What to Do When You Feel There is Never Enough Time

Do you find yourself ending most days feeling overwhelmed because there is too much to do and not enough time to do it? Do you ever feel like you were busy all day long but are not really sure what you actually accomplished? Do you ever feel like you never have time to do the thing (or things) that you really want to do? These experiences are common for so many of us.

Unfortunately, time is a resource that we can’t change. We all have the same 24 hours each day, however, it seems like some people get so much more done, or have so much more control of their time, than others. One factor that contributes to this is that some people are not interested in getting a lot done during their days, which is fine. That is a choice and there is nothing wrong with it, however, if you are reading this, you are likely someone who wants to get more done than you currently are.

So…if you can’t change the number of hours in a day, week, month, or year, what can you do? The short answer is that you can learn to manage the time you have more efficiently. Below are some suggestions for how to do this.

• Make a list of the thing(s) you don’t feel you have time for.

• For an entire week, track how you spend your time. I know this may sound counterintuitive because it will require a bit of time, however, it will be very informative. Log by the half hour what you do with your time each day. The key to this is to be 100% honest with yourself and to be as consistent as possible with this. I created a worksheet that will help you do this. You can download it HERE.

• After you have completed logging your time for a full week, ask yourself if there were things that you spent time on that you did not need to, did not want to, or that you would have preferred to do something from the list you made in step 1, instead of something else that you did.

• Next, take another piece of paper and write out the same ½ hour time increments. You can download my worksheet HERE so that you don’t need to create it yourself.

• Fill in the things for the following week that you have to do. These are things like sleep, eat, go to work, pick up the kids, go to the grocery store, do laundry, etc.

• Once those things are in your schedule, go to your list of the things you don’t feel you have time for and add in one or more of those. Be careful not to add in too many things all at once and make sure that what you add in is 100% doable.

• After you have those items scheduled in, you can go back and add in any of the other things you may spend time on but that you don’t have to spend time on (watching TV, scrolling social media, playing video games, etc.).

• Assess how closely you were able to adhere to your schedule and continue to fine tune things. What things distracted you? Where did you waste time? Where were you not efficient? Keep examining and refining your schedule until you feel like you are getting the results you want in your days. The goal should be that you build in the time you need for each activity, and then you stick to that timeframe so that you get the results you are looking for day after day.

• You may even look at some of the “have to” items and consider if there is an alternative. For example, could you get your groceries delivered? Could you form a carpool with another parent to you don’t have to pick up your kids every day? Is there someone else in the home that can help with some chores?

• Remember to schedule in down-time and fun as part of this practice!

A couple of other things that can be helpful when thinking about how to maximize the use of the time you have are:

• Remove your phone from your workspace when working (if possible).

• Set a timer and work in time blocks focusing on only 1 thing at a time.

• Get up in the morning when you say you are going to get up. Hitting the snooze button will cost you time each day, which will add up over the weeks, months, and years. In addition, when you hit the snooze button, you start your day with not sticking to your schedule.

• Set boundaries with others, to the extent that you can. Let others know when they should not interrupt you unless something is an emergency, so that you can maintain your focus.

• Remind yourself that every single day is an opportunity to regroup and try again.

Since you cannot create more hours in the day, the best thing you can do is to protect your time and fill your schedule with the things that will get you the results you want in your life. If this is not something you are used to doing it may take some practice, but as with everything in life, the more you practice it, the better you will become.

Live your best boss lady life.

~ Karen

Karen Vincent Solutions

P.S. You can check me out on Instagram HERE @bestbossladylife.