Go in search of lost time

If time is getting away from you, try to catch it to use it for something more fun

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to identify the points in your days when
time is leaking out. When you go in search of

(00:23):
lost time, you might be able to figure out ways
to reclaim that time for something that is important to you.
I hear from a lot of people that they just
don't know where all their time goes. They are incredibly
busy from morning to night, but they are not quite
sure what it is they are doing all day. Even

(00:44):
people who have a good idea of how they spend
let's say their work hours may lose track of shorter
stretches here and there. In my recent evening Hours challenge,
I had people set intentions for the space of time
between the end of the workday and bedtime. For many people,
actually using this time for something fun was revelatory. As

(01:08):
one person wrote, she realized that evening time didn't have
to be lost hours, It was time that was there
for her to use and enjoy. Her phrase lost hours
has stuck with me because I think it is such
a common experience. Minutes and hours pass with no memories

(01:29):
or accomplishments to show for them. So how do we
find that lost time and get it back for something important?
Whether that's high quality time with family or friends, professional work, hobbies,
or simply rest. Longtime listeners won't be surprised to hear
that I think one of the best ways to find

(01:50):
lost time is to actually keep track of your time.
I think everyone should try keeping a time log for
a week, recording activities and half hour increments. The timelog
will let you see where your time is going. Then
you can identify any blocks of time going to nebulous
activities like tidying or email, or you might be able

(02:12):
to reclaim the lost time. You can also recalibrate if
you realize that how you spend your time isn't aligned
with your priorities. If you'd like to get a time log,
you can go to my website, Laura Vandercam dot com
and on the menu bar click start. Here you'll find
a timelog template and other resources. I will also be

(02:35):
running a time tracking challenge in January, so stay tuned
and sign up if you would like to track your
time alongside other people. If you are not quite sure
about tracking, another option is to simply train yourself to
be more aware. For instance, you can set a gentle
chime to go off on your phone every hour. Then

(02:58):
you can reflect on how you've spent the past hour.
If you are not sure, that suggests that maybe there
is some lost time to be found. You can also
learn more about how you spend your time by keeping
a journal. At the end of each day, reflect on
what you did and what mattered during the day. If

(03:21):
you find times of day or circumstances when you are
consistently losing time, it might help to start setting more intentions.
For instance, if you realize that you don't accomplish much
meaningful during the first few hours of your work day
because you keep getting sucked into email exchanges, maybe you
designate the first thirty minutes for processing email, and then

(03:44):
you take the next ninety minutes to work on a
specific project that you have identified in advance. Or maybe
you realize that the time between getting your kids out
the door for school and leaving for work yourself is
spent frantically one d around the house tidying who needs that?
Why not leave right after your kids do and devote

(04:06):
the extra time to hanging out by the coffee maker
in the break room and building relationships with your colleagues.
Or you could go straight to your desk and get
an extra twenty minutes every day for a speculative project.
Or maybe you spend all the time you care to
at work already. In that case, skip the puttering around

(04:26):
at home and instead sit down with your coffee and
spend twenty minutes reading a novel. When you find lost time,
you can redeploy it however you want. If you go
in search of lost time, I would love to hear
how it goes. You can reach me at Laura at
Laura vandercam dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura.

(04:52):
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

(05:19):
production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
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your favorite shows.