By Chris McCombs
Time is the most elusive thing in this very full and short life we live. It is the only thing we really have and the only thing we can't get back. It goes fast and sometimes slow depending on the moment and the circumstances. But for certain, there just never seems to be enough of it. Time is an invaluable asset that, unfortunately, we can never seem to see it passing until it's a little too late. We may watch the hours tick by sitting in traffic or waiting to get off work. We might even notice the tree budding outside our kitchen window, or the height of that little person we tenderly call our own. Yet, being the only thing, the most desirable thing, it is commonly the most unappreciated, disrespected and wasted thing on earth.
Maybe you too have found yourself with a day filled with duties and have sat down and looked at your calendar or been in the car alone for a few minutes and thought "where am 'I' in all of this", where is the "me" that I once knew in this unending schedule of things that have become my life that don't really mean anything. Meeting with a client, writing a blog, checking e-mail, visiting the dentist, returning calls, and over and over again. Now I am not saying that some of the parts of your job or running your own small business happen to be fulfilling, but these are not usually the things one thinks of when they are thinking of a well lived life. Those things have more to do with kayaking, playing with the kids at the beach, lounging in your own hammock that you tied to a tree that you planted in your very first home or walking toward the Great Pyramids. So how do you find the time to get to those places and enjoy the people and things around you and still run your life?
Make a life list. Make a list of all the things that you want to feel or do in life big and small and then prioritize them. Choose a day each week when you will revisit that list to make sure you are still on track and pick one or two that you can begin to try to work in to your routine and be proactive about. Examples might be sleep more (as a small one ) and see the Eiffel Tower as a big one, so maybe the first week you go to bed 20 minutes earlier and check out a travel book about Paris at the library.
Keep a "do" journal. Wonder where all the time goes every day? Well, keep a detailed journal for a week of all of your activities and the time they took per day. At the end of the week tally it up and it will be pretty obvious where all the time goes. See something that concerns you? Perhaps there is no date night with your wife on that list, coffee with your friends or quality time with your children or pets? Make schedule improvements so that things that are important to you are on the list, not just things that HAVE to be done.
Delegate things that don't require your specific brand of "youness". Must the trash be taken out by you or is that 10 year old living in your house ready for a new chore? Can some of the meals you eat be semi-homemade instead of gourmet miracles? Perhaps swing by Fresh and Easy on your way home one night a week. Maybe share coffee duty with your pal at the office if you are a frequent Starbucks visitor by picking 2 coffees up on Mon and Wed and having him pick them up on Tues and Thurs and thereby making a few more moments "free time" in the morning to either enjoy breakfast with the kids or hit the snooze button.
Chris McCombs is a professional personal trainer who runs Boot Camp Irvine, a fitness and weight loss program in Orange County, California. Chris and his team are helping residents all over Southern California lose weight and get in the best shape of their lives. Find out more by visiting http://www.socalworkout.com/
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