To Find More Time in the Day, First Identify Your Time Wasters

Reading Time: 4 minutes

You can find more time for you by doing this simple exercise

Do you struggle for time? Is your life all work and no play? Your days go in a stream of constant work, endless projects, urgent deadlines, piles of emails, and demanding bosses. Not enough time for family, friends, fun, exercise, play. Do you want more time to start a side job or pick up a new hobby? Do you want to travel more but you are stuck at work and that dream of foreign land remains just that, a dream.

Lack of time on a daily basis leads to pressure building up, leaving us stressed out and overwhelmed. I know the feeling. I lived in this state once. Is being a workaholic the purpose of our lives?

The thing is, it’s your life and you get to decide how you live it.

We live in constant distractions hijacking our attention

When I ran a digital marketing agency, I was stressed out, overwhelmed and my health suffered. My thyroid gland struggled. I suffered from regular stomach pains the doctors couldn’t diagnose. My cholesterol levels were high. My sleep was horrible. One day, I decided to take control of my life. I went on a 10-day digital detox trip to Baja California Sur, where I challenged myself to learn to kiteboard. Scared for my life, I found myself in a flow, one with the kite and the ocean. At that moment, I knew it was time to make a change. You can read my full story here.

I ended up becoming a Human Potential Coach and a Bulletproof biohacker. I started the Unhustle Movement. I started new habits and rituals to keep me healthy in mind and body. I’m not perfect. I continue to train, adapt, evolve.

Don’t get me wrong. I still have a lot to do each day. I’m not sitting on the beach in Mexico drinking a margarita. Ok, some days in wintertime, I do that too. But the rest of the time I work hard. People want to know if I hustle. It’s my only rule with my new startup, Unhustle.

I can’t and I won’t hustle to get Unhustle off the ground.

When I work, I’m focused and productive. I get my work done and then I have time for me. The secret is working in a flow state of mind, as Alexandra and I discuss on the Unhustle podcast.

How I find time for me while running a start up

I developed certain practices and rituals that keep me grounded, balanced and calm. In the next 30 days, I want to share these practices with you and help you take some small steps in taking your life back from the rat race work culture we live in.

Today’s lesson is simple but powerful.

To find more time for you, first, you need to know where your time is going

Instead of going through the motions each day and then complaining you are too busy and don’t have time to do anything fun, let’s take action.

What are you doing with your time?

Here’s what you can do to find more time in the day

Start by tracking where your time goes. Let’s do it together this week. Make a spreadsheet and write down intervals of 15 min or 30 min. Then record what you do throughout the day. Do you get stuck scrolling on Instagram and Facebook and before you know it 20 min have gone by? Research says we spend an average of 2 hours and 22 minutes a day on social media. How much do you spend? Wouldn’t you rather go for a walk instead? Being in nature allows you to connect with yourself, decrease your stress levels, get grounded, and let your creative juices flow.

Perhaps you watch TV at the end of the day and before you know it 3 hours have gone by. Studies show that the average American watches TV 5 hours/day. What if you took the time to read a book, listen to a podcast, or create an evening ritual to help you improve your sleep? Things that help us unwind from the day are foam rolling, gentle yoga or stretching, meditation, self-massage, lavender oil, turning off all electronics. I commit to turning off my phone by 8 pm every night. I still use it some evenings to listen to podcasts or books but I have the lights to Night Mode and I resist the urge to jump on Instagram.

Do this simple thing today to find more time

Can you track your time for a week and see where it goes? If you want time tracking spreadsheet, send me an email and I’ll get it to you.

By tracking your time you’ll identify your time wasters. Then, it’s just a matter of a new habit-forming to avoid doing that activity. Do you want to live your life or continue through your days stuck in emails and endless deadlines?

Take 5 min of your day today and make the time tracking spreadsheet. Track your time for a week. This way, you’ll be able to find more time for you to do the things you want.

I’ll do the same. Let’s share our notes in the Unhustle Facebook group after a week. I can’t wait to see what we collectively come up with.

Want to receive more tips and practices on how to Unhustle? Sign up for our email newsletter.