While working on my “Quick-Start Guide to a Focused Life” today, I followed my own advice and wrote out all my daily and weekly activities. I then mapped them to a calendar. What happened next will shock you! (J/K) But seriously, I was surprised to find that I’ve probably got more free time in my day than I think I do, and I can get better at making the most of my time.
So here’s a challenge to you: List out all the various activities you do every day (or week), and how many hours they take up. Include everything — commute to work, Sunday afternoon football game, Friday night date night, etc.
Then: place these activities onto a schedule.
This is helpful for a lot of reasons. You may already have a routine that you follow, but seeing where your time is being spent can be eye opening. Oftentimes I realize there are hours in the day that I have available.
Also, filling out this schedule is not a life-long commitment. At first, you are simply filling in the blanks to see what you are doing with your time. When you do eventually map something out that you want to be committed to (even just for a week or a month), our schedules are primarily to keep us accountable to ourselves — our own vision, passions, and calling — and the commitments we have already made.
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