Jordana Turcotte

THE TIME

WRITTEN BY JORDANA TURCOTTE

OK, SO JUST CLARIFYING HERE… there are 24 hours in a day. No one is special and gets more. We are all incredibly busy, but busy with what?

For some it is a few things that take big chunks of time, for others it is a bunch of little things that fill up the day. Time management is a process rather than an event … And it’s a lifelong process. As a professional organizer I often hear the same two things: “I don’t have the time to get organized.” “I can’t find what I need when I need it.”

It is ironic that if you took the time to get organized, you wouldn’t be looking for things later. Here are some facts I often share;

“Americans waste nine million hours per day searching for misplaced items,” (according to the American Demographics Society)

“The average U.S. executive wastes six weeks per year searching for missing information in messy desks and files.” (according to the Wall Street Journal) That translates to one hour per day. I know most would be happy to regain that hour! Getting organized may not be at the top of your list to make time for, but what do you want to find the time for? More sleep? More self-care activities? Exercise? Start a side business? Hobbies? Or just all the things that at a minimum should be getting done… like laundry, cleaning, etc.

Spelling out what you want to get done and how much time you want to “find” helps planning to do just that, so much easier. Your go-to tool for anything related to time is a planner. Digital, paper, or both – it is your assistant. Load everything, check frequently, edit constantly.

The first tactic to finding time is saying “no.” No one wants to say no to helping someone or doing something you know you can do. But, if we can’t say no to lower-priority things, we will never get to the important things. A culling of activities that suck your time and aren’t important to your values or current interests should be done. Think committees, events you just automatically go to, classes you take that your heart isn’t in – all of these have time commitments before and after; preparation, travel, etc. A one-hour meeting, held twice monthly can actually be a commitment of 8+ hours a month! By simplifying the time commitments in your schedule, this allows you to say “yes” to the new items you want.

The second tactic is writing out your schedule in detail to get a picture of each day of the week. Also, measuring how long it takes to do some things can be eye opening. You think it takes one hour to clean, but it really takes 2.5 every Saturday and that is why things are not getting done or you’re missing out on other things. When we know how long something takes, we can schedule the right amount of time on the ideal day to do it. Being open to moving things to different days or to group like-items or allow bigger blocks of time on other days, can lead to getting more done.

The third tactic is identifying the “lost” time. Things we don’t schedule but just do. A huge time suck now is digital clutter and social media. The less you have of any of these, the more time you will have. What can you let go of? What can you unsubscribe to? What can you limit, i.e. email checked 3x/day or just 20 minutes of Facebook in the morning? TV viewing and mindless shopping also top the list.

In addition to these three major tactics to finding time, there are a lot more tips that can really help save time overall.

Can you use your commute time? Audible and podcasts can give you that book or info you haven’t been able to get to, it will also make your commute more enjoyable and maybe even something you look forward to.

Set-up specific days for specific tasks. i.e. bills on Monday, cleaning on Friday, shopping on Saturday. Think weekly and even monthly or quarterly to-do’s at set times. Meal prepping once for the whole week will save time every day. The plan will be there, the ingredients will be there and no more hunting around for 10-15 minutes in decision-mode trying to figure it out. Always shopping with a list saves time too!

Jobs within the home. Each family member should get jobs to do, and when they are to be completed. If you can afford it, consider hiring out things that are huge time sucks for you or the family. Sometimes eliminating activities/events you don’t want to do frees up cash, and time, and then you gain in both areas!

Reducing the time it takes to do something, or removing it all together, means you can fill it with what you want to be doing and what is a priority to you and/or your family.

S S Time is a firm constraint but how you use it isn’t. Choose wisely and be ever mindful of what you are spending it on. Getting organized in general, really does save time, plus stress and money! Declutter your time to accomplish your goals.