Lacking Time? 5 Reasons Why and How to Overcome It

The one thing everyone wishes they had in order to complete their goals or do all the things they want to do is more time. I see it again and again – when asked the number one answer is always more time.

Believe me, I get it. I am constantly on the go, and always feel like my time is already spoken for before I’ve had the chance to even vote for how I want to spend it. Friends and family planning parties, vacations, and other gatherings; my regular work hours in addition to travel trips; my kids requiring my time and attention; and regular chores – I’m happy if I get any time to myself in any given week. In a lot of ways, I wouldn’t want it any other way, but at the end of the day it makes it really hard to find the time and energy to focus on my own goals and aspirations.

The reality is, everyone receives the same 24 hours each day. Yet, some people seem to have this adept ability to accomplish so much more in a given day than it feels should be possible and still have time for all of their commitments. What gives?

But here’s the truth: I have plenty of time; and you probably have plenty of time too. We’re just not spending that time wisely. In my own journey to find more time for my own ambitions, I recognized several different ways I was not using my time wisely.

Reasons why you never have enough time:

You aren’t prioritizing.

It’s easy to spin our wheels with what is seemingly most urgent or perceived as important. Chances are, that isn’t what is most important when you look at your goals or desires. It’s easy to stay very busy but fail to accomplish much. Pay attention to what is necessary for you to reach your goals, and prioritize that first.

You’re disorganized.

When you’re not organized, everything takes longer than it should. You spend time looking for a pair of clean socks, your car keys, searching for files on your computer, and trying to pull off things at the last minute. When you are organized and have a schedule and/or routine you don’t have to waste time and energy trying to figure out what to do next, when to fit in grocery shopping, or making out of the ordinary last minute shopping trips because you ran out of toilet paper.

You’re distracted.

Maybe you spend too much time on Facebook or Instagram, binge watch TV until midnight, play games on your phone, have kids, or struggle focusing because of too much clutter. Being distracted in any way reduces focus on what is truly important.

You don’t know how you are spending your time.

You can’t improve what you don’t track. If you don’t know how you are spending your time, start tracking it now so you can see where you are putting your time towards unnecessary tasks.

You don’t have a plan for your day.

To get the most out of your time, it’s necessary to have a plan for the day. Without one, it is easy to lose time towards little things that are of little importance. According to Brian Tracey, if you take 10 minutes each day to make a plan, it can save you up to 2 hours daily. That seems like a good return on investment to me!

The good news is it’s entirely fixable. Once you start seeing all the ways you are neglecting to use time efficiently, it becomes motivating to try to see what else you can fit in your day instead. Below are some of the steps I took to make more time for myself and my goals, despite work, friends, kids and my home dominating my days.

Things to do to create more time in your day:

• Ask yourself, “What is the most important thing I need to accomplish?” Then take it a step further and ask, “What is the best way for me to accomplish that?”
• Create a system to organize your goals and lists so you have it all in once place. I prefer either Trello or a notebook.
• Make an effort to organize your life and yourself. I’ve been working real hard on creating good habits and routines to minimize time spent on small tasks, and also to create systems within my home I’ll use and understand.
• Minimize your distractions. Remove the things from your life that are unnecessary.
• Keep a simple journal and make a record each hour of how you spent the last 60 minutes. It’s amazing what you’ll learn!
• Track how you use your phone. I like the app Moment for both iPhone and Android. It tracks how many times I pick up my phone, what apps I use the most, and how much time I’ve spent looking at my screen.
• Resolve daily to make an active choice to stop wasting time. You have thousands of small chances, every day, to take action. Each time you make the decision to act, it gets that much easier to do it again and again.
• Make sure when you are working on your goals you are fully focused. Set a timer if you need to and commit to work on one thing until the timer goes off. Practicing meditation can also help to increase focus.
• Get up earlier and get a solid start to your day (this might mean going to bed earlier too!).
• Make a detailed plan for the next day before you go to bed. Use it to block in time frames to get done your most important tasks to work towards your goals. Consult your plan often throughout the day.

Yes, we all have the same 24 hours each day. By prioritizing and removing distractions, we can make the most of our time to increase our productivity and spend the time on the things that matter most to us. Even when 100 percent of your time appears to be taken up, there IS still time to find: it’s about taking the initiative, making it a priority and making the necessary adjustments to yourself and your life.