We all want “more time” but what would we do with it?

Time, this is one of the most desired qualities by many Americans, along with sex, money and love. But why and for what exactly do we want this time? To relax? To be with loved ones? To do what really makes us happy? These unanswered questions remain a mystery to me and leave me questioning my daily actions. Can we create more time?

My mother’s side of the family is known for being late. In my mother’s house, all of the clocks run 7 minutes ahead to enable her to ‘be on time’, however, she is still rushing or late. I have inherited this characteristic, though unlike popular opinion, I think it is a positive quality to have. I am aware that being late to things does induce a low level of stress in life, and certainly may make you sweaty from all the rushing, but that’s just life giving an inevitable work-out and I’m thankful for that. Being late allows you to live in the moment, to be more present, to enjoy a conversation with a person when you may have somewhere else to be etc. Loosing track of time in a society where we always know the exact hour and minute ticking by, is freeing. I think to request for “more time” from life we should first reevaluate its very purpose.

Time management is a term we are familiar with, especially in regard to the balance of work and home life. The way we manage time is highly depicted by our life’s responsibilities. Many of us have jobs that take precedence and rule over the rest of the ‘free time’ we have, leaving us distributing the remainder of our 24 hours into actions we view as obligatory. We have all met those people who work for the weekend, cruising through weekdays towards the light of weekend’s ‘free time’. But lets take a step back; no time is really “free.” What if we put greater thought into the way we distribute our time and would that leave us having more?

Creating time sounds futuristic, as though we would have to wait for the day “Interstellar” becomes reality. Although, I think there is a quicker way — three easy steps to apply to your life and create more time:

1. Make mental and emotional health a priority

Many of us do not consciously take these into consideration, overlooking the power that what we do is creating who we are. Who we are is a reflection of our current mental and emotional health, and in order to be healthy you have to exercise these functions. Deciding what brings you stability and making that a priority in your life is as important as eating.

In my life, I make my mental and emotional health a priority by writing down three things that make me grateful every night before going to sleep, looking at art that inspires me, and sharing the things that make me excited with people I care about. These are the ways I make time work for me to create a sense of mental and emotional health, and these you can also easily adopt into your life. Mental and emotional health do not ask a lot of us, simply a few minutes of attention in our daily routine.

2. Reevaluate what is important

Write down all of the areas in your life where you spend time: work, family, friends, home duties, eating/making food etc. Once you have done this, you may gain a better understanding of where exactly time escapes you. This can show you the areas of your life that are lacking your attention and can help you reposition your minutes into categories, which can leave you feeling more fulfilled. There are ways to change the way you spend your currency of time — we do it with our monthly income and expenses, why can’t we do the same with our weekly dispensing of 10,080 minutes.

3. Ask yourself, what truly makes you happy

For most, this is one of the most difficult questions the world can impose. What makes it so difficult is that happiness does not follow any models or laws. It is unique to each and every individual, therefore it is important to evaluate your own sources of happiness without comparing it to those around you. Giving time to do the things that truly make you happy can propel you to discover the best parts of yourself. Once you find out what truly makes you happy, rearrange your daily minutes to cultivate this in your life. Just knowing the ways you can spend time to bring you happiness can help you overcome hardships, breakups, grief etc.

Time is what we make of it; it is not real yet the things that we create with the time we have both define and sustain us. Time is a currency we all posses; the first step is to realizing where you are currently spending yours, and then making an effort to coherently rearrange its distribution. In this way, we are able to create time for the people, actions, and events that make us into happier and more stable human beings.

Hope you enjoyed your time reading this article and that it can have some kind of positive impact on your life. :)