3 Ways to Create More Free Time

Effective time management is something that eludes most of us. As a culture, at least in America, being "stressed" and "overwhelmed" has become entirely too commonplace. Healthy balance between work and play in someones life is rarely seen.

As I work with more and more Home Based Business ...Effective time management is something that eludes most of us. As a culture, at least in America, being "stressed" and "overwhelmed" has become entirely too commonplace. Healthy balance between work and play in someones life is rarely seen.

As I work with more and more Home Based Business Owners, the same challenges continue to come up again and again. I hear phrases like, "I'm bad with time" or "I tend to procrastinate a lot". I also hear these quite often: "I work too much, and I'm not sure where the workday ends" as well as "I don't seem to have very much free time". Most people got into owning a home based business because they wanted more freedom, and in many cases they wind up in a different kind of prison.

A very effective first step to creating more free time is to identify the time wasters in your life. Creating this simple awareness can cause things to turn around very quickly. Most patterns in our lives are there because we're running on auto-pilot. When you begin to notice a pattern, it's just a matter of time before you will know exactly what you need to do to shift it.

The first most common time-waster is living and / or working in a sea of disorganized clutter. Did you know the average person spends one hour a day looking for something? That's seven hours a week, and 28 hours per month. Many people think it takes a lot of time to get organized, but the reality is that is takes MORE time to be disorganized. Clean up a bit, file some papers, and you could literally get back 28 hours per month. That's a good chunk of free time.

Another major time-waster is electronic boxes. Computers, TV, Blackberries, Video Games, etc. I'm certainly not saying these are all bad, I'm all for a some mindless entertainment on occasion. However, OVERUSE of these things has become the main problem. Entertainment is one thing, distraction is another. The question is, are these things robbing you of time you would rather be spending doing something else? Where could you draw the line on your electronic box use and replace it with something more fulfilling? Check in with yourself and see what you come up with, it just might surprise you.

The third and biggest time-waster of all is carrying around your schedule and to-do list in your head. I see this much too often, and I notice that this a huge energy drain. This can cause feelings of being overwhelmed, stressed, and completely unable to relax. I speak from experience! I always have 27 thing on my to do list, and I have found that writing it down and prioritizing it is an amazing way to relax. It no longer is swirling around my mind. When things are laid out in this way, it's easy to schedule what needs to be done and have more time to do other important things in my day, like take a nap!

People generally forget that we only have a certain amount of hours in the day. It's important to remember that in order to say yes to something, we will have to say no to something else. We cannot keep piling things on. Decide what you would like to have more of in your life on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. Write down what these things are, and then ask the question, "What must I say NO to to make room for these things?" This is a great way to create more free time, fun time, and time with loved ones in your life. Keep your eye on what's important, it easy to get lost in the details.

Copyright 2009 Anastasia Netri