A common theme I fail to emphasize enough is that your time, not your money, is your true precious resource. I spend a lot of energy thinking about how to maximize my financial resources and not nearly enough on optimizing the 168 hours a week each of us has to spend. Think about that number. Assuming 40 is working and 56 is sleeping, 72 is your choice. Nearly double your working time! Where’s it all going? Similar to a financial budget you really should have a time budget. Just like with your finances, this is allocated to things you you consciously prioritize, either by obligation or personal satisfaction. I’d urge you to track your time for a week and see where it all goes. You’ll most likely find you are leaking time to things you don’t value. Where are you leaking time? OK, if you have kids, I get it, they’re grabbing at your time like there is no tomorrow. Including some of that sleep time. But still, 72 hours is a lot of time and SOME of it should be for your enjoyment.
What you will find is there are likely several short periods of time every week that are just time killers (a really appropriate term here). How much time mindlessly scrolling social media or surfing the internet for nothing in particular? Or mindless games on your phone? (Some track this and that result might scare you). Maybe just turning on the TV without any show you really want to watch? This is killing your precious resource. If doing these things is a conscious decision of how you want to spend your time, hey no judgment, Angry Bird-it-up. But if these things are just time ‘junk food’ They are stealing your 72. I have some suggestions on how to better use your 72.
- Step one I’ve already mentioned, track your time to see where it’s going
- Create a time budget. I find it most useful for me to schedule leisure time just like every other appointment. Saturday at 9? Sorry, busy. It shouldn’t matter if it’s a doctor appointment or you’re meeting a friend kayaking. Both matter. Having this super rigid might not work for everyone, and of course you have to be flexible if something higher priority comes up, but make sure you consciously decide where you are spend your time.
- Some of your prioritized activity has to fit in the little gaps in your day. Sometimes you’ll only have a spare 15-30 minutes. My wife is an absolute champion at this. Give her 30 minutes and she’ll review on online class, or practice her music, or pull out her sketch pad, or many other things. There will be gaps that can only be filled with things with low barriers to entry. That’s a big reason why we just pull out our phones in those situations. It’s not that we want to, it’s all we have to fill the gap. Try to be prepared with something else you truly value.
- Seek to bunch your time. The above sounds great, but it’s pretty tough for me to go play golf with that free 30 minutes. To free up bigger chunks of time, bunch other activities. Bundle your chores together. If your employer offers a 9 hour day/80 hour week or other flexible schedule, seriously consider it.
- Seek better synergy with your time obligations. For example, commuting to work is a typical time suck of very low value. Maybe sometimes you can bike to work (if you enjoy biking). Or listen to your favorite podcasts or book. Again, my wife kills this by watching The Great Courses on her iPad while doing something mindless like cleaning dishes. Our kitchen still looks great and she now can tell you all about Napolean’s rise to power. If you care.
Also, recognize in others when they give their time to you. They are taking there single most valuable resource and giving it to you. You should always be grateful. Similarly, beware of those looking to steal your time. Be generous just like you are with your money, but protect it too.
I’m always reminded of the great equalizer of hours in a day, the same for each of us. A little prioritization can go a long way. For me, my wife is the gold standard. Since we’ve been married she–
- Received her PhD while raising our two small kids
- Became a pilot
- Learned Spanish
- Became a competitive CrossFit athlete
- Learned Japanese
- Learned piano
- Learned electric bass
- Home schooled our kids
- Learned to paint watercolors
She did all of this while dealing with my BS with a giant smile. Admittedly I have fallen well short of this, but this is the goal I seek.