I am always overwhelmed by my to-do list. There never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done. Yet, I also find myself binging Netflix and scrolling social media for what seems like 5 minutes, but when I realize what I am doing it’s been much longer. Does any of this sound familiar? Am I the only one? Do you feel there is never enough time to achieve what you want? Whether you’re pursuing personal or professional goals I am here to help you find a little more time in your day. Let me share what I have found to be helpful because I know it can help you too.
Hello again, My name is Kate Avery. I have been a Nurse since 2015. I’m a mother of 3, an entrepreneur coach, and so much more.
Over the last few years, I started to notice how nursing was not fitting the needs of my growing family. So I decided enough was enough and I embarked on this journey to find a better way. This has included countless self-help books, multiple courses, and a deep dive into figuring out what the heck I wanted.
Now, I started this podcast to inspire and motivate you, if you also feel the burnout of nursing while supporting a growing family. Then you’re in the right place.
Let’s build our dream life together. Every week I share my adventures and I share hard lessons I have learned along the way. Make sure you follow the podcast and download the episodes every Friday, you can also follow me on Instagram at Inspirern. Check out the show notes page for more.
I have been so guilty of using the “I don’t have enough time” excuse and over the last month I have decided enough is enough. My time is valuable and I have become very aware of the ways that I like to waste time for example social media scrolling. Yet, there is a lot more to it than simply cutting out your scrolling. I am going to share with you how I find a few more hours in my day. You can use this time to start more self-care practices or even use it to accomplish some goals. Either way, I am going to show you how you can get yourself a few more hours in your day.
Take Stock of Your Day
Do you know where your time is going?
The best thing I ever learned was to assess where my time was going. Just like budgeting for your spending, when you’re a busy mom your time is money. Between running everyone from sport to sport or just simply getting the laundry done. Time is a valuable currency for us.
So budgeting our time to the things that matter the most is a great jump point. Create a list of your foundation. What are the non-negotiables within your time? Things like sleep, work, kids’ school, and other kids’ activities.
I am a huge visual learner so I need to be able to play and see my schedule for me to get the most out of this exercise. If you’re similar I suggest you take the time to break this all down.
Now that you have your list, here is what you’re going to do next. You can either draw a 24-hour circle or you can create a timeline, but you’ll start by placing your foundations into this format. This will allow you to see what kind of time you can play around with.
Once you have this done it’s now time for us to look at some ways we may be wasting time. Some are obvious like scrolling but others may just be something we can delegate or hire out.
The Vaccum
When I admitted to scrolling for hours without realizing it, did you resonate with that confession?
A lot of us are guilty of the escape. I have coined this the vacuum because it does it sucks up your time.
My guilty pleasures are Instagram, YouTube, and Netflix. I am a sucker for a good documentary and then this usually leads me down the road of more and more binging.
My biggest accomplishment in conquering the vacuum has been to become more aware of when I am choosing to scroll or binge and realize that I am giving up that time. If you need the rest and the reset, just note if it’s worth spending your time on that activity. That’s all I ask of you in this process.
So now you have your typical vacuum activities, but what about the hidden time suckers?
Here is some food for thought. Is there some activity that you do, that could be done by a service or someone else? Here is my example, Grocery shopping. I love it but it takes at least 2 hours by the time I drive to the store and shop, then drive home and put everything away. It’s time-consuming. So take stock of things like this as well. Is there something you could delegate to someone else?
Here is your action step, list all of your vacuum activities. We don’t have to eliminate them, so don’t get hung up on that part, but just become aware of where you use your time. List those out and then list out 2-3 things that you might be wasting time on that someone else could do.
For a very long time, I was stuck on this idea of paying for services because let’s be honest, I didn’t have any money to use for these services. I am going to share more on this later, so if you’re feeling like “Yeah that would be great, but with what funds?” stick around I am going to share a little more on this.
It’s Game Time
So you know where your foundations are, and you have a list of some vacuum activities. What’s next? How is this episode going to help you find more time?
I want you to plan out a realistic day with your foundations. List everything, movement from movement. Be honest about how long it may take you to make dinner and don’t forget to plan your eating time. Write everything down.
At this time you will be able to see where that 1-2 hours could be found. Almost always we are filling this time with those vacuum activities.
So let’s make a game plan for those vacuums.
Like I have said my biggest vacuum is social media and TV binging. I started working on a digital detox plan and I want you to get the benefits of this as well. For the month of NOV, I am planning a 30-day digital detox plan. If you want to join, all you need to do is sign up for the email list and I will be sending out an e-mail every Tuesday with tips and ideas to use for that week. Little things like no phone from 4-7 pm or turning off notifications. All of these little things will slowly help break us from our vacuum activities and we will begin to see more free time.
Remember I am right here with you, I am not coming from a place of judgment but as a fellow mom who is looking to achieve my goals and wondering where the heck my time is going.
Buy Back Your Time
As promised, Is there a way for you to put your money where your time is?
The act of buying back time is amazing, but it can be really hard to wrap your head around when the funds are tight.
We are currently living in a one-income home and it’s super tight, so here are some ways I buy back my time while being frugal as well.
Groceries have been the easiest way for me to buy back my time. Like I said before It would take me probably 2 hours in total to get the grocery shopping done. Now I use Instacart and yes there are fees but this is how I make this work. I budget so much every month for groceries. When ordering I stick to my list, which is way easier now that you are searching for that one thing. Then when it’s total time, I make sure I stick within that budget with all of the fees. To be honest this saves me time and money. Which is a win-win for me.
I also love using pick-up services like when I go to Target and even the use of Amazon. Having these trips to the store cut out helps me free up a lot of time.
Another way I have bought back time is with child care. Right now I am not able to swing this but I hope to try to have the littlest one in a program 1-2 days a week. This will give me so much focused time to get my to-do list done and have more free time with the kids when we are all together. Day care is very expensive but maybe there is a way for a neighbor or a family member to hang out for an hour or so. Focused time gets a lot more done than being pulled every which way while trying to get your to-do list done.
Other ways I have not tried yet but am dying to do is housekeeping. Currently, I plan out my cleaning so that I am saving time and can get it all done on a weekly schedule, but this schedule is tight and I would love to save myself a few hours by bringing in help.
Out of these suggestions can you think of maybe one or two that you can try to buy back your time? Or do you have more suggestions for me? I would love to hear them DM me on Instagram at Inspirern.
When you become aware and willing to cut out time suckers, you will find that your days are a little less stuffed. If scrolling and the phone in general is a tough vacuum activity for you, sign up for the digital detox. I will send out a welcome email on Nov 1, so make sure to join the challenge below.