Terms many of us use everyday and almost all of us are guilty of not "Finding Time". This coin has two sides; One we just don't want to hurt anyone so we appease them and put the task that we don't want to do off until "later." Side two is simply procrastination, and I am as guilty as anyone else of this if not a bit more guilty then many.
Side one is a simple fix in text, harder in practice but definitely something we can all do. Learn to say no! Don't just blurt it out as though you are a three year old and then run away. Try and be conscious of your words and the other persons feelings, but seeing that we have already identified that we have a time management issue don't take to long to ponder the request. Then once you know there is a high chance you won't complete the request explain that you don't think you can get it done and if it is important you may not be the best person to complete the task. This may turn into a discussion and you may find yourself still completing the task, but if you do I expect the other person has given you some motivation... even if it is just a swift kick in the butt.
Side two is a bit more complex, the largest side of this is one is fairly clear though. In the end we don't find time, it is not hidden under a rock, and we don't make time, we cannot sit down and craft a bit more time for the end of the day "ok today is going to be 25 hours instead of 24!". Time is just a tool we have to structure our day, a tool we can use if we learn to control our activities. We all have 24 hours in a day and we need to learn to use them to our advantage. We all have x amount of activities we need to complete within our day, within our week within our month... Many of us unconsciously work to our time, if we have an hour to finish a task or think the task will take us an hour, it is probably going to take an hour. Could we have finished it in 30 minutes, maybe, but we knew we had an hour so it took us an hour.Take the time to know what you are doing in a day, look at tasks that take the most time and consider how you can get it done faster. Look at small tasks and order them together so that you can blast through a whole bunch of small tasks in one burst, you will build a head of steam, feel good about your pace and keep driving through into the next task. Some days we will need to use the time we have set aside for a daily activity for another task, this is ok, changing up our habits now and again will help us learn to add new tasks to our busy days. In the end our day is build on a whole bunch of little habits, we expect certain results and have build in rewards. Make sure to fit additional tasks in to your existing structure, have similar reward for yourself, make change feel natural, once change is part of your daily life you will "find time" everywhere you look!
Motivate, inspire and find your focus.
