One of the struggles I hear most often is that there isn’t enough time to get it all done. And while I TOTALLY get it, as I think many women are working from morning to night with little or no downtime, I want to push back a bit on this narrative, as I think there are some things at play that we may not be seeing!
First off, many women’s schedules are FULL of to-dos…but often those to-dos are not about them, nor do they help to further their goals and dreams. So yes, remembering to pick up your kids is important…but spending half your day tending to the needs of others often happens without us even realizing it, so it’s important to take stock of how we are spending our time so we can begin to evaluate it.
So step 1 is to do an assessment of where and how you’re spending your time.
Step 2 is to compare those time expenditures with your current goals, your core values, and what means the most to you. Do you see clear alignment, or do you need to consider making some changes?
Step 3 is where you start making decisions. Ask yourself a few questions: For those items that aren’t aligned to what I value and what my goals are, where can I eliminate some things, outsource them in some way, or share the load with another responsible party?
For example, if you’re scrolling social media to relax but realize you’re doing it for an hour each night, how might you cut back in order to create a bit more time for yourself in the week? If you’re spending every evening in the car driving your kids from place to place, might you be able to hire a trusted childcare provider to assist, work with other parents to create a ride-share plan to help free up time, or talk to a partner or older child about helping out with driving duty?
You see, while there are times that you can’t take things off the plate, there often ARE ways to minimize their impact if you’re willing to examine where you are spending your time. Not sure how to get started? There are a number of time-tracker options available, or you can just start writing down your daily schedule, taking some time at the end of the week to review it. Not happy with what you discover? Don’t beat yourself; just focus on what you WANT to see and then brainstorm ways to make it happen. Not sure where to start? I’m happy to help😊
