Rethink your time

Right now, your job, your business or looking for a job or starting a business … or studying, takes up most of your time. You will be spending 10 hours at least doing these, then add in chores, laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping etc, plus you spend 8 hours sleeping too, so that means you have around 4 hours max to yourself.

Your job is only likely to get more stressful, starting a business of your own can easily become a 24/7 job and looking for a job IS a job, it must be the priority as you meet the demands of social security, welfare and work programme obligations and deal with the issues that arise when you are unemployed such as debts, money and housing issues ...

As most of us try to gain a better income, we are forced to take on more responsibilities and this ends up meaning we work longer hours and feel more stressed and more burned out at the end of the day.

The problem is that many of us don’t realize we have a choice. We assume that the only way to feel like we’re accomplishing something is to work harder, achieve something or achieve more

The Alternative

There IS an alternative: how about you aim to make your day as easy as possible and in the meantime, you get your enjoyment and even extra income from a hobby?

Would you like to be a writer, to paint perhaps, or take photographs for an income, make and sell handmade cards or other crafts? Plan your day, do whatever the day job is that for now pays the bills, look for a job if you must, then with what time is left write and paint or whatever gives you enjoyment and satisfaction. One way to make more time is not to stay up into the early hours, at least I have never found this works, for me, but going to bed at a reasonable hour and getting up at a sensible time does work. If you then manage to sell some articles you have written, photographs you have taken or paintings or crafts, then you will be supplementing your income and maybe even beginning a new dream job.

Valerie Hartland

Be happy ..even though its Monday ...and a freebie from Amazon

So many people spending most of their time at work or looking for work, or running a home business feel that they do not get nearly enough time to do what they want to do. Many people feel and even experience depression as a result, that they do not have the means to have leisure time and activities such as hobbies and so they work harder because of this pressure.

There is never a perfect time to do the things you want to do and fulfil ambitions, there will always be something that makes it not quite the right time, finances, family circumstances etc. However, what about the things you have achieved so far? Was it ever a good time? If you’re a parent, then was it a good time to have a baby? Was it a good time to get married? A good time to start a relationship? A good time to buy a house?

When we have to, we make things work. There’s never a perfect time so do it anyway.

It can be easier Than You Think

Many of the dreams we have are much easier to fulfil than we might initially think. For example, if you want to travel then you don’t necessarily need to spend a fortune or take a year off work.

How about identifying places a little nearer that you can travel to?  Want a better home? You don’t need to spend millions – just empty out your property of things you don’t need and clear out clutter, do a bit of decorating and you will be surprised what a difference small changes can make!

Do you want to do a course but are put off by the cost? While adult education has had massive budget cuts, there are still available online, several reputable sources of free online courses, including Open Learn from the Open University and Vision2learn, with whom I gained an Equality and Diversity level 2 qualification. Just Google free online courses, for more opportunities.

Maybe you have a craft or hobby such as writing and want to start a business, but for now you must stay in your current job? why not do what you enjoy doing at weekends and then when you retire or are in a better financial situation, you can turn that craft or hobby into a new career.  

Automate Your Lifestyle

Automation is a term that means you set up a system that handles a task or part of it for you, like your washing machine. This allows you to spend more time doing other things.

Another example is to use an automated assembly line to create a product rather than doing it by hand. This saves many hours and means  that you can produce 10x or 100x the amount of product to sell and up your profits .You can also do this in your personal life and  increase your free time.

Here are some ways you can do that:

Shop Online

Shopping online and setting up standing orders is a great way to save time that you would otherwise spend going to the shops and the bank and mail. At the very least you should if you can, and it does seem from chats I have with friends that home delivery for groceries in the USA is not such a well-used and available service as it is in the UK … but if you can, then use this for your regular grocery shop and this way you can get a shop delivered directly to your door  without having to go out! This can save 2, 3 or 4 hours a week!

You can also of course order gifts., as one off events for Christmas and birthdays or do you want to make sure your partner gets sent flowers every year on your anniversary? That’s actually quite easy to arrange!

Robotic Vacuum Cleaners

If you can’t afford a cleaner, then consider a robotic vacuum cleaner. These so some claims make … will move around your home all on their own making sure to reach every small patch of floor to vacuum up crumbs, dust, dirt and anything else that gets on your carpet or wooden floor. If you are not too sure about the merits of a robotic vacuum cleaner, but are in the fortunate position to afford a cleaner then why not …. you could get more tasks done by the cleaner such as ironing and give someone a job.

You can also get robotic lawn mowers that do the same job but outside!

Cooking

In the kitchen, there are tons of things that can save you time such as a food processor and slow cooker.

Or if you want an even more automated service, consider signing up to a company that delivers healthy meals to your door every day. These exist and can actually save you hours while improving your health and energy levels!

How to sleep better for more energy and better time management

How to Sleep Better for More Time and Energy

What many people don’t recognize about time management is that it’s inseparable from energy management. In other words, there’s no point getting back time to yourself if you don’t have the energy to use it properly.

Many of us want to work out and get into shape, or we want to learn a new language, or any of many other things from hobbies to starting a business, unfortunately, we tell ourselves, we just don’t have the time to do those things.

This isn’t true though: if it were, then you wouldn’t have been able to watch that whole box-set recently!

The problem is energy,You come home from work, the job centre or work programme, or college and have no energy remaining. One way to fix this is by getting more sleep. Let’s take a look at how you can make sure you do that.

Have Half an Hour Before Bed

Before bed, take half an hour out in order to unwind and during this time make sure you don’t look at any screens. Phone, computer and TV screens produce a lot of light which causes the brain to produce cortisol, thereby keeping us awake and preventing us from sleeping.

At the same time, our phones and computers make us stressed. When we look at them, it causes us to think of work or to get excited by whatever game or TV show we’re watching. Reading on the other hand calms and focusses the mine, winding us down ready for bed. However, I admit I read many books on my Kindle fire tablet and for those of us who read on an e-reader, I do think this is equally as relaxing as a paper book ...I just try to not be tempted to check emails, Facebook and messenger once I have signed off for the night and gone to bed .

Have a Shower Before Bed When is the perfect time to wash? Before bed. Both warm and cold water have the effect of helping our bodies to regulate our internal temperature. Warm water also acts as a relaxant though and helps the muscles to release tension so that we can drift off into a deeper sleep.

Have a relaxing drink

In winter, I like so many others at bedtime enjoy hot chocolate, but in warmer weather cold milk if you can drink it makes a relaxing bedtime drink, or chocolate milk cold , also camomile tea makes an effective bedtime drink , but try to avoid tea and coffee for a few hours before going to bed . Go to bed at regular hours and sleep in a warm but well-ventilated room and aim to get up around 7.10 am ~ 7.40 as an ideal time .

Tips to successfully multi task

Getting back time is all about having more time to do the things you enjoy in life, being able to plan and maximise your day better and get more work done and leisure time.

You’re going to try and start spending time doing things you love such as being with your family, watching great TV and pursuing your personal goals/projects. Maybe like me you will read more and write, write a blog, journaling…or whatever it is that you enjoy doing and it’s even better if doing it makes you some money, such as doing online surveys.

But the way you go about this might be a little different from what you expect. Forget all the strategies you read about that tell you how to save ‘ten minutes a day’ or ‘an hour a day’. These cut off a little time at best and few of us stick to them. An extra hour a day is often spent in bed!!!

Instead, ask yourself how you can get more value out of the time you’re currently using, learn how to successfully multi task ….

One of the best ways to get more from your time is to multitask. You can’t multitask with jobs that require your full attention such as DRIVING, but any job that can be done ‘mindlessly’ can be paired with any job that doesn’t require use of your body. E.g. you can watch the TV and check your emails at the same time, and type a blog article ...that makes three things done in one time slot, have the dinner simmering in the crock pot and that makes four. You can do your social media tasks while doing other things too. Boring things such as ironing can be made less so by maybe making that phone call to a friend on speaker phone while you do it

Go through your job search emails while watching TV , that way you get to keep up with your favourite programmes and check those important job alerts too , then flag the ones you need to go back to, to complete an application .

Another great strategy is to do things with friends. Staying in touch and maintaining correspondence takes time. So instead of worrying about fitting it in, why not turn a boring job – the weekly shop, your workout – into something you can do with a friend?

If you commute on the train or bus, then you can absolutely make more use of this time. How about using it when you can get a seat, to read a great book or complete the task of checking your emails for the day?