Create the 25th Hour of the Day With These Frameworks
Sharing my productivity secrets for a relaxed lifestyle
Time is not a fixed entity. It’s flexible like an elastic.
This is my greatest lesson of life.
A few years ago, my days were jam-packed from dawn to dusk, with work, aimless socializing, humongous to-do lists, and the remainder of my time was consumed by binge-watching and social media.
I didn’t have enough time to spend with my family and accomplish certain goals in my life, which was draining.
I’ve always wanted to write…I’ve always wanted to workout…but I was always too busy for my goals!
To make my life better, I took a step back and thought about my true desires — what do I want from life? Where do I see myself in the next 2 years?
It wasn’t until then that I learned the art of creating the 25th hour to follow my heart.
Today, I do everything — meditate, exercise, socialize, read books, and write to make a living. Without burning out. I’ve written 500+ blog posts in the last 2 years. I exercised 30 minutes every day in 2021. And almost 2022. My family and I spend time together whenever we want without whining about “I don’t have time.”
You can’t deny that some people have found ways to fit in the activities they enjoy, while others have given in to life’s incessant demands, pressures, and duties.
So, it’s time to return to the first category.
Your life is short, limited, and valuable.
To lead a fulfilling life, lead your time — regulate it, expand it, and create it.
But it does necessitate some diligence and effort on your part.
If you’re willing to make certain minor changes to your lifestyle, you can create as many hours as you want for yourself.
Here’s what helped me, and I am certain you’ll benefit from it too!
Understand “Why” You’re Attracted To Time-Sucking Black-Hole Activities
Which non-essential activities suck your significant amount of time?
Instagram, Snapchat, Pinterest…?
Binge-watching shows?
Porn?
World news?
Gossips?
If so, do some serious soul-searching about whether these things truly need to be in your life or if there are better ways to live without them.
You do things because you “think” they’re necessary, but if you introspect, you can eliminate them.
Determine “WHY” you do the things you do and why you are tempted to devote your time to such activities.
If your WHY is boredom, find creative and healthy ways!
If your WHY is relaxation, engage in some self-care activities!
If your WHY is “I have a lot of time,” fight yourself when you say, “I don’t have time for exercising or starting a side hustle!”
If you find out the “WHY” for wasting time, it will be easy to deal with the “HOW” to stop yourself.
To make room for the things that truly matter, you’ll need to get rid of some of these time-sucking black hole activities.
Multitask With a Twist
Did you know that your activities can be clubbed together throughout your day or week to save you time?
Rather than running one or two errands a day, do them all at once to save both time and gas.
If you like socializing with friends, why not combine it with “travel” or learn a skill together? This way, you’ll do many things at a time — socializing, relaxing, and energizing.
Another example is batch processing your email.
Instead of checking, reading, and answering your emails every 15 minutes, pick a time when you do all of these tasks in one sitting.
You’ll be amazed at how much time you’ll save with this practice.
You can even schedule a summary of notifications on your iPhone:
Notifications → Scheduled Summary → Set the Time
If you need some downtime with a fantastic rom-com on Netflix, learn to crochet a blanket, paint a canvas, clean the living room, vacuum the area, iron the clothes, or simply file your important documents.
You can even exercise while watching TV or doing laundry.
Here’s what I do:
Spot marching
Yoga
Breathing exercises
Push-ups
Jumping jacks
Skipping
Squats
If you love photography, take it with you to work.
Combine tasks to create more time!
Use The Unproductive Time
Is the morning commute a norm for you?
Do you have an hour-long lunch break?
Does your friend always show up late for the dinner party?
Use this downtime to check off your to-do lists.
Here’s what you can do:
Read a book while commuting.
Bring along a sketchbook to keep yourself busy while waiting for the bus.
Try reading culinary websites on your phone or flipping through a book to get yourself in the mood to start cooking as soon as you get home from work.
Call your loved ones while waiting in long queues.
Write a journal during lunch breaks.
Take advantage of the time in-between tasks to get creative and extend your interests.
Start Small
An activity or habit takes longer because we haven’t considered more efficient ways to meet our goals and demands.
If you wish to reduce the time to perform a task or activity, consider other approaches.
Take, for instance, preparing supper.
If you want to make dinner in 30 minutes instead of 45–60 minutes, there are many options you can try — meal prep in advance, only cooking recipes that take 30 minutes, or learning to use a “crockpot,” etc.
Cleaning the house is one change I’m putting to the test right now.
I have started doing “10-minute cleans” every day instead of spending the entire Saturday cleaning the house.
Before going to sleep each night, I spend 10 minutes tidying up the house — from folding the throws to clearing the living room clutter to organize the shoe rack to vacuuming — you name it.
My house grows cleaner and cleaner as the days go by.
Once there is nothing left to “pick up,” I begin the actual “cleaning” process — cleaning the toilets, steaming the carpets, cleaning the ovens, and doing laundry.
I’ve seen great results on the days when I’ve been consistent (new habits are hard to form, and we aren’t perfect at it!).
In his book “Work Simply,” psychologist Carson Tate explains:
Create and use a 15-minute list to fight the temptation of procrastination and get things done in the microsegments of your day.
When you’re tempted to procrastinate, you can turn to this list for inspiration. You can rapidly accomplish a task, which offers you a tiny energy boost, allowing you to move into working on a more demanding or complex project.
Instead of letting it all go and dealing with it afterward, push yourself.
The weekends are now free for me to do what I truly enjoy, rather than cleaning!
There are a zillion ways to tweak your current approach to a given job.
Involving others, automating routine tasks, and enhancing your productivity are just a few possibilities. The task, personality, and schedule all play a role in determining what works best for you.
Your time will be freed up, and you’ll have more time for a hobby you enjoy if you find inventive ways of rescheduling your responsibilities and obligations.
Find a Calling
You don’t have time because you don’t have something calling you.
Maybe a passionate hobby, a side hustle, or a relaxation activity.
Invest in an activity that brings you closer to your goals to control your life.
For me, it was always writing, so I invested my time in reading books, learning new writing methods, and actual writing.
Now when I look back at my life, I realize that:
Time is, was, and never will be an issue. Focus is!
If you set your focus on a side hustle, hobby, or passion, you will create time for it, no matter what!
It’s not how much time you’ve got in life; it’s what you do.
Living a hundred years is worthless if you’re not listening to your inner self.
Before You Go To Save Time
Now, it’s your turn to tell me which idea you liked the most.
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Love and respect, ❤️
Darshak Rana