Make Time For Your Priorities: Part 1

So often I hear someone tell me, “I don’t have time for that.” Immediately, I know that time is not the problem. Poor time management might be at play-I know I’m not the only one that gets sucked into social media! But more than likely, it’s an unclear understanding of your priorities that is the problem. 

See, we all get the same 24 hours in a day. Most people have a 40-50-hour workweek. Most people have homes to clean, groceries to buy, and laundry to do too. Among a million other things they’d like to do. The issue lies in having to make the decision between doing thing A or thing B. I used to have the same struggle until I got intentional about how I spend my time. Because we ONLY get 24 hours in the day. I can make more money. I can buy more food. I can watch that show later, but I cannot get this moment back. It sounds so cliché, but the truth is time is priceless. No one can make more, no one can stop it, no one can refund it. There is only one first Christmas. There is only one first day of Kindergarten. There is only one today. We may get another tomorrow, but we never get another today. 

When the day came that I finally realized just how precious it is, it became very easy to rearrange my priorities. It’s hard to do at first, these changes have to come slow and you must offer yourself grace as you go through the process. However, it is life-changing to finally be able to say, “I’m choosing to do xxx with my time today” instead of, “I wish I had time for xxx today.”  

The first step to reaching that goal is to begin by deciding what your priorities are. Maybe you choose 3 priorities for the day, maybe you choose three for the week, maybe you go as far out as monthly and annual priorities. Whatever your style, you need to have decided what matters most to you. 

Is it more important to always have vacuum lines on your carpet or to spend time being present with your children? Is it more important to stay caught up on this season of Grey’s Anatomy, or have a date night with your husband? Is it more important to scroll through Facebook for 3-hours a day or work out for 30 minutes a day? What are your priorities? What matters most to you? Everyone is different, so you have to decide this for yourself. Whatever you chose is okay, there’s no judgment here, but you have to choose. Then you start every day with the question, do my plans today match my priorities? 

The next step is to start time blocking. Did you know it is impossible to multi-task? Your brain can truly not be focused on two things at once. Research shows it takes more time to jump from task to task than it does to stay focused on one start-to-finish. Then moving on to the next one. It might seem like you can do this well, but studies show it takes your brain more time to reacquaint itself with the new task at hand than you save by jumping between tasks. 

So, first of all, stop trying to do ALL THE THINGS at once. Secondly, you need to decide how much time you’re willing to devote to each task. They call this time-blocking. Just like your high school classes, where you knew from 8-9 you’d be in English, and 9-10 you’d be in math, keeping a schedule like this allows you to stay on track for each task. I show you an example of this below.  

When you’re deciding what today’s schedule is going to look like, it is also important to be specific about the results you are after. For instance, if I write on my to-do list, “clean the house” what does that really mean? Your teenager and you might have different opinions. You and your husband might not agree on what that means either. Shoot, when it really comes down to it, that could mean something different tomorrow than it does to you today. Are you deep cleaning, cleaning for unexpected company, or cleaning like your in-laws are about to come for a visit? You and I both know there are different levels of “clean” in the house.

That being said, the general statement of “clean the house” isn’t enough. Instead, when you create your schedule, break it down to the results you’re looking for. It seems very “Type A” and those Type A folks are going to totally love this, but it works for everyone. There are many different planners out there that have time blocks created in them, the Passion Planner is what I’m using for 2022 (I am not an affiliate of this brand, just love my planner), or you can just create a table in a word document and use it whenever you feel the need.  I have also found half-page sticky notes with daily schedules on them. I love using those when I need to rearrange my day based on something unexpected coming up (I might have used an excessive amount during the homeschooling phase of quarantine!)

Here’s an example of a house cleaning day:  

The idea is such that if one task doesn’t take its allotted time then I can move on to the next and be done with my list early in the day-or give myself that wiggle room for something that takes longer than I expected. However, if I get a little distracted, say at lunchtime, I know that by 1 pm I must get started on the afternoon tasks.

It also helps prevent distractions while you’re cleaning. For instance, if you go to put dishes away and start to think about reorganizing the cupboards, you’d be able to put that on your list for tomorrow as it was not identified as a priority today. Make sense?  

Maybe you throw in more downtime, an afternoon nap, an hour to read, an hour of TV or social media, like I said there’s no judgment here. The idea is that you are intentional about how you spend your time every day. It is in your control; you have the power.  

Don’t tell me you don’t have the time to work out. Don’t tell me you don’t have the time to meditate or pray. Don’t tell me you don’t have the time to go to a healing session, get a massage, or go to the chiropractor. Don’t tell me you don’t have time to meal prep. Don’t tell me you don’t have time for coffee with your friends or date night with your husband. Don’t tell me there isn’t time.  There is always time for the things you desire, the question is, are you making them a priority? 

Every time you use lack of time as an excuse, I want you to ask yourself if you’re making it a priority. If you accomplished many things today, but not your priorities, then they weren’t really valued as priorities, to begin with… or you got a little distracted. Again, that is okay. This takes practice, it takes effort, it is a big change so offer yourself the grace you deserve. But, keep with it. 

Now, I know there are a couple of you who are still saying, “I am not wasting time, I’m working on only my priorities and there STILL isn’t enough time in the day!” I hear you. We’ll talk about what to do then in next week’s post! 

If you’re ready to make yourself a priority and rediscover who you are at the core of your being, I’d love to chat with you. Let’s visit about the ways I can guide you as you work to accomplish your goals. Because I set priorities with my day and want to honor your time as well as mine, I have set aside specific times each month to chat, you’ll find my schedule here!