Where do I find the time?

Over the years I have asked this question, to my coaches and other business owners, and the reply is usually the same; ‘You just do…’ Gee thanks, that helps, not!

It wasn’t until yesterday when my assistant, Margaret, asked me ‘How do you find the time to read all those books you’ve been buying, in addition to doing the psychology degree?’, when the answer made sense to me. I just do.

It’s the how that provided the explanation though. My reply to Margaret was I get up at 6am and read for 45mins with my morning coffee before breakfast. Then another 45mins at lunch. Occasionally  I find 30mins or so in the evening, and if travelling by train I get another 20 mins (another reason why I love the new borders railway!).

It was when I detailed this all out to Margaret, it all made sense. Then to further cement the aha moment, I was talking to my partner over dinner and we were discussing the most motivational thing that got us up out of bed in the morning. I was honest with him and said that ‘Most business owners would said helping their clients, and I do love helping my clients, but the thing that really makes me jump out of bed early is reading a good book. I just love my 45mins in the morning before you get up. It energises me in a way I can’t explain. That and the coffee…’ 😉

It really is true though, if you want to do something, then you will find a way. Whether that’s by replacing 30-60 mins a day that you normally watch TV on it, or swap some time that you normally spend on social media/ internet on it, you can find the time. The key to remember though is to remember to still do activities that relax you, and remember to be patient. 30 minutes a day may not seen like much but in a year that’s 182hrs on this activity, more than you did last year.

3 years ago, I made a conscious decision to set the alarm for 6am instead of 6.45am, to fit time for writing, as well as meditating in the morning. I did that for 2 years. In 2015 I made more of an effort to give my writing activities a whole day! Some weeks it even got two days whilst I wrote my books. To jump from 5hrs a week, to 16hrs a week, in three years took a lot of effort but I built it up slowly. Be patient and trust but you must take some action. Promise yourself you will make the time to do that thing you have always wanted to do, or maybe it’s just something that you know will energise you throughout the day. Whatever it is, in the words of Nike. ‘Just Do It’.

© Helen Monaghan

Ps. I have started to copy my Amazon book reviews to this website. You can find some of the recent books I have read HERE

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