Father Time: How to Maximize this Precious Resource in Daily Practice

I’ve had a lot of practice, especially in recent months, in managing my time and, more importantly, maximizing my time. Through my own process I've identified four strategies to maximize this precious resource. Let me begin by praising people who successfully juggle multiple jobs, family obligations and maintaining a semblance of self-care balance. It’s not easy.

Recently I experienced several transitions including making a 180-degree career change and working multiple jobs. When making a career change there is bound to be a learning curve and adjustments to understanding a new industry. With this learning comes greater mental exertion and a heightened focus of attention. For me this also translated into more fatigue overall. And because my new full-time job was, well, full-time (in addition to another part-time job I held), the available hours to enjoy sunshine and wakefulness diminished significantly. I now had to figure out more efficient strategies to the maintenance and upkeep of a home and property, when and where to fit in physical fitness endeavors, how to keep up with blogging and other hobbies that have schedules associated with them, streamlining cooking and meal prep, making time for fun and socializing and many more life adjustments. The process of figuring it all out is a continuous one but here are some lessons learned:

1) Identify priorities and have timeframes. This is similar to the practice of developing SMART goals (be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-based). Example: A priority of mine is building in yoga practice at home minimally three days each week with a longer practice session on my one day off. This checked off a few key areas that were priorities: fitness, mental health, meditation, self-care and intentionality. I like to ease into my days. Even though an early riser, I like to savor a cup of coffee while basking in the serenity of my home environment and gently welcome the day. I build in my yoga practice in the morning, after enjoying coffee with my partner (relationship time is another priority). I use the Down Dog app to provide variety and flexibility to my practices and to track my sessions. By starting my day in this manner, I am able to tackle my day with intention from the get go.

2) Be intentional and deliberate with how you fill your time. If you understand the WHY of what you are doing then each activity you engage in has purpose and will move you toward that goal/outcome. For example, I desire to incorporate yoga into my daily routine because first and foremost, I enjoy it! Second, because I know it improves my health overall and third, because it provides a focus to begin the day. Even small pockets of time can be optimally utilized. In any given morning there is typically 10-15 minutes before I need to leave the house when I wash the dishes or attend to some other simple housekeeping tasks. During my bona fide lunch hours (I actually have a formal break in my work day!) I build in a walk and 15 minutes dedicated to working on personal writing or recreational reading, activities I thoroughly enjoy but find little energy for at the end of the day.

3) Develop a loose structure to your day. This is important for the basics of being where you need to be and building in enough time for things that must get completed. But be flexible. I know that I have approximately 1.5 hours of daylight when I arrive home on a given weeknight during the summer months. I have gardens to be tended and want to just relax outdoors after having worked inside all day. Then there is about an hour before total darkness and I am forced indoors. I keep a variety of activities on rotation to fill the time as my mood and fatigue levels dictate. In my life there is structure with flexibility to modify.

4) Use your free time wisely. (This goes hand-in-hand with intentionality.) Balance must-do’s with want-to-do’s with fun-to-do’s. This one can be tricky! It’s rather subjective and easy to veer off course. So, a couple of things to consider when deciding which activities to spend your limited time and energy on: 1) Ensure your three lists are fairly balanced. You don’t want a list of must-do’s that all feel like drudgery with no play. If it is a must-do and doesn’t have a concrete time to be completed in the day, get that monkey off your back and do it first. (Scrub that bathroom!) 2) Highlight two want-to-do’s and make them your next priority. Are these tasks something that can be broken down into multiple steps over multiple days? 3) Assess whether your fun-to-do’s can be sprinkled in throughout your given available time. If so, then sprinkle those delightful distractions in regularly! Take five minutes (okay, who are we kidding, plan for 20!) and work on that jigsaw puzzle. I like to mix my at-home work tasks with playing piano. I can sit down and play a song or two several times throughout the day to build in meaningful breaks.

This month I am paying attention to prioritizing self-care activities into my limited time. For they are just as important as my day job(s). Some ways I’m finding success is through using my leisure interests as breaks for not-so-fun tasks. (Ex: working on puzzles, playing piano, petting the cats, gazing at the landscape for a few minutes, adding a layer to a mixed media project, etc.) I’m also clear about how my leisure activities are actually connected to my short and long-range goals. (Ex: Cooking meals and creative pursuits contribute toward social media/blog content.) Self-care is intrinsically linked to health and wellness and this makes physical fitness endeavors all the more meaningful and enjoyable. Lots of research encourages an “accountability partner” and this is another mechanism I have in play. My partner is engaged with all aspects of these pursuits along side me, and me with them, so there is always an encouraging advocate in the background.

Recently, I asked one of my adult children how they fit everything in working two jobs, seven days a week. They stated quite simply, “you definitely use time more efficiently when you have less of it.”

I’m finding this to be true. I reflect back and think of how inefficiently I’ve used my time resources in the past – somewhat taking time for granted. I like where I am at now. I’m learning, growing, occupied with meaningful activities most of the time. And what of those precious spaces in between? I allow myself to do nothing. Or something that isn’t on one of the three to-do lists. But mostly nothing. 😊 That in and of itself is often rejuvenating in its own right.

I will confess, I was overwhelmed at first with trying to fit it all in; so, I understand what you are experiencing if that is your reality right now. I found that once I realized the four lessons learned above, it became easier to navigate, prioritize and actually accomplish all that I wanted to do. I’ve also learned the important lesson of being gentle with myself in any process. Press on, for you are strong and have some goal in mind worthy of your pursuit!