Make Time Work For You

As much as I love sleeping, sometimes I think it’s a cruel joke that our bodies and minds need sleep to function. Just think of what could be accomplished if we could use those nighttime hours for other activities. Unfortunately, sleep is a requirement for us all, so if there’s more we want to pack into our days we’re going to have to find or create other free windows of time.

At almost every single job interview a candidate will be asked to provide an example of good time management. Time management demonstrates how someone divides up their tasks, prioritizes, and essentially just gets things done. But perhaps a better question from future employers would be about time maximization.

People love to say that we only have so much time in a day, or that we all share the same 24 hours with which to get things done. Those people aren’t wrong, but they’re not thinking as big as they could be. The truth is, we all have more time than we think. Time maximization allows us to get things done in the small moments of spare time.

Let’s say that a meeting of yours ends five minutes early. Normally you might go on your phone or step out of your office to reheat your coffee or chat with a coworker. That’s totally normal and we all should have those moments throughout the day. But what happens if we used some of those small breaks throughout the day to our advantage?

We often find ourselves with small spurts of free time, but we don’t believe it’s enough time with which to get something done. But what if it is? I can’t write a full newsletter in five minutes, but I can definitely brainstorm a few ideas in that amount of time. So if I wind up with a free window of five minutes or more, I make myself tackle a task on my to-do list, or I workshop a newsletter idea. If I have fewer than five minutes then I’ll go reheat that coffee or pop by a colleague’s office.

It really may not seem like enough time at first, but if you have six free five minute windows throughout the day, that’s a full half hour that you’ve found in your day to be productive.

Last week’s newsletter was about getting started with your dream side hustle. So many of us have a side job that we’d love to start, but our biggest excuse is that we don’t have time. But if it’s really that important to you, you can find time whether that’s during those free windows or even doing some brainstorming in the shower or during your commute.

If you’re reading this and thinking that you do not love your job or side hustle enough to try to fill every second of your day with work, then maybe you can use those five (or more) minutes to send a quick text to let someone know you’re thinking of them or read a few pages of a book you enjoy. However you choose to maximize your time is up to you. The important thing is knowing that free time can be found in your day if you go looking for it!

✪ My action item for you is to make a list of actions you could accomplish in a five minute window. Whether those tasks are related to your job, a side hustle, or something you just want to do personally, whenever you find yourself with a break of five minutes or more, use that time to tackle something you would ordinarily think you don’t have time for.