Personal Development 101

The science of time management!

For the past several months, I have been focusing my time to the development of my specific skills in the world of employee wellness and stress management.  I enrolled in a course that I knew I had no time for, but enrolled in it anyways, and to my surprise, I was able to prioritize this and ensure that it was completed.

Not surprisingly, when I coach my clients, I often get similar responses when it comes to fitting in new priorities “I have no time, ” I am too busy at work right now,” “I have kids, of course I don’t have time to do anything for myself!”

As the end of the year fast approaches, many people often reflect on how fast 2021 “flew by” and that many of their goals were not achieved.  However, the good news is there are still 2 months left before the end of year, so how can you “find the time” in the same 24 hours we are all granted.  Below are some steps that helped and allowed me to fit in a course when I thought there was zero chance that I would complete it. 

The Science of how we think about time:

In understanding how to manage our time more effectively and efficiently, we must first understand how we are using our time.  Its amazing to think that with advances in technology, digital communication, and specialized apps, we should have more time at our disposal, and the data agrees.  Time diaries show that men’s leisure time has increased 6 to 9 hours per week in the past 50 years, and women’s has increased 4 to 8 hours.  So why do we feel more time poor?

• Technology saves us time, but it also takes it away. We are constantly being interrupted by our smart watches, phones, tablets, labtops etc.  Each event in itself is mundane and takes only seconds.  Collectively, these interruptions add up to a significant amount of time each day. 
• We constantly chase money – positive psychology research shows that money protects against sadness but doesn’t buy joy. In fact, research has shown that once we make a certain amount of money, making more does little for our happiness.  So if this is true, why do we spend so much of our time working?
• Busyness is tied to our identity: people look to work to find meaning and they use busyness at work to help shape their identity and self-worth.  We often use this as a status symbol. 

Steps to finding time:

• Start by understanding your time-use decisions – keep a detailed log on how you spend your time. Science teaches us to use Tuesday as this day tends to be the most productive.  Email me for a template you can use at [email protected]
• Note exactly how you feel about each activity beyond positive or negative. Be as specific as possible. Examples could include was the activity productive, pleasurable, purposeful etc.
• When evaluating your list, pay extra attention to time spent on unproductive activities that make us stressed. We should then ask ourselves whether its possible to spend less time on them or if there is a way to make it less tense?
• Make a firm commitment and choose to spend more time on activities that bring you joy and less time on activities that bring you misery. Maximize the positive and minimize the negative!
  1. In many cases we have no choice on activities that may bring us misery. However, we can then work to transforming these activities by bundling them with happiness-producing activities.  For example, you may have no choice but to commute to work, but can you bundle this with listening to your favorite audiobook. 
  2. Review your work day – the activity we spend the most time in every day is with our careers/jobs. Uninvite yourself to meetings that are a waste of your time, try and work from home as much as possible to decrease your time commuting.    
  3. Practice active leisure – activities like volunteering, socializing, and exercising promote more happiness than activities like watching TV or online shopping.
  4. Meet new people: the benefits of having high-quality social connections are similar to those of getting regular exercise.  Studies show this makes us feel less time poor even though you may feel this takes up even more time.  This prosocial activity boosts mood and allows us to feel more in control of our time when we choose to give it away. 
  5. Find time to experience “awe.” Research shows awe-inspiring experiences like taking scenic walks/hikes reduce time stress.  
• Fund Time: time saving purchases such as meal prep services, cleaning companies, or using apps to take care of other chores around the house have been proven to make people feel happier and less stressed.  Simply, ask yourself whether your time is worth more than what it would cost to outsource some of your most negative and unproductive experiences. In one experiment where people took a ride share instead of commuting to work on their own, they gained back nearly two days each month that was previously filled with stress.  In the cost benefit analysis, the ride share was $50 more expensive per month, but the 2 days each month gained was worth the cost of $50.  In other words, I’ve spent an extra $50 to gain back 16 hours per month. 
  1. If you feel you can’t afford to outsource an entire task, think about removing your most disliked tasks half the time or even a quarter of the time.
  2. Look for material purchases that you can remove to supplement funding your time.
  3. Look to only fund the most disliked part of a particular task, and not necessarily the whole task. People love to cook, but hate purchasing ingredients, so they use a meal plan service that helps with this particular task. 
  4. The next time someone asks what you want for your birthday, ask for a time saving gift like a cleaning service if you hate cleaning your home.

Conclusion:

As per Harvard Business Review, four out of 5 adults report feeling they have too much to do and not enough time to do it.  These people experience less joy each day.  They laugh less, are less healthy, less productive and more likley to divorce.  In one study, time stress produced a stronger negative effect on happiness than unemployment. 

I hope the above suggestions, backed by scientific studies, will free up seconds, minutes and hours that over the long term, become weeks and months so that you can reinvest this time in positive and healthy activities. 

Until next time,

Be well,

Coach Mumdoo

604-861-4288

[email protected]