I was talking to a friend recently who is a wife, mom to two (12 and 10), professional, school PTA board member, and the list goes on.  I have known her for years and she is a wonderful person and excels at everything she takes on.  The question on her heart is how to have time for the things that are important to you.

We all have 24 hours in a day. Take out 8 hours for sleep and that leaves 16 hours to fill with activities. It sounds like a great deal of time. Planned and unplanned activities and responsibilities start to quickly chip away at these hours. 

Finding Time

There are numerous suggestions on how to find time.  They are all good suggestions. The list can be overwhelming.  As a place to start, here are my top 5.  They are listed in order of importance.  Start with priorities and move down the list.

Determine Priorities

• Decide what is important to you and pick your top 3 to 5 priorities.  These might include health and fitness, family, career, healthy eating.
• From the top 3-5 priorities, determine how you want to spend your 16 hours left in the day.

Set Goals

• Set small achievable steps. A goal might be to build muscle.  Small achievable steps can include lifting weights 15 minutes, 3 days a week.  Once that is achieved, move to the next small step of lifting 30 min 3-5 days a week.

Get Organized

• Schedule appropriately by recording priority activities on your calendar.
• Give up activities that do not match your priorities or waste time.
• Delegate and get help form others.

Give Yourself Grace

• Be kind to yourself as you experience the ups and downs in life.
• Say kind things. Instead of saying you “can’t” or “failed” at something, say it was a hard day and you did not get everything accomplished.  You will regroup and get back on track. 

Develop Daily Routines

• Let your priorities and schedule help to develop daily routines that are consistent and comfortable.

Life can be a joy when you have time for the things that are important to you.  Using a coach and getting support from others can help you prioritize and control how you spend your time in life.