Trying and failing to make time for a passion or a hobby? Is there something you’ve always wanted to pursue, that you never seem to have time for when work and family commitments are taken care of? You sign and think ‘One day…’ only that day never comes? Taking on a passion project when life is always busy is never easy – but it’s a question of recognising the importance that thing holds for you, your creative fulfilment and your wellbeing and making a conscious decision to make time for it. Here are a few ways to get started when there just don’t seem to be enough hours in the day.
List Down Your Schedule
We all have a schedule that we operate to in our own heads – but have you ever taken the time to actually write yours down? If you make the effort to do so you may be surprised at what pockets of time you can uncover. Try carrying around a notebook for three days and jotting down your actual schedule – you may be surprised at how much it differs from what you thought it was! This is a key thing to do in order to discover time that slips away, unaccounted for, that you could use to feed your passion project. Often we get sucked into a rabbit hole on Instagram that we perceive takes a few minutes, but in reality adds up to half an hour. A couple of these a day and you’ve found the time you need. You also need to find sources of information that you can trust when you have a family to deal with -patient.info can help you spot signs of ill-health in children, for example.
Embrace The Power of No
What could you renegotiate in your life to free up a little time for what you really want to focus on? We can often be guilty of taking on commitments we don’t really want or need, just to avoid the momentary discomfort of giving a ‘no’ to someone. But what is really so scary and terrible about it? Get comfortable with saying no and a world of opportunity opens up. Could you delegate a task, call in a favour or even outsource a task like the ironing to claw back some time? Could you find a way to do it faster, or less often? Get creative and you can see some real results. It may not be easy, but is it easier than losing out on doing what you love?
Find A Friend
Finding someone to work on our project with transforms it – it makes it a commitment, and that makes it much harder to cancel or wriggle out of. Someone to motivate you if you hit a bump in the road can also be well worth having. You don’t have to have exactly the same goal – just complementary ones that allow you to act as a cheerleader for each other. It’s amazing the effect this can have on keeping you going!
Balancing so many competing demands is something that working mums are usually extremely good at, but it’s important to remember our own needs should also play a part in our schedule. If we aren’t fulfilled then we usually aren’t giving our best to the people who need us – so think of it as the ultimate investment!
Collaborative Post
Collaborative Post