You don’t owe anyone anything
You don’t owe anyone anything.
Especially your time
You can always get more money, but you cannot get more time.
Most women feel strapped for time. They feel “time broke”. More women in our country are working full time, taking care of children (and sometimes aging parents), running PTA meetings, volunteering, household work, errands, soccer practice and being 100% available for the phone calls and texts from that friend who is going through another breakup and needs to vent.
The most common complaint I hear from working moms is that they don’t have enough “me time”.
We’ve piled on the work and the obligations like never before, so yes—we are busy! But a big part of being “time broke” is giving away all your funds to others. If you feel time broke, then let’s start putting deposits back into your own time bank. Let’s start with the leaks—
Where are the little leaks of time ? The ones that are so tiny you don’t even notice them. Things like:
Checking and responding to emails, texts and messages all day. Even responding to a quick message can break your concentration enough to make it hard to get back into your zone. It can take several minutes for you to just get back into what you where you left off.
Surfing the internet or social media. One click on one article can lead you down a rabbit hole. You may look up from your computer and realized an hour has passed. Yikes! Here’s what I tell my clients: schedule a time for yourself to do this. Literally put “surf the web” into your calendar to allow yourself the free time to read all those articles you saved and scroll through Pinterest for your latest fall decorations. “Disciplined Flow” ladies!
Errands. Driving to the post office and back., grocery shopping, scheduling appointments, etc. What can be outsourced? Can you use a click-list delivery service? Or the task-rabbit app?
All these 10 minute, 30 minute and 1 hour errands add up. They can be several hours each week that you can reclaim for yourself!
Where are the big leaks of time? The ones you know and are aware of but feel guilty about ?
Are you not able to get your own money making activities done because you’re spending 3 hours in volunteer meetings?
Are you staying up late to bake cookies for the bake sale, or putting together baskets for the silent auction, and then so exhausted the next day that your marketing doesn’t get done? It’s nice to volunteer— I do it too! But not at the expense of your own self care or your business growth. YOU come first! When your cup runneth over, you’re in a much better position to help others.
Take a look at your time leaks. What systems and boundaries can you put into place to plug up those leaks? Where can you outsource to free up your time? What obligations do you want to no longer agree to? Or maybe just take a step back from / put a limit on?
If you really want to see something cool—It may shock you…you may even do a palm to face
Write down all the things you did the last week. All tasks, errands, emails, volunteer work, obligations, etc.
Next to each item on the list, write down the time it took you to do that thing.
Now add up all that time to get the total number
That total number of hours at the bottom of the page could be YOURS for “me time”. You could do whatever you want—go get a massage, exercise, take a pottery class, socialize, attend that conference you want to, take that class, go shopping, read a book, take a nap, take a bubble bath, sit on your porch and sip coffee, go to the farmers market, go to an art show, go to lunch with a friend, learn French, take a vacation, take a day trip, clean out the garage (finally!), garden, get your hair done, get a pedicure, write your book, design your masterclass, redecorate your room, take your dog to the park…I think you get the idea….
Make your list—it helps to see this number in black and white on paper. It really puts things into perspective for you.
Remember, you don’t owe anyone anything. And you certainly don’t need to feel guilty about what you decide to do with YOUR time.
LOVE, JANA