Reclaiming My Time

Time is the one equalizer in life. We all have the same amount of it each day.

How often do you find yourself saying, "I don't have the time" or "There's never enough time"? These statements become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

With our allotted 1,440 minutes each day we spend time, waste time, find time, lose track of time, use time wisely, invest time, and borrow time. When there are so many things to do with time the question becomes - what do you choose to do with your minutes of which you have a finite amount of each day?

Spending time, just like spending money, is about deciding which investments are likely to yield the largest returns.

I used to say, "I only have 15 minutes until this or that thing starts. I'll wait until it's over to start this or that other thing." In treating time this way, I was squandering it. After I changed my mindset I found extra time hiding in 5 to 15-minute increments. Uncovering 15 minutes each work day equals:

• 75 minutes per week
• 300 minutes per month
• 3,900 minutes per year

65 hours of time over the course of a year in 15 minute increments!

Reclaiming these short bursts of time meant I could invest more in creative priorities, accomplish personal goals, learn something new, grow in a new direction. All of which feel like good investments of time to me.