Making Time

“I try to take one day at a time – but sometimes several days attack me at once”
Jennifer Unlimited, Comedienne

Over the weekend I held an online ‘tutorial’ with several of our students who are part of our ‘Summer School’ group.  When we first met we discussed ‘Motivation’, and at this time, not surprisingly, motivation was high.  At this weekend’s tutorial, I was happy to hear that motivation was still high, with everyone remaining committed and focussed on achieving the goals they have set for themselves.  But for some of our students, ‘finding time to study’ is starting to effect how much they are getting done. 

Whether you are studying or working, this is pretty common. At the moment both Kylie and I have some side projects that we are working on (exciting things we are bringing to AAWEP and our industry) and I know that for myself, finding the time to dedicate to this additional work is incredibly difficult.  One of the reasons I find this is that the additional work is not part of my routine schedule, which means I have to actually set aside time, that I would use for something else, to tackle it. 

One way that you can find time for additional activities (regardless of whether that is study, business planning or exercise) is to write out a timetable of your week; noting the activities you are engaged in each day and roughly how much time they take.  An alternative approach is to keep a diary of your week and note down activities and time spent on them as you move through the week – this is something I did when I was in my last year at University and had my first baby to care for.  This is an extremely enlightening activity and I can almost guarantee you will find some blocks of time in your week that are not being used as well as they could be; although, in any week you must allow time for rest and relaxation – a timetable without those things is a bit like a diet which only allows you to consume soups and shakes; at some point you are going to break-out!  If you choose this approach your next step is to create a timetable that utilises those gaps you have found.  When you are creating your timetable also look for ways of streamlining activities.  If for example you shop or wash every day or second day, consider making this a weekly activity instead – yes it will make a bigger task of it for that one day, but by streamlining it you will save some time too. 

If you absolutely don’t have a minute to spare in your week you need to look at the entries in your timetable and think about how you can create more time.  Being able to create time is a good skill to have and will serve you extremely well in your career and in business.  How you create time will be different for everyone and don’t be above asking for help.  For example; if you are spending hours each week on housecleaning ask your mate to assist.  If you watch television every night, consider turning it off early at least once each week, or get up an hour earlier two days a week to give yourself some additional time for your chosen activity (this is what I do – but the flipside is you need a few early nights to carry it off!).  Carry a notebook with you and use those 15 minutes you have whilst waiting for the train/tram/bus to brainstorm your next assignment.  Cook meals ahead and freeze them so this chore is minimised on a daily basis.  Importantly, if you have created additional time for your goals – use it for that purpose!

Scheduling time for your goals is a key step in achieving them.  If you don’t have the time dedicate to these activities you will find that each week your motivation to complete them dwindles just a little more.  Here are some more tips from Pamela Allardice (‘Make Time’ – the survival guide for women with too much to do’):

• Focus on your real work – if this is the time you have set aside to study or do business planning don’t let other things like daily chores distract you. 
• Be clear on when you’ll be available – if you only have Saturday afternoons to study, let your friends and family know so that they can respect that this is time you have carved out for yourself
• Break tasks up and know your limits – if for example you are a Mum, studying or working from home, be realistic about what you can achieve.  By all means set goals but if completing one unit of study each week is just not realistic for you don’t set that goal – you are only setting yourself up for failure and that is deflating.
If you have some tips for staying motivated and ‘making time’ share them with us here.