I can’t believe that it’s been 10 weeks since I wrote my first Share a Smile Sundays post – it seems like yesterday! Looking back on the past 10 weeks, so much has changed and I really can’t believe that I’ve kept doing these posts every single Sunday. Since I started these posts I went back to college after Christmas break and started a new job, so I’m much busier now than I was 10 weeks ago! I’ve really had to prioritise my time in the past few weeks, so I thought I’d share with you my tips on making time when you have none. I hope you enjoy!
1. Get up early – Pretty obvious, I know, but it’s one of the easiest ways to have more time in the day. Getting up an hour, or even a half an hour, earlier may sound like a nightmare, but once you’ve gotten over pressing the snooze button 15 times, it’s actually not all that bad. Once you’ve gotten around seven hours sleep or so, you should be pretty much set for the day. Getting up early could mean simply sitting down and reading a magazine, because you know you won’t get a chance later on, or squeezing in a 15 minute exercise before you start your day.
2. Lists, lists, lists – I find that I have so much more time when I’m organised. If I make a list of what I’ve to do during the day, I find it much easier to actually get things done. Seeing them written down will make you more proactive, plus you won’t spend 20 minutes remembering what you have to do! Don’t forget to schedule breaks, lunch etc – these are essential! Although you might feel like skipping lunch because you’re so busy, try not to because if you do, chances are you’ll crash later on. Even munching a sandwich on the go is better than nothing!
3. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail – Preparation is key when you’re busy. Making your lunch the night before, getting your clothes ready and literally having everything ready to go makes the morning a lot easier. Spending 20 minutes each night getting ready for the next day makes a huge difference – you’ll have more time in the morning and you won’t be rushing out the door trying to find your keys!
4. Give and take – Busy periods come and go. Although you may feel like you’re run off your feet all the time, usually some times are busier than others, and some times are less busy. So if you’ve exams coming up, or something that requires your attention for a few weeks, remember that the time will pass and the busy period will be over! For that reason, taking a half an hour that you’d usually spend watching YouTube videos and putting it into studying, or whatever you’re doing, will give you a lot more time. If you think of the things you want to do ask baskets (I know I sound crazy, bear with me), and the time that you want to spend as balls in the baskets, sometimes life calls for taking a few balls from one basket and putting them into another. It’ll only be for a short time – and once you have everything done it will be so worth it!
5. Make the most of the time you have – Another pretty obvious one, I know, but it makes sense. If you’re travelling on the bus from one place to another, try to use that 15 minutes or whatever to read a magazine, listen to the radio, write that e-mail you’ve been meaning to send – the list goes on! There’s so much more time available than we realise, it’s just about finding out where your precious minutes are being spent!
I hope these tips are helpful to anyone else who is really busy at the minute – the most important tip I have, though, is: always make time for tea!
Happy Sunday everyone 🙂
*A smooth sea never made a skilful sailor*