Changing Free Time Into Useful Time

Dan Pierce

Making your free time into flexible time will enable you to increase your efficiency.
The one phrase I hate is “I’ll get that done when I have some free time.” Is that time really free? If your time is worth something it probably isn’t free time. What I mean by that is your time is worth money, your health, and your well being. You need to change how you view your time.

Change what you call free time. Call it flexible time. It may seem like a superficial change but the effect is enormous. If you start calling your free time flexible time it changes how you view that time. When you get something for free it usually means you got something with out doing anything for it. Someone gave you something or you found it. Like finding that couch on the side of the road and it tuned out to be the sleeper sofa you were looking for. Granted that doesn’t happen too often so, why treat your time like you found it on the side of the road.

When you start calling your time flexible you start thinking about it differently. You need to think of that time as valuable. You worked hard to open up your day and give yourself time to fit something else into that block. That open block of time is now open for you to put something into it. For example. You got into work 5 minutes early today and you were able to get a jump on that project you were working on. Then, you took a shorter lunch and finished up you work for the day an hour early. Now you have an open block of time. Is that hour free? No, you worked hard and sacrificed for that time. What are you going to put into that hour? You could start that other project that you were going to start tomorrow, organize your desk, or go work out. That is when you need to decide what is the most important thing for you.

An important piece to making your open time into flexible time is developing a list of flexible projects. Flexible projects are tasks that need to get done but are not pressing. Those things that pop up and you say I’ll do that later. Sit down and write down a list of things that you can do when you see that you have some flexible time coming up. This list will help you be more efficient when deciding what you should do with your flexible time. You won’t be wasting your time figuring out what you should do. On that list should be all of those things that you have been putting off, for when you “find the time”. When your writing your list estimate how long it will take for you to complete the task. Will it take 15 minutes or 2 hours. Include tasks that you may already be doing but can shift them around like working out, emailing people, or shopping.

Your time is important. Make your free time worth more and make it into flexible time. Call now to make this transition and receive a free collaborative consultation.

About the Author

Dan is a Personal and Professional Coach who works with vibrant and motivated individuals who want to expand their lives. Dan has experience in a wide variety of topics to include leadership development, personal growth, and time management.