Monday, January 13, 2014

Create Margin--Through Busting Time Wasters!


If you are a person who is able to accomplish what you desire to do each day, then skip this blog post.  If you never feel like you have enough time for __________(fill in the blank), keep reading…

Many of us feel like we are chasing our tails, or spinning in a hamster wheel; yes we are moving but not seeming to accomplish what really matters! We hit the bed exhausted and fall asleep (or not depending if our minds can get off the wheel) only to wake up tired the next morning to start the routine all over again!  Something is wrong with the picture of waking up—tired; am I right?
Stop running on the hamster wheel for a moment and consider this question: 


"If I had a half hour (or one whole hour) to myself each day, what would I do?"
If the thought of having personal time each day to yourself sounds like a dream you would love to see come true, then carefully consider the next question:

What area(s) in your day would you consider to be time-wasters?
Our bodies can run on overload for a period of time, but not for too long, without physical, psychological, and emotional repercussions. So, rather than doing a complete over-haul of your life, consider just one or two things in your daily life that you would consider as a time-waster.

Now write them down and think about how you could eliminate, or at the least, minimize them.
I am currently reading the book, "Simplify Your Time", by Marcia Ramsland.  I was amazed to discover how much time is wasted when we are looking for lost items.  In my home, I have received the title of "Finder of Misplaced Stuff"—I have a knack for this.  However, looking for misplaced car keys, wallets, gloves, etc. is a big waste of time, not to mention a stress creator.  (I guess my heart is bigger than my head and so I don't have the attitude "look for it yourself!")

I must share this surprising statistic from Marcia Ramsland in her book, "Simplify Your Time":
                If you have clutter on your countertops and you spend five minutes
                a day looking for an item, that's 30.4 hours a year spent looking for something…
                you could have an extra three days each year to use in a more enjoyable way…

Wow!  Three extra days to replace the time wasted looking through clutter for something; I'll take that!
Now you may be thinking, I did not write down looking for lost things as one of my time-wasters.  If you don't struggle with looking for things in clutter, that is great news! 

How are you doing at keeping your home neat and tidy on a daily basis?  Do you find yourself at a day's end with a pile of dishes to deal with?  It actually takes more time to tackle a large stack of dirty dishes than it does to clean up after every meal.  Take this from an experienced woman on this subject!
Maybe you are spending too much time on the computer reading through junk email. 

Whatever the area you determine to be your "time-waster", make a commitment to yourself TODAY to do something about that!  Seriously consider how you can eliminate or at the least minimize the time wasted!
Eliminating time-wasters is a start in creating margin in your life!

HAVE A HAPPY TIME-WASTE BUSTING WEEK!

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