I’m listening to Jon Acuff’s audiobook All It Takes Is A Goal. In the book, Jon describes stealing time in fifteen minute increments. Waiting to pick up a child from practice. Sitting in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. Waiting for the water to boil while you make a pasta dinner. These are all acceptable times to work toward a goal. Acuff stresses that stealing those fifteen minutes here and there add up to a lot of time toward your goal.
I’ve done it. I’ve stolen those fifteen minutes chunks. It works. It’s a slow process but it works. But stealing time like this is like searching for the leftover change in your couch cushions. If you are anything like me, you don’t want your goals to be left to the couch cushions. You want to go for the loaded vault, full of productivity and promise in meeting your goal(s).
We’ve all watched the great heist movies (Where are my Ocean’s Eleven fans out there?!) and know that the bigger the heist the better. You’ve got to stop pilfering small increments of time, and instead plan your own heist. You’ve got to reclaim your time by stealing back large chunks of your time. How do you do that?
Try these strategies to plan your own great time heist. Take back your day now.
Celebrate a Cave Day. Lock yourself in your “cave” for the day. Shut out all of the external noise and demands of your normal day. Spend the entire day disappearing into a project, a passion, or a pursuit that truly matters. Sometimes, I call in a personal day at work, and spend the entire day writing, and it puts me in a better place.
Steal those Early Morning or Late Evening Hours. I’m most productive at work when I arrive super early, and do what I need to do when no one else is around. The same is true for my mornings at home. I wake up an hour before everyone else to accomplish goals while I have quiet to do it. Taking an hour early in the morning (or late at night after everyone goes to bed), you can complete meaningful work in a timely manner.
Give Back Your TV or Streaming Time. How often are you planting yourself in front of the TV? I will often try to read in the living room while my daughter watches NCIS. Inevitably, I’ll get sucked into an episode. Trade your TV and streaming time for something far more valuable. Commit to a goal (say reading 50 books this year) and use your time differently instead of staying plastered to the television (or smaller screen). In a similar vein, how much time do you spend mindlessly scrolling on social media? Use this time wisely instead.
Resist the Temptation of Your Phone. You might be seeing this post on your phone right now. I’m going to give you some very simple advice. Put your phone on airplane mode, and gain hours back into your day. You’ll no longer be tempted to surf aimlessly, and even if you are, you won’t be able to. The moment you realize that your phone is now worthless (at least for the time being), you can move on to something more significant for a lengthy period of time.
Single Task Like a Pro. We live in the era of multitasking. Everyone has earbuds in at all times to maximize their time. Instead, we need to focus. Ditch the phone. Ditch the earbuds. Put your bottom in the chair and focus on the one thing that needs to get done. Block off some time on your calendar, and label it with the one single task you want to complete. Get rid of all of the distractions around you. Set a timer, and get to work.
We need to start treating our goals as the treasures that they are. Don’t settle for those fifteen minute scraps, those leftover moments between obligations. Plan your great time heist. Reclaim your time. Carve out those glorious, uninterrupted blocks of time where you can truly dive deep, create, and find purpose.
The vault is waiting. Are you ready to plan your heist?
Rich