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If there’s anything we all wish we had more of, it’s time. Fortunately, there are ways to find more time in your day.
Over the last 3 years, I’ve read four Founding Father biographies. I’m most astounded by how much these men accomplished in a short period of time. Especially Hamilton. (Did he ever sleep?)
Many of their accomplishments have to do with intentionally using their time …something many of us, myself included, struggle with.
Here are 5 tips to use your time more intentionally and find more time in your day.
Stop scrolling social media
Social media is one of the greatest time wasters. While it can be used intentionally, it’s incredibly easy to get sucked into mindlessly scrolling.
A couple of years ago I read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. Inspired by this, I planned a digital declutter. Since then I’ve fallen away from good social media habits but I intend to get back on the bus!
Here are some ways to stop mindlessly scrolling:
- Delete social media apps
- Turn off notifications
- Unfollow pages & accounts to curate your feed
- Schedule social media time
- Use screentime limits & downtime
- Keep the phone out of sight (out of mind)
Don’t watch TV (or not so often)
Keeping up with the latest streamed show keeps you in the loop …But it takes so much time! Shows take 45 minutes to an hour to watch. Then there’s the issue of binge-watching.
A couple of years ago, my husband participated in Exodus 90, which included cutting out TV watching. Instead, we read books together as a family, played games, went for walks, and more.
While cutting out TV entirely is a possibility, it’s easier to cut down on TV watching. Here are some ideas to cut down on TV time:
- Choose specific days of the week for watching TV
- Use a screentime limit if watching from an iPhone or tablet
- Limit the number of series to watch
- Plan other activities (such as reading or a game night) in place of watching TV
Plan your days
Seemingly counterintuitive, planning out how you’ll spend your time gives you more time.
By assigning a theme for each day you’ll know which actions to prioritize and make them a priority. This allows focus on one thing to build momentum and traction and get things done.
Using time blocking allows you to intentionally schedule specific blocks of time to work on specific similar tasks.
To get started on planning your days, use these steps:
- Write a list of tasks
- Choose priorities
- Outline your week using themed days & daily anchors (meals, appointments, etc)
- Set blocks of time to work on priorities
Simplify your home
Caring for a home takes time. Daily chores such as dishes, laundry, and tidying can take a long time when they pile up.
Decluttering and paring down to only what items are needed and useful means less to manage. Fewer clothes mean smaller laundry piles. Fewer toys means less time picking up the house. Even choosing to keep one dish and one cup per person will cut down on dishwashing.
Another way to simplify your home is to implement small daily habits. These small habits only take a few minutes but make a huge impact on how your home looks and feels!
Outsource
It’s not always the best use of time to do everything yourself. Outsourcing, or allowing others to take care of specific tasks, allows you to spend your time where it’s most needed.
Here are some other outsourcing ideas:
- Cleaning services
- Dry cleaning services
- Online grocery ordering & delivery (I use Walmart and Instacart)
- Meal services
I don’t outsource all of these (in fact, I only use online grocery ordering). But there are many ways to save time, depending on what’s most important.
5 Ways to find more time in your day
By limiting social media scrolling and screentime, planning your days, simplifying your home, and outsourcing, you’ll find more time in your day.
What’s the best thing you can do out of these five, in my opinion? Plan your day!
Download the free Ultimate Guide to Intentional Planning to learn how to plan and find more time in your day!
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