For much of 2023, I found myself frustrated by time limitations. I felt I didn’t have enough time to do the hobbies I enjoyed, plus cooking, cleaning, spending time with my family, homeschooling my kids, and working part-time from home. Something had to give, but when I looked at the activities in my life, I didn’t find anything I wanted to get rid of. Instead, I began 2024 by conducting a time audit to examine how I spent my time and rearranging my schedule.
Getting Back to Basics—Limit Mindless Scrolling
My first step was to look honestly at how much time I spent online. Sure, the internet is an essential tool in my life. I use it to work, do my budget, and communicate with family and friends. But I use it in a lot of pointless ways, too.
In the morning, I can spend at least 40 minutes looking through Facebook, Instagram, my email, Yahoo News, and the few blogs I still read. During the day, I dart over to social media more times than I would like to admit.
I thought about my life before I had internet at home. Even though I was working full-time, I had time to cook, clean, and read a book. Clearly, I needed to limit my Internet time.
Maximize My Optimal Working Time
I am a morning person, and my productivity is at its peak and gradually decreases until 3 or 4 p.m. when I lose my steam. Yet, I was using one of my most productive times —right after waking up— to scroll the Internet.
I changed my schedule so I start working 10 minutes after I wake up. After making this change, I found I could get most of my freelance work done before noon. This small change has been revolutionary.
What Comes Next?
While limiting my internet usage and rearranging when I do my work to my most productive hours has helped me find more time in my schedule for the activities I enjoy, I still have more work to do.
I wrote down how many hours per week I’d like to devote to homeschooling, sleeping, relaxing, working, exercising, etc. But before I tried to set up a schedule based on that, I wanted to know where I currently am.
This week, I’m writing all of my activities in minute detail so I can see exactly how I spend my time. Once I have that baseline, I will work on changing my schedule to how I would like it to be.
Final Thoughts
I recently watched a time-management webinar that said people today will spend over 40 years of their lives in front of screens—phones, computers, televisions. I was appalled. That’s not how I want to spend my life. Instead, I’m working to optimize my time budget so that I have time for the responsibilities I must do, such as cleaning and working, as well as time for those activities that bring me enjoyment, such as homeschooling, reading, and exercising.
Do you optimize your time to maximize the activity you can pack into the hours we all get each day? If so, what are your best tips?
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