10 Ways to Find Time to Follow Your Dreams
What would you do with an extra half-hour a day? Is there a “One Day Novel” in you (as in, “one day I’ll write a novel”)? Have you been thinking of learning a new skill but don’t know how to free up the time? Or would you just spend a few extra minutes with your family, really sharing?
No matter how busy we are, most of use can free up a half-hour a day. We may have to make sacrifices, but they’re not big sacrifices – a TV show, the freedom of driving your own car, the freshest possible food every night, stuff like that.
A half-hour doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up – even if we just count weekdays, that 250 half-hours a year, or 125 hours. That’d over five days of free time a year, straight through, or three-plus full-time working weeks. What could you get done if you could take three weeks off and work 8 hours a day on your own projects?
Here are ten ways to “rescue” a half-hour a day (at least). Not all of them will be feasible for everyone, or have the same return, but at least one of them should be what it takes to give yourself a little extra time.
1. Cut out a TV show every day.
Eliminate TV altogether if you can – I promise you won’t miss it – but I know some people need that bit of mindless entertainment at night, and it might be the only time you can get your kids to sit still with the rest of the family. Fair enough, but surely you can cut out at least one show. Whatever filler is on between your comedy and your crime procedural, for instance.
2. Ditch your car.
The average commute in the US is something like 25 minutes. If you carpool or take public transportation, you gain an average of 50 minutes each day (maybe every other day or two out of every three days if you have a driving turn in your carpool). You lose some time for “overhead” – finding a place on the bus, changing trains, exchanging pleasantries with your carpool partners – but you should be able to squeeze 15 minutes of productive time each way out of your commute. Get a PDA or smartphone and you can be writing, doing research, or filling out spreadsheets on the go.
(Personal note: I worked full-time all the way through graduate school, and wrote dozens of papers on a Palm Pilot hanging from a strap on the NYC subway. I deeply miss that hour-and-a-half of productive time now that I live too far out from town to make public transportation an option.)
3. Wake up earlier.
Getting up at 6 instead of 6:30 (or whenever) can give you a good half-hour of quiet time before your day gets going – perfect for writing or working on other personal projects. The idea here is not to sleep less, though – you’ll pay a cost in lost productivity as your lost sleep adds up, and be back where you started. Instead, cut the last half-hour of TV or whatever else you do at night and shift that time to the morning, when everyone’s still asleep, there’s nothing tempting on TV, and you can start the day with a half-hour well-spent behind you.
4. Batch chores.
Instead of responding to household clutter as it arises, let a little clutter build up and take care of it all in one fall swoop every few days or on the weekend. This will be especially painful if you’re a particularly committed neat freak, but the daily cleaning never gets done, and in the end, you’re not going to regret not picking up the kids toys nearly as much as you’ll regret not having written a few more pages or not having spent more time on your studies.
5. Go to your kids’ practices.
Instead of dropping the kids off at soccer, karate, or gymnastics, driving home, and driving back an hour later, find a nearby place (the bleachers, a coffee shop, even your car) to sit and work. Get a small laptop or PDA, or carry a notepad with you. You’ll save the drive time and the slack time in between where, let’s face it, you were just going to clean house or watch TV.
6. Cook in advance.
Just like you can batch housecleaning to save time throughout the week, you can batch your cooking and save 20 minutes or so of meal preparation each night. Cook large quantities of food on Sundays and freeze them, or cook food whose leftovers can provide several nights meals. For example, I make a big pot of chili that will last two nights and leave enough leftover for chili dogs the 3rd night.
7. Reclaim your lunch break.
Bring your own lunches to work, find a quiet place, and eat and work during your lunch break. Make it something with little preparation – a sandwich, chips, celery or carrot sticks, or similar foods are great. You’ll save the time of walking or driving somewhere, ordering, and walking back – and you’ll eat more nutritiously and save money to boot.
8. Have a YOYO night.
Another way to save time on food preparation is not to prepare food. This won’t gain you time every day, but can gain you an evening for yourself. Instead of cooking and sitting down for family dinner, make one night a week for “You’re On Your Own” (YOYO). Kids and spouses make their own dinner (using leftovers or food chosen in advance – obviously you need older kids for this to work) and entertain themselves while mom or dad gets to work undisturbed. Don’t do this every night, though, or your kids will forget who you are and will be frightened if they ever accidentally meet you in the hallway!
9. Use slack time.
Set yourself up to make use of those little scraps of time that come along when you’re not expecting them – standing in lines, waiting for a meeting to start, while on hold with your power company, whenever. It might only be 5 minutes here, 8 minutes there, but it adds up.
10. Shop with a list during non-peak times.
Grocery shopping after work can easily suck up an hour-and-a-half as you fight through crowded aisles and wait in interminable lines to check out. Make up a good, solid list that’s organized according to the aisles in your grocery store, and go early in the morning on the weekend or late at night when the store is empty. You’ll walk in, walk up and down empty aisles, hitting each aisle only once, and waltz through the checkout. I can do the same shopping trip on Sunday morning at 9 am in 45 minutes that takes me over 90 minutes on a weekday evening. And having a good list with everything you need for the week – make sure you plan out your menues! – minimizes those “short” trips to the store throughout the week to pick up a gallon of milk, an extra loaf of bread, or whatever else you ran out of. We all know that a “short” trip is at least a half-hour!
You’ll need a little bit of discipline to make any of these tips work, or the time you save will just get filled with something else. Just keep telling yourself that what you’re giving up isn’t nearly as important as what you’re gaining – the time to move yourself closer to the fulfillment of your dreams!
WRITER'S BIOGRAPHY
Dustin Wax
Dustin M. Wax is a freelance writer and project manager at Stepcase Lifehack. He is also the creator of The Writer's Technology Companion, a site devoted to the tools of the writing trade. When he's not writing, he teaches anthropology and gender studies in Las Vegas, NV. He is the author of Don't Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying, and Succeeding at College.
Follow him on Twitter: @dwax.
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Comments
Writer Dad says on August 11th, 2008 at 10:58 am
We canceled our cable almost two years ago. Best thing we ever did. If we really want to watch something, chances are we can find it on the internet. But mindless channel surfing is dead.
Kevin Devine says on August 11th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Ok, I can agree with a lot of this. I just got rid of cable, I batch chores, I wake up earlier. So, I agree…
But, ditch your car is such a common thing I have seen time and time again. I have a 25 minute commute, if I take a bus (which I would love to do), it will take over an hour to get to work. I have to take two buses (one to the main transfer and then one close to my destination) and walk 1 1/2 miles to complete the trip… My previous job, the bus would have taken me almost 4 hours each way… Ditching the car might be easy to do in some places (like NYC), but most places that just isn’t possible.
Sorry for the rant, but I have read lifehack and ecoblogs that all talk about getting rid of the car using the logic that public transporation is ubiquitous when, in many places, it is a worse option.
Otherwise, though, I like your comments and your blog, keep up the good work.
Shanel Yang says on August 11th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Love the YOYO night suggestion! For folks who want to know “How to Wake Up Early, Refreshed, and Excited!” here’s the link: http://shanelyang.com/2008/04/.....d-excited/
And, why not consider giving up TV altogether? Talk about a HUGE savings of time! See “The Pros and Cons of TV” and you decide if it’s right for you. It’s at http://shanelyang.com/2008/05/.....ons-of-tv/
timgray says on August 11th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
#4 is a BAD idea. you lose time doing that. If you always take care of things when you need to it takes a few seconds. (dishes, items, etc…) letting them pile up for the weekend will add time to it, and make you waste time on your weekend.
Clutter NEVER EVER saves time. it’s only a time sink hole that will cause grief.
Michael@ Awareness * Connection says on August 11th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Good ideas. I cut out most tv long ago because it is such an effective way to reclaim time. I like the YOYO acronym. When I was a kid we called it “Anything Goes” night. I’ll have to keep YOYO in mind. I also do the off hours shopping, as much because it is more pleasant as because of the saved time. The only one I can’t swing with is waking up earlier ;0). My most productive time is into the late hours.
Trudi says on August 11th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Great Tips – I love the one about staying with your kids at practice. Great way to multi-task and show some love.
Getting a coach or having a mastermind team is great way to stay on track once you find the time.
Art Gonzalez says on August 11th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I specially like cutting a tv show. I was thinking the other day that my wife and I spend almost one hour and a half each evening watching “Two and a Half Men” and “Friends”. We have a good time and a lot of fun, but it is really wasted time. I will cut it back to watch it only once a week.
Many blessings,
Art Gonzalez
Check my Squidoo Lens at: Quantum Knights
Nathan McGee says on August 11th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I have implemented many of these over the past few months. The one I like the best is cutting out the TV. Now there are shows that I love to watch, so I just program the DVR and watch them on the weekend. With the extra time, I’ve launched an online t-shirt shop (that has started to be pretty successful) and now I’m starting my Social Media Blog! Not ready to quit my day job yet, but now it seems like I’m moving in the right direction!
Cubicle Hacker says on August 11th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Great advice! I have also cut down seriously with TV. Besides some food channel during Saturday morning and comedies there is nothing really useful. Ever since I almost removed watching TV from my life I have become a reading monster and understand a lot better what is happening to me, society and my surroundings.
TV confuses you more … unless scientific based documentaries.
Get out there interact and read more.
http://www.cubiclehacks.com
Chris Loughnane says on August 11th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Great article… I especially agree with your personal note. My 1.5 hours on the train to Boston was much more productive (i am still reaping the benefits from that work!) than my current 30 min drive to New Hampshire.
Keep up the greatness
-c
saijai says on August 12th, 2008 at 3:57 am
I agree with your idea. Thanks.
Stephan Miller says on August 12th, 2008 at 10:53 am
If you can’t ditch your car, you can listen to your feeds in podcast form on the way to work. Here you have to fight for a bus seat and some people get left at the stop because when gas prices went up, the budget for expanding public transport wasn’t there.
Waking up earlier helps a lot. I get up at 4:30 when I used to get up a 6. Now I get to the office two hours before anyone can interrupt me.
Before I was married and had kids I used to shop at 24 hour stores at around midnight. In fast and out fast and no one in the way.
Great tips!
Ellen Hart says on August 12th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Great list! Instead of avoiding a chore, I engage in a ‘creative brainstorming session’ while I’m doing the dishes or laundry. Some of my best ideas come during that time.
Dustin Wax says on August 12th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Kevin: It’s not always possible for people to ditch their car, I agree. I live in a city with not express busses and public busses that run every hour on most busy routes, and would take 3-4 hours for me to get to the university where I teach.
That said, I have about a 40-minute commute to that university, and a 20-minute to the college I teach at — but I’d gladly add 50% to that commute time if I could get 40 and 20 minutes of productive time out of it. As it stands, aside from listening to podcasts and audiobooks, I don’t really get much out of my commute (well, unless you coulnt frustration and tension as positives, which I don’t). Even losing some time for seat-shuffling and transfers, it would be a net gain in useful time for me — heck, even if I just vegged out it would be a net gain, since I’d lose the stress of driving in crazy traffic.
But, not for everyone.
FrugalNYC says on August 12th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Totally agree with the TV. I used to think cutting tv would be too hard, loved some shows. Now I can’t quite find time for tv unless I set time aside for it. I make use of slack time as well, I always have something to read, write or review on my blackberry, such as this comment!
Vince Chiaro says on August 18th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
These are great! My Wife and I use almost all of them and YOYO night is one of my favorites. Except we called ours “Every man for himself” night.
Anni says on September 1st, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I ditched the TV several years ago and have been batch cooking for a while now, just those two things have made a difference in our quality of life.
CrackingGold.com says on September 8th, 2008 at 7:14 am
Hello Dustin!
This is a nice post :) Really! And to add to what you said, i recommend the following:
a) Measure everything and try to time your chores. I mean, how long does it take you to take out the trash, bring the kids to school, etc? By doing that, you’d be able to plan more things you could do.
b) Audio books! While you wait, you could learn. While you travel, you could learn. Audio books are revolutionaries of learning since the invention of the printing press. Learn about how you could reach your dreams
c) Study finance. Studying finance is like mining gold. When you’ve got something and you apply it, it gives you a lot.
There :) Keep on writing. And if you want to know more ideas about success and finance, visit http://www.crackinggold.com