Five Ways to maximize your time

When it comes down to achieving goals, there's one excuse I'm absolutely sick of hearing: "but I don't have time". Yes, you do. Truth is, time is one the thing we all have. I can understand not having money, or other resources, but time ? It's free. The trick is figuring out how to use it wisely. I started writing this post at my desk on my lunch break (on paper because I don't bring my laptop to work) and I'm now finishing it up in bed with the hour I usually use to scroll aimlessly on instagram. Truth is, I was using that same excuse until I decided that I cannot afford to neglect my blog or my self-care (even though writing is a huge form of self care for me). I was skipping my workouts, eating whatever was around and simply just doing badly with taking care of myself. I was adjusting to a new schedule. When my skin started breaking out and I started feeling like crap, I had to tune in and decide what could be done. I came up with a short list of things that helped me get back on track.

1 Decide what your priorities are.

This one was definitely the hardest because prioritizing my goals required sacrifice, and don't we all just looooove giving up things we enjoy? So in order to lighten this load, I shifted my perspective!! Instead of focusing on what I'm giving up (an extra hour of sleep when I wake up at 5am to hit the gym and make breakfast before work), I focused on what I was gaining. I was gaining a better body and the feeling that I CAN achieve my goals. I was also building trust within myself by following through on the things I say I'll do. That's a win-win-win-win in my book.

2. Find times that belong to you/redefine your spare time.

For me, with working full time, 9am to 5pm were off limits because that's when I fund my dreams/ designate time to my employer. At first that seemed like my whole day, but really it's just 8/24 hours. Before and after work I have almost two hours of commute (each way), to work on myself. During this time I usually get some reading or studying done. I'm currently learning more about investing and studying for the GRE (exam for graduate school), so I invest that time into those things. I could sit there staring at strangers on the train OR I could do something productive. I know that some people drive to work, like I used to do, in which case you can make use of audiobooks or FREE youtube videos on whatever it is you need to learn more about. Doing these things are forms of self care for me, because they are looking out for future me and easing the anxieties of present me. When I am actively working towards improving myself and my finances, my state of mind is so much better.

3. Set boundaries Sis/Bro/non-binaries.

This one, was also hard as heck. Being back home means hat I now have ALOT less control of my time. Some of my time is now designated to family, but I still needed time to work on me. To be honest, I'm still kinda struggling to figure this one out, but I do realize the need to address it. One thing that helped was carving out times when I am completely off limits. This was a little hard to do at home, so I got creative by changing my setting. Ex if I wanna study, the best thing for me to do is go to the library. Because even though I verbalize my boundaries, you know how parents are, so putting physical boundaries up has been a great help.

Also, set boundaries with yourself. Like I mentioned before, I like to go to the gym before work, so that means I need to get my cute self in bed by a certain time. Do I like going to bed early? Naw, but I also don't like feeling like a malfunctioning zombie and binging on sugary coffee just to make it through the week either. What really helps with getting to bed early is having a wind down routine, that lets your mind and body know that some well deserved rest is on the way. You can check out my wind-down routine on my ig @tha_hgh_road.

4. Break things up into manageable chunks. I know it's tempting to save everything for one day and procrastinate like theres no tomorrow (or a whole bunch of tomorrows) but it's not worth the stress. Come Sunday, when I have to do laundry, meal prep, wash and style my hair, go to the moon and save the world, I'm gonna be stresssssed. Whereas I could have simply done a little bit each day. Once again, I know we're not itching to do boring adult stuff all the time, but wouldn't you rather invest 30 minutes to an hour each day rather than an entire day doing the boring stuff all day?

me when i leave everything until sunday

5. Make a "to-do" list the night before.

Like I mentioned before, what you do at night has a huge impact on how your day will pan out. I've found it helpful to plan out my next day so that I have some idea of what needs to be done. It also saves you time in the morning when your day is already laid out for you. Speaking of laid out, it helps to choose your outfit the night before, so you don't waste 15 minutes in a frenzy figuring out how to look cute in the morning.

So to wrap up, maximizing your time boils down to a couple things:

1. Set your priorities and commit to them.

2. Be flexible and change your approach to meeting your goals when needed.

3. Set boundaries with yourself and others so you can protect your time and how you spend it.

4. Take things little by little. There's no use in wasting time and energy panicking/ overwhelming yourself like I used to do.

5. Plan ahead.

Ohhh and don't forget to follow the instagram for this blog @tha_hgh_road.

Until next time,

Peace and Blessings you cute time management pro.

-Shaday