I don’t believe in the idea of having ‘free time,’ I prefer to think of it as time that is mostly unused, not utilized or more harshly ‘wasted.’
Have a moment to think about your everyday life. When do you consider yourself to have ‘unused time?’ And ask yourself what you feel you can do, to better utilise these precious moments that go ‘unused.’
I will give you 3 key moments you can better utilise, for example:
Your everyday commute to work
It has only recently hit me how much time actually gets ‘wasted’ by the average commuter to and from work. 1 hour each way is 2 hours a day. 10 hours a week. And in some countries it’s a lot more, trust me I’ve experienced commutes up to 3 hours each way.
How can you be more productive during these hours? Rather than just sitting or mostly standing on a train journey to work, why not utilize the time so that it benefits you in the long term.
What I’ve done to have a more effective and productive commute to work is 2 things. Firstly, I’ve started reading books that serve my purpose, broadening my learning and understanding of my own self, my strengths and goals and also books which talk about my target markets and how I can improve my method of delivery to continue to serve and inspire them. Secondly, I use my smartphone to write my weekly blogs (just as I’m doing now on the jubilee line journey to work, even if I’m squashed or pushed to the side on a busy commute).
We all find it very easy to have a mentality to procrastinate, I say; to hell with that. When you begin to find a pattern of utilising your daily commute to work, you will actually be more stimulated in the morning, a lot more creative and you also begin your work day with a bang. It’s a winning mentality all round and a highly charged and productive one too.
After work and before you sleep
Yes, I know you may feel tired or perhaps even had the roughest of days at work. Point is, what’s your key objective when you get home? You have your chores, which I understand. Everyone needs to cook, clean and prepare for the next day and so on.
However, I’ve have personally found the hours of 8pm to 10pm, my most productive hours during my day. Whatever i have set my mind too, i get them done and more.
This all came about during my teenage life when I started writing my first book called The World at Your Feet. I found that the hours of 8pm to 10pm allowed me to write the most content, research on things that add value and also manage my business admin side more effectively. The point is, I would encourage you to also plan out your day, what you feel you need to do to better deliver effective results. This then helps you break down tasks you need to complete into bitesized chunks which you and spread out across the day and especially these hours.
It doesn’t have to be 2 hours like I do each day, but I say try to find your peak moments of time where you are most productive after work and before sleep. And work towards reaching your goal.
The luxury we call ‘The Weekends’
I have a strong policy I follow. Sunday is my off time. No work, no admin, no emails. It’s strictly family time. And so that leaves me with Saturday. I do two things on Saturdays. Firstly, reflect on the week and what went right or wrong and how I can improve. And secondly, I plan the week ahead. It’s my ‘me time’ to really go all guns blazing to stride towards my goals.
The purpose of me writing this article is to make you aware of how much time we actually have to achieve our passion, goals and reach the heights of success which we crave for. It’s not a race but a matter of setting a pattern and rhythm to your life that makes you feel happy, productive, self-aware and in control of your own destiny.
Once you get the pattern and formula set, you’ll be on your way to making use of your every day unused and so call ‘free time.’
Born to Serve, Live to Inspire
