Replace your time staring at a screen like a zombie with whatever it is that you always bemoan not having enough time to do.

Single-Task

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When people feel crunched for time, one of the first things they start doing is multitasking. Theoretically, this makes sense. You can get two things done in only slightly more time than it would take to do either one individually. When it comes to dealing with the human brain and human habits or productivity, the theoretical rarely reflects reality. Multitasking is not the exception to the rule.

While you may feel more productive when you multitask, multitasking is actually less efficient than working on a single thing at a time. When you multitask, you cannot focus as well which means it takes you longer to get each thing done. Because you are distracted by the other things you are working on, your work is usually of a poorer quality when you multitask as well. It may seem counterintuitive, but if you want to be more efficient or work faster, finish one project before you start the next.

Prioritize

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When people say they want more time in their lives, it is usually because they feel like something important is consistently left undone. Sometimes, this happens because you truly do simply run out of hours in the day. More often, however, people fail to get everything done because they let meaningless tasks eat up most of their day. Sure, they managed to sift through their junk mail, respond to some comments on Facebook, reorganize their book shelf and find a better place to store the dog food, but they failed to make a dentist appointment, forgot to wish their sister a happy birthday and barely talked to their spouse at dinner because they were trying to eat quickly so they could finish cleaning the bathrooms. In short, everything important was neglected in favor of minutia that really was not urgent.

If you want to find more time in your day, you need to start by making the best use possible of the time you already have each day. Be very clear what your priorities are each day, and make sure those are the things that get done. Everything else will keep until another day.

Plan in Advance

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How many hours have you lost over your life by staring blankly into the refrigerator wondering what you should make for dinner? How long have spent driving back and forth between stores because you forgot to stop at Target on the way home from work even though you drive right past it every day? An easy way to find more time in the day is to plan things out in advance. Make a list every Saturday or Sunday of what you will eat for dinner over the week. That way, you will know what you need to buy at the grocery store, and you will avoid the time suck of rummaging through the cabinets on Tuesday night looking for inspiration. Similarly, if a store you frequent is right across from your office or on your route home, make a note to stop after work instead of waiting to handle that on the weekends. Put your shopping list in your briefcase or tape it to your steering wheel so you can go straight from work to the store.

Shop Closer

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There is always a question of whether it is better to save some time or save some money. The answer to which is more important will vary from person to person. For those on a very tight budget, it might be more important to save a few dollars wherever possible. For others, it might be better to spend a bit more money in order to save some time. If you are one that favors time as more important than a few extra dollars, stop driving all over creation in order to save $5. Instead of going to three different grocery stores because they have different sales, go to whichever one you like best. Instead of driving halfway across town because the gas stations there are cheaper, simply buy your gas at whichever station is closest. Eventually the money might add up enough to justify spending the time rustling up bargains, but if you are spending an extra hour or two running errands every week in order to save $5, you probably need to reevaluate whether or not it is worth it.

Sleep

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Too many people view sleep as nothing but a waste of time. It is, to them, a biological process that should be limited as much as possible. It is getting in their way of getting things done. If you see cutting back sleep as an easy way to create more time in your day, think again. When you are running on a limited amount of sleep, you are far less productive. Everything takes you three times as long as necessary when you are tired. So, what needs to get done is less likely to be completed due to you running out of time. Hobbies, on the other hand will be less enjoyable when you are sleep deprived. You will also be more likely to snap at friends or family members. Rather than pretending that a lack of sleep makes you more productive, recognize that sleep deprivation is both dangerous and unhelpful. Get a healthy amount of rest, between seven and nine hours a night for the average adult, and get up early in the morning. This will keep you rested and leave you capable of being more productive during the day.

Delegate

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One easy way to get more time in your day is to stop trying to do everything by yourself. Instead, delegate certain tasks to others. Ask your spouse to wash the dishes while you do the laundry. Leave your children responsible for putting away their own clothes or feeding the cat. Delegate where you can without overloading your loved ones with things to do.

If you are going to delegate, it is essential that you leave the person to complete the task themselves. There is no point in asking your spouse to do the dishes if you then hover over them the entire time or redo the entire dishwasher to fit one more fork inside it. If you do not believe someone can do something properly, then do not ask them to do it. Once you have asked a loved one to do a job, trust them to do it and walk away. Otherwise there was no point in asking them to do it in the first place.