TRAINS

Time is our most precious commodity (apart from oxygen… and possibly chocolate). We live such busy lives that it often seems there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done. When we’re juggling work, chores and family responsibilities – and trying to find time for our friends, hobbies and exercise, too – we can end up feeling exhausted by the end of the week and deflated because we haven’t ticked everything off our to-do list.

Well, don’t worry: if you’ve decluttered your home, you’ll find that you’ve already saved yourself time every day (no more searching for missing items, and less time spent tidying up and cleaning), but you can do even better than that! By decluttering your schedule and trying out these time-saving tips, you can carve out even more time to spend doing the things that you really enjoy.

“TIME IS A CREATED THING. TO SAY ‘I DON’T HAVE TIME’ IS LIKE SAYING ‘I DON’T WANT TO’.

When you’re rushing headlong from one task to the next, it can be difficult to get a picture of how you’re spending your time, so make a time chart to record what you’ve done each day for a week. Use a diary to note down what you do throughout the day and how long you spend doing it. Be as specific as possible: you were at work for 8 hours but did you make a note of your breaks and the time that you definitely didn’t spend surfing the net? Include commuting time, time spent waiting in queues, etc. (Use different colours for different categories, if you like.)

At the end of the week, tot up how much time you spent in each area. It can be a brilliant way of highlighting slots of time that could be used in other ways and for you to realise just how much you are committing to certain projects.

Do you find yourself sitting down for your morning cuppa in the evening? Are you halfway up the road before you realise you’ve forgotten to spit out your mouthwash? Why is everything such a mad rush?

Take a look at your time chart and ask yourself, honestly, if you’re happy with the way you’re spending your days. We are all guilty of trying to do too much, but if you divide your time too thinly, you won’t be able to do things to the best of your ability (or look after yourself properly). Highlight at least one area of your schedule that could be improved by dropping commitments, delegating tasks or finding a more efficient way to get things done. Now do it!

On Sunday go through your diary for the week ahead. Note down anything that you need to get ready for yourself and your family members: an outfit for a party, sports kit, that hilarious inflatable banana for April Fool’s Day…

Every evening lay out your clothes for the next day and any other items that you’ll need.

Improve your morning routine – especially if you live with others. Can you rearrange timings so that you don’t end up queuing for the bathroom?

Always put things away as you use them, put appointments in your diary immediately, and reply to emails and texts when you open them.

If you’re going up- or downstairs (or to the kitchen/ living room/whatever) don’t go empty-handed. Find something that you can take with you to put away and save yourself a trip later on.

It’s amazing what you can do in 5 minutes… as you’ll know if you’ve ever slept through your alarm. If you look at your day carefully, you’ll soon find 5-minute slots all over the place that you can use cannily to free up more time for the fun stufflater on. While your tea is brewing you could:

Open and answer your post/emails/texts.

Check whose birthdays are coming up this month and order a gift online.

Dust/vacuum/tidy something (boring, I know – but you’ll be glad when you don’t have to do it later).

Put on a favourite track and sing or dance along for an instant mood boost.

One sure way to help you focus on the passing of time is to use a stopwatch or kitchen timer and…

Start it at the beginning of a ‘discussion’. When you’ve had enough, check your timer and say, ‘We’ve spent 13 minutes and 2.45 seconds discussing what kind of swimming pool the hotel should have… Shall we move on to booking the flights?’

Force yourself to have a break: ‘I will sit down for 15 minutes to drink this cuppa while it’s hot/to watch some trashy TV.’

Force yourself to do some work: ‘In 15 minutes I will stop drinking this cuppa/watching trashy TV and do the dishes.’

End a lengthy phone call. Set a loud alarm to go off according to your boredom threshold and then say, ‘Sorry. Must go. Don’t want my Roquefort and walnut scones to burn.’

I can change the bed sheets in 4 minutes 53 seconds… Race me!