You get 168 hours in a week—no more, no less. How you spend your time is up to you.
To restructure your time on what matters most, it is important to assess how you spend it in any given week. Reflect and record how you spend your time in a week on areas including the following:
- Physical: sleeping, working out, eating, self-care (showering, brushing teeth, etc.)
- Relational: family time, relationship time, friendship time
- Intellectual: reading, listening to audiobooks/webinars/podcasts, reading articles, watching the news
- Spiritual: prayer, meditation, silence, going to religious services
- Working: commuting, work, meetings, phone calls, emails, projects
- Stuff of life: kids’ activities (homework, carpooling, sports, music lessons etc.), laundry, cooking, grocery shopping, etc.
- Nonproductive time: watching TV, Internet and social media, procrastinating
From the 168 hours, answer the following questions:
- Are any activities on the list getting more attention than they should?
- Are any activities on the list getting less attention than they should?
- How much time do you have left?
- How are you spending the time you have left? On what matters most? Or what matters least?
- Are you choosing to spend time to become your best and healthiest self?
Whatever the answers are in this moment, you have the choice to change how you spend your time.
You may be asking yourself, how do I make shifts in my choices to allot more or less time where I need to?
Immediate solutions may include:
- Examining the time you have left from the 168 and using that time where you determine you need it most at the current moment.
- Experiment with cutting down on your non-productive activities to give you more time on what you deem matters most at the current moment.
For example, if you are only getting 6 hours of sleep a night and you know you need at least 7 to be your best and healthiest self, then you need to find 7 more hours somewhere in your 168. Start with examining your left over time or the non-productive time and see where you can find the 7 more hours you need.
Practical Resources on Time:
How to gain control of your free time (Laura Vanderkam)
Book: 168 Hours: You Have More Time than you Think
How to Multiply your Time (Rory Vaden)
Book: Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time