7 Ways To Gain Back Time In Your Life

Most individuals are striving to gain more time out of their day. They push the limits by staying up into the wee hours of the morning or waking up at the very crack of dawn. We cause ourselves to be run down just because we can’t fit everything in a 24-hour scheduled day. These small changes will create time for doing the things you love:

1. Let’s break down days, hours and minutes. You get to class ten minutes early to show you are an A+ student; however, the reality is that most individuals won’t even acknowledge it. Let’s say you do that for your six classes out of the week. Guess what? That sums up to one hour in your life that you could have been doing something else (aka watching another episode of your favorite Netflix TV show).

2. Sleep, sleep, sleep. I know this may sound backwards in that the more time I am sleeping the less time I have to do things. In reality, there have been numerous studies reported that more sleep leads to greater productivity. Sounds pretty simple, right? An eight-hour deep sleep will provide higher benefits because you will be accomplishing task list items faster and will be happier in the process.

3. Your closet is your worst nightmare. Ladies and gentlemen can both agree that picking out that perfect outfit in the morning can be quite a hassle. It can take hours to get ready, from putting on your makeup to doing your hair. This doesn’t even include deciding what loafers are going to match that perfect color scheme of your shirt and belt. I have found two solutions to this problem: 1. Organize your outfit combinations the week before and pull them all out. 2. Buy only versatile clothing with few statement pieces. You will have less to deal with and more fun in the process of finding those great combinations.

4. Your time is like a dollar bill; spent only by you. Each person is figuratively given a dollar bill of time in his or her day. Are you going to spend one hundred pennies on different items or four quarters throughout it all? Personally, I would rather take the four quarters due to less stress of determining what items to pick and I get more value in the process. Take time to evaluate where you are spending your “time” money.

5. Social media devours your time and soul. Everyone loves to catch up on the latest gossip from their Facebook newsfeed, see what people are thinking through his or her Tweets (#Kimye) and plan their ideal, not-happening-anytime-soon wedding on Pinterest. Those quick twenty minutes soon become three hours of pointless roaming through different sites. In an effort to combat this battle, try to use different techniques to stop yourself from doing this. Set an alarm, make one time during the day you will do this or use different sites to block this social media sites. It is funny, while we are learning about others lives we stop living our own.

6. Give yourself purposeful incentives. Much of our time is spent trying to figure out what to do rather than the physical action of “doing”. Take time to schedule in fun, and meaningful incentives for getting things done. For example, after writing this article I am going to get a delicious Vanilla Latte to cozy up to in this brisk, Minnesota winter weather.

7. Do things that “matter” rather than doing “more”. We are in a millennial culture of constant “more, more, more” rather than what truly matters. I have seen various individuals strive to be the most “involved” rather do things that are the most “meaningful”. Determining significance in life events is where the problem lies, as it can be difficult for individuals to evaluate. It is essential for all people to acknowledge where their “time” is being spent. We only have one life to live so make it meaningful.

Alright, time to get back to reality. Live that beautiful life you lead.