Clock Yourself
Are you feeling like your cauldron of things that stress you out is bubbling over? It’s not one annoyance; it’s a damn vat full that zaps your energy and forces you to live life on the edge (not in a good way). I’m hedging a bet on every household yelling, “There aren’t enough hours in the day!”
You have 6,000 apps, and too many emails from your child’s school, plus corporate jobs make you feel like a slave.
Multitasking also isn’t the answer, you think you’re answering emails while cooking, but you’re just setting off the smoke alarm while sending your boss a message about “grilled deadlines.”
Nek minnit, you’re doom-scrolling watching a reel that says mercury is in retrograde, and that explains EVERYTHING! It’s always a solid excuse, but letting poor Mercury cop the blame won’t solve the issue that most of us are facing.
We are stressed, ridiculously time-poor and fail to find time to live in the moment and have fun. If we can solve the time issue, does that mean, we will feel less stressed and have more time for spontaneity?
I want to prove that you have more time in your day than you think. First, let’s look at where you are allocating your time. Start owning what you do. Record where you spend your time over a week.
- What happens from the moment you wake up until an hour has passed?
- What comes next?
- How much time do you spend chatting on the phone?
- What about texting?
- How much time do you spend procrastinating?
- Are you saying YES to too many things?
- Showering time? (I’m guilty here)
How much time are you spending on social media, what about the time you spend driving? Watching TV, listening to podcasts, cooking meals, housework, tending to the needs of others both physically and emotionally? How much time do you spend productively working? How long are your breaks? How many times do you allow yourself to get distracted? One minute, you’re in your flow of work and suddenly, your phone demands your attention, or you habitually pick it up and start scrolling and have no idea when you picked it up.
This can be a rude wake-up call because clocking yourself and taking notes on it, is very confronting and will tell you exactly where your priorities lie.
Where is your energy going? Are you establishing boundaries with friends or family that pin you down to ruminate on drama? Use these questions as a checklist.
American social psychologist and author, Jonathan Haidt describes in his internationally best-selling book why we are such an anxious generation. We aren’t allocating time to engage in playful activities that we enjoy. There is no denying that we have a list of responsibilities that cannot be compromised, however, if you clockyourself, you’ll find windows of opportunity to take advantage of.
Instead of organising dinner with friends, maybe choose a fun activity to all do instead. I went axe-throwing with some friends recently, and it was wild. We laughed a hell of a lot, plus let off some steam. Also, no hangover!
We can’t have it all, all at once. Even your phone needs to recharge. So, what things can you swap out to enable you to have more fun? Your happiness matters! You matter. Do we have to hit rock bottom or be faced with health challenges to take this stuff seriously?
Your life isn’t meant to be an escape room. Prioritise those moments of fun.
