I’ve been thinking a lot about time and the value we place on it.
It is becoming increasingly difficult in today’s world to have much free time to yourself. Between working full time, trying to get enough exercise in and eat healthily; it’s becoming more of a strain to chill out and spend time doing things you enjoy.
I started to reflect on where my time goes and evaluating if I am spending it the best way possible? I leave the house at 7am and arrive home at 6pm, it’s almost a 12-hour day including the commute. I find myself in the evenings (especially in winter!) being too tired to peel myself off the couch to do the many things I put on my list to do, always with the best intentions to get everything done. When I don’t, I’m a bit deflated and guilty. I am more productive at the weekends, but I don’t want to be only living for the weekend.
I follow a couple of bloggers and they keep saying get up and travel and just go. They have great lives living in countries with low cost of living and have serious work life balance with so much free time. They end most of their working day on the beach usually with no commute. It is the dream and we all may be a bit envious but also not possible for around 90% of us. We may not want to leave our families, we may not be able to find remote jobs that can fund this lifestyle, we may just not have the flexibility.
It got me thinking more about time and how we can use it wisely. Firstly, I looked at my time off from work. In an ideal world I’d travel for months on end coming home to visit friends and family and head off again. My reality is I have 22 days a year to go on all the adventures I have dreamed about. While it may be easy for people to say “just quit and go” there are a lot of factors that are preventing me to go. So, my solution is starting to look at Ireland and spending weekends travelling around here. I see the photos on Instagram of places I didn’t even know existed and I’ve been living here all my life which is shameful. We are so close to Europe, but do we take advantage? I can fly on a Friday and back on Sunday saving my annual leave days and still seeing somewhere new! If you’re feeling the same, don’t underestimate what’s around you and remember it’s all an adventure, it doesn’t have to be half way across the world to qualify.
Secondly, I got a job that supports work/life balance not expecting you to be “on” 24/7 which makes such a difference.
Finally, I took at look at my evenings and the spare time that I did have. I joined a couple of classes during the week that I enjoy so I don’t only live for the weekends while learning something new and broadening the horizon.
What about you? Are you worried you aren’t making the most of your time? If you are worried about work consuming your life, look at what your doing. Is it something you can sustain? Is there work life balance? If not, research Companies who are supportive of work/life balance and flexibility. Maybe move out of the city, if you can and look at jobs elsewhere. Lower cost of living and less commute time means leaving you with more free time. Try jobs that facilitate working from home. Imagine your commute from your bed to a desk and how much time would be saved! Do your research and keep searching for what you know will make you happy. It won’t happen overnight but if you work for it, you’ll get there. It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.
Look at your evenings. Is there a class that you can do in the evening? Is there a new craft or skill you would like to learn? Would you plan to catch up with friends? Life is so short, go make memories! You don’t want to look back and think all I spent my time doing was working and sleeping and missed out on so many good things there are out there to experience.
Do you use any techniques to make the most of your time or is it something you have thought about?
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Thank you for reading,
AlwayAisling
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