How To Instantly Make Time For Yourself – And Get More Accomplished

 “An unhurried sense of time is in itself a form of wealth.”
– Bonnie Friedman

Ever wish you had more time? You’re not alone.  A recent survey found that:

  • 70% rate themselves as busy or very busy
  • 50% are more busy than they were last year
  • 45% sacrificed time with friends
  • 30% sacrificed time with family
  • 90% wished they had more time to spend with friends and family.

We’re all busy, and getting busier – but our lives don’t have to be so rushed.

Imagine what you might do with an extra hour or two a day.

Picture yourself going from project to project unhurriedly, knowing that you had enough time in your day to complete everything you needed to do.

In this article, I’m going to lay out strategies I use to instantly make more time for myself – actionable strategies that you can use today.  Let’s jump right in.

1.  Outsource

When most people hear the word outsource, they imagine workers in remote parts of the world doing business tasks or research. However, it can be even as simple as hiring people to do chores that you don’t want to do. Some examples:

  • Cooking.  I tracked where I was spending my time, and managed to free up 10 hours a week…for only $60!
  • Laundry. Either via in house or sending my laundry out to individuals and services, I’ve managed to save 4+ hours a week.
  • Cleaning. Through maid services, individual maids or through assistants on their downtime, I’ve managed to save anywhere from 2-7 hours per week.

I’ve also outsourced work for my business, and trained personal assistants to help me with complex tasks.  This is the single best I’ve discovered to make more time for myself.

Do want advanced training on how to outsource, move beyond time management, and “clone” yourself? It’s time for you to take a look at my new course, The Outsource Solution

2.  Be Unavailable

You’ve heard me tell you before, stop checking your email so often.  When I really need to focus, I don’t just target email however – I make myself completely unavailable.

I turn off my cell phone, log out of social media, and if I can – yes, I will completely unplug from the internet.

Not only does making myself unavailable keep me from being interrupted, the whole routine of preparing myself and mentally deciding I’m unavailable really helps me to focus on what needs to be done.

3.  Reduce Commitments

Time doesn’t just spend itself: time is spent on activities.

My question to you is: are you doing those activities because you want to, or because you have to?

How many commitments have you taken on out of obligation, because you felt they were the right thing to do – or simply because you weren’t thinking about it and said yes to them?

I’m all for trying new things, but if you’ve taken on too much and are being stretched thin – stop trying to optimize and squeeze seconds out of the day, when cutting activities and projects can save hours.

4.  Take Notice

One of the things I learned when I tracked where I was spending my time was the specific websites I visited that were a complete waste of my time.

You can’t magically turn a 24 hour day into a 30 hour day – but you can stop wasting the 24 hours each of us is given every day.

Instead of passively wasting days away, take notice of where you spend your time – so you can actively live your life.

I think one of the biggest challenges of our generation is dealing with is the twin time sucks of television and the internet.  I have a whole slew of strategies for how to stop wasting time online.  Here’s one thought that helps me focus:

Imagine how much time you already have right in front of you that is spent online or in front of the television.  Every moment you spend watching TV or browsing random websites – you are making someone else rich.  Why not instead spend that time on yourself?

5.  Pay Yourself First

I previously discussed my strategy for paying myself first with my time.

In short: I work on my personal projects first thing in the morning. I work on myself first regardless of how busy a day I have, and regardless of any external obligations I need to take care of.

It’s like brushing my teeth – it’s a habit, and the first thing I do when I wake up.

I don’t worry about the details of how everything will get done.  Regardless of how much or little time I have the rest of the day, I always find a way to take care of everything.

And if I don’t?  Then clearly I’ve taken on too much, and I need to let some things go.

Put yourself first, and work on your goals before anything else

Further Reading:

Statistic Source:  USA Today Survey.