The Art of Creating Time.

It is an art I am still mastering on a day like this…

The alarm clock rings, and I jump out of bed.

From that moment on, my life felt like an endless to-do list: chores abound, school lunches, the kids’ homework, constant emails, messages from my son’s teacher, the tutor, and the swim instructor, I haven’t spoken to my mother in a week, and …

That reddish spot on my son’s back has not magically disappeared yet. Don’t these things go away on their own?

It would have saved me a half hour on hold on the phone to make an appointment, another half hour waiting for the appointment, and another half an hour waiting at the pharmacy to get the cream he needs.

The 3 minutes in the doctor’s office don’t particularly concern me, time-wise.

Should parents run to the doctor’s office when their child is slightly uncomfortable?

Asking for a friend.

If you asked,

Chany, can you describe your life using one image?

The first image that came to mind was of a headless chicken running around.

But you asked for an image, and I wanted to give you one. Upon searching, I was pleasantly surprised to see that all the chickens had heads.

I will spare you the gruesome imagery and not waste my time on Google; this article is about creating more time, for goodness’ sake.

I learned something about creating time. Doing these things freed me some time to do the things I love.

Rest assured, when I forget about these things, I am back to running around like a chicken.

For the love of God, stop with the chicken and get to the point.

Let’s begin.

1. Take a day off

If you are feeling overwhelmed, chances are your life is overwhelming. Sometimes, we are so busy chasing our tail that we don’t realize the craziness of it all.

I learned this lesson too late; I still don’t know why I didn’t do it when my kids were younger.

A day off is a day off.

As much as we love our kids, it doesn’t count if you are not “working,” but you are changing diapers, feeding children every 20 minutes, playing, reading, putting kids for naps, doing laundry, dealing with tantrums, etc.

I take Mondays off.

Sadly, I won’t be sipping martinis by a pool all day in a hammock. Still, the day off is heavenly.

I still run errands, cook dinner, take the kids to school, carpool, do laundry, and have the occasional dentist appointment on Mondays, but on a decent day off, I have time to read in bed, pray, meditate, exercise, and find time for my hobby, writing.

When did I write this post?

One guess.

2. You can always say no

It took me time to learn this one. I still remember the first few times I said no to something and did not feel bad about it; it was liberating.

Would you stop a doctor going into surgery to ask where the best pizza is in town? Or would you stop a fire truck going full speed and ask for directions?

No, because you know they are on a meaningful mission to accomplish something, and you wouldn’t dare stand in their way.

When you are focused on your life, goals, family, health, business, and studies, you are on a mission to accomplish something.

Do not let anyone stand in your way.

If you cannot add one more responsibility to your plate.

Just say no.

3. The early morning effect

I won’t tell you the cliche advice to wake up at 5 am and get things done. Not because it’s not good advice, but because if you already do it, you can close this article and write “ How to Wake up at the Crack of Dawn” because I have a hard time waking up at this ungodly hour.

My theory is that if you need to wake up at 5, you will. When I was at university, the only time I had to do schoolwork was in the early mornings, so I used to wake up at 3 and 4 a.m. But now, my alarm blissfully rings much later than that.

Back to the point, the early morning effect.

If you do these things earlier in your day, it will save you loads of time.

Shopping and errands:

• Less traffic in the morning ( after school/work rush hour)
• You will find parking easily
• Have fewer ( or none at all ) lineups at the cash register
• Get fresh produce, fresh bread, fresh everything.
• You will be in and out of the store in 15 minutes, whereas at the end of the day, it would take 45 minutes or more.

Appointments:

• Making your appointments first thing in the morning gives you a reason to be ready and out of the house earlier, thus starting your day earlier.
• More importantly, you have a better chance that whoever you have an appointment with will not be backed up by late arrivals, and you won’t waste time in the waiting room.
• Appointments in the middle of the day cut your day off and give you a shorter chunk of time to be productive. You end up wasting time by avoiding tasks that need focus or time since you know you won’t have time to finish them.

Most important tasks:

• By tackling the most critical obligations earlier in the day, you will be more energized and refreshed and be able to concentrate more on the task before your son calls from school, saying that he ate all his snacks and is hungry.

Wait, is it just me?

• By crossing your top priorities off your to-do list, you will automatically get a dopamine hit in your brain, making you feel good about yourself and motivated to tackle the other less critical chores.

• If you have to run to your child’s school with the snacks only to find him complaining that his stomach hurts and he needs to go home, you will still be satisfied and assured that you got something done.

• If you start your day by checking your social media, getting lost watching the news or doing other unnecessary things, time will slip off your hands, and before you know it, you will turn around and wonder, “What did I do today?”

4. Make time for the things you care about

Fact.

You will never have enough time.

If something is important enough, you will create the time for it. If you truly value what you want to have or accomplish, you will prioritize it, and everything else will fall into place around it.

When people say,

I don’t have time for this.

What they are saying is,

Right now, this thing is not important enough to me.

The article below provides a powerful story about what to do to enable you to achieve your goals.

The Other Side of Goal-Setting – ChanyZagury.com

5. Life is a balancing act

God will not hold the sun up in the sky so you can make it to spinning class, make dinner, volunteer in your community, iron your clothes and bake a birthday cake for your dog.

All at the same time.

Life is about balance.

You can do it all.

It is an empowering message, but it is also a dangerous one.

Good for you if you are one of those gifted souls who can do it all.

But for the rest of us mortals, this is just another cliche that creates unrealistic expectations, provokes anxiety, damages our confidence, and is just plain untrue.

You can (try to) do it all. But not all at the same time.

When I work late, I will order takeout for dinner.

On my day off, I will make a healthy dinner early, and we will catch up on homework.

When my kids go to their dad and I don’t have to make dinner, I will work out.

On my rest day from exercise, I will catch up on laundry.

So what I am saying is…

You can create more time in your life.

• Take a day off
• Learn how to say no
• Use the early morning to do your most important tasks: shopping, errands, and appointments.
• Prioritize the things you care about
• Learn how to balance your life

You can do it all. But not all at the same time.