On Friday I slept in, I didn’t hear any of my alarms on my watch. I woke up with Scott asking me if I was alright. ‘Fine, why’ I replied. It was late he said, and wondered why I wasn’t up.
I looked at the time and shot up. I raced into the bathroom, jumped into the shower and had the quickest one of my life. I then scrambled on some clothes, fed the cat, made breakfast to take with me and sorted my lunch out. Shoved it all in my bag and left.
When at university, occasionally I used to be last minute with my assignments, it mainly only happened if I wasn’t too sure what to do. But then the days left to do it in, I would research and write quickly and get the assignment in on time. The pressure of time, served a purpose and I got what I needed done, quickly.
It’s funny how when pressed for time we can do so many things quicker than normal we never thought possible.
So is there a way to capture that last minute feeling in our everyday life to do things faster?
The answer is yes. Here are 3 ideas to help you achieve tasks quicker and save yourself some time.
- Set yourself a time limit and stick to it. Whether it’s for 30 minutes or 2 days. This is easy to do but not necessarily easy to carry out. If we know we really have 2 weeks but only give ourselves 2 days, we know we really have plenty more time. So you really have to be hard on the time limit and give yourself the time pressure. Don’t be so strict with your timescale that it would be impossible for anyone to fulfil. Be realistic but tight.
- Cut things out, do you really need a 20 minute shower or to wash your hair twice. Work out how long it usually takes you to get ready and then half it. We faff about when we have plenty of time, but imagine what you could do with more time? This can be tricky, so start by knocking off 5 minutes each day for a week and see how you get on. Can you get ready faster? Do you watch tv whilst you get ready stop for a while and then get back to putting clothes or makeup on? Switch the tv off and pop the radio on instead. You might start singing, but you’re not stopping yourself doing anything like when the tv is on.
- Set your alarm later. We fill the time we’ve got, so get up a little later and you will need to move quicker. Make sure it’s not so late you don’t have time to shower or are so sweaty from running about you need to have another shower. By getting up later you are also allowing yourself more time to rest and sleep more.
I’m not saying you need to put yourself under so much pressure you save yourself time but burn yourself out at the same time. No. What I want you to do is think about the time you have and the time things take to do and could they be done quicker or better? The answer is likely yes, but as we fill the time we’ve got, we tend to go at a steady pace to get there. By cutting time wasting moments out and giving yourself back precious time, you can use the time for something you enjoy.
On Saturday morning, I read for a while before getting up, it was a relaxing way to start the day. I wondered if it was possible to fit this into my week day without the need for setting my alarm any earlier. If I wanted to read for 15 minutes in the morning, where could I save the time from? I could easily take 5 minutes off my morning routine and save 10 minutes when I’m in the kitchen sorting out my breakfast and lunch by prepping them as much as possible the night before. Have a think about where you can save time and try it out.
Whilst it may seem like I’m pushing you to work quicker and move faster, I’m not, I don’t want you to move at 100 miles per hour and then fall over. It’s to get you some well deserved time back.
Your time is the only thing we can’t reclaim. Can you utilise it better? Instead of taking 2 hours to get ready in the morning, could you give yourself 1 hour? Giving yourself an extra half hour in bed followed by the other 30 minutes doing something you enjoy. Have a think and let me know how you get on.
Have a great week and look after you.
Love Emma xx
Wellbeing with Relaxing Lavender 