Life is busy!  Managing work, school, families, social commitments, etc. can all add up and leave individuals feeling like they just don’t have any time left in the day to do what they want to do.  I came across a recent podcast from The TED Talk, where author Laura Vanderkam discusses how to gain control of your time.  One thing she said that resonated with me is, “Time is highly elastic. Time will stretch to accommodate what we choose to put into in.”  She also says that when people say they don’t have time to do something, that means that it is not a priority.

I have personally said thousands of times, “I don’t have time.” But when I think about it, I know I do have the time to do something, it just isn’t important enough for me to commit the time to do it. There have been situations where it has been difficult to fit something in, but if it’s important enough or if it is an urgent situation, I always find time to do it. 

If this is something that you can relate to and want to figure out how to find more time in your week to do what you want to do, I believe the first step is to ask yourself, “how important is this to me and I am willing to make the time to work on it?”
If it is not important to you right now, you are not going to put the time in to commit to it.  If it is important to you, then ask yourself, “When during the week can I commit to this?”

Once you identify a time that works for you, write it in your calendar.  Make this important item a part of your week, and something you cannot cancel (and yes, you 100% do have the power to do this!).  This will take some practice to get used. However, if you stay consistent with identifying the free time you have and following through on doing the activity that you want to do, it will become a habit and you won’t have to search for time to do it, it will just happen.

I understand that this is easier said than done.  Laura does a wonderful job explaining other steps you can take to find time in your schedule to do the things you want to do.  I highly recommend listening to her talk and seeing if the suggestions she gives can help give you the gift of more time to do the things that are important to you.  You can listen to her Ted Talk at:
Laura Vanderkam: How to gain control of your free time | TED Talk
 
Written by Lisa Fisher, Certified Personal Trainer and Health Coach