How Often Does Time Get Away From You?

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July (if you celebrate it). One thing that got me wondering this past weekend is time itself. I bet there was a handful of times at one point where you had said ‘where has the time gone?’ or ‘how did time get away from me?’. I myself have said that numerous times to myself or to my friends. Your not alone if you feel like time has gotten away from you.

How Does Time get Away From Us

Growing up, some of us don’t keep track of time or have any time management skills. As kids, sometimes we aren’t taught how to manage our time properly. When were in school, a conference, meeting, or a seminar for example, time can drag on and feel like forever yet only a small amount of time has gone by. Then some days, time goes by so fast and the day is almost over yet it feels like the day just started and we just woke up.

Lets be real, we all at one point have slept in and didn’t get out of bed until later in the day. Well that can be because we didn’t sleep until late at night. Is it this simple, unfortunately no. Everyone has a different life schedule where some of us have jobs late at night. Some of us stay up late to study and others stay up late partying. Then there are those who have sleep troubles where it’s physically and mentally hard to fall asleep.

Sleep schedules and patterns are just a couple of factors of time getting away from us. We can get so involved into something that we lose all track of time. Planning a party, building a model of the Titanic, binging something on Netflix, playing a sport with friends, playing video games are examples where time just gets away from us. We can be working on a company project, doing chores, or studying up for a math test that time just flies right by. Spending time with friends and loved ones always seems to pass the time.

Now all those things can eat up a lot of time right? Well some of you see that as your life, a life you used to live, or maybe a life you want to tweek and make changes to. With the right mindset, you can keep time in check while not obsessing or dwelling on it. You don’t need to look at your phone, the clock, or watch counting minutes and seconds.

Here are some tips to help you better manage your time:

• Organization is a great way to have clarity and get down what you need to get done
• Setting realistic goals and writing them down believe it or not can help motivate you to accomplish everything on your to do list
• Planning how much time you want to spend on one thing can help you not lose track of time and get the next thing done before the day is up
• Managing your stress to stay in the present and using it correctly to not let things slip away is helpful
• Prioritize what needs to get done first or what will need the most energy can help you get things done and have energy to spare
• Self-awareness is helpful in keeping track of time and I don’t mean looking at your watch or the clock consistently. You can set an alarm to let you know when your time on something is up or set up a 5 or 10 minute warning.
• That to do list I keep mentioning, write it down if it helps you prioritize things better instead of remembering it all in your head.
• Stay focused on what you need to do or get done. Try to minimize any distractions around you like the TV or unnecessary noise.

Wrap Up

Time management is key. Sometimes we feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to do the things we want to do. With the proper prioritizing of goals and your to do list, you can get a lot done and still have time in the day.

Some of what I said can be described as setting up a routine. I talked about routines before and how they can work against us instead of helping us. This just goes back to having the right kind of balance in your life which takes time to figure out. Everyone is different, so what works for some people may not work for you. It’s ok to have game nights on Fridays or going to the movies on Wednesday afternoons.

Remember to have flexibility in your life, that way you can manage your time better and not become a victim of your own routine; don’t let it control you, control it. It’s ok to change things up; something new is great for the mind. Also don’t forget that if you need time to rest and do nothing, that’s perfectly fine. Don’t feel guilty about it, we all need downtime and rest, we need to recharge ourselves, and this can help in slowing down our thoughts so their not causing us unwanted anxiety or stress. This helps in us having and maintaining a clear mind.

Staying in the present can help us not think and dwell too much about the future and the past. Try focusing on the next hour and what you can do in it. Don’t think about the next hour or later in the day. Don’t think back to earlier in the day, that time has passed. You have 60 minutes, put your energy and focus solely on that period of time. I have learned that this technique helps me stay more in the present time.

Take care, stay safe, and remember your not alone and you have worth in this world.