As you probably know, I am what you would call a “productive” woman, or at least I like to think I am. Nonetheless, I am all about balance, which is the main key word of this blog. Thus, I have decided to create a post through which I will be able to share with my top tips to make time to do what you love in life. It is really cool to be productive, but what is the point if you can’t make time for what you enjoy?
Some of you will object that they love their job and that it is “what they love”, but do not forget that you need to disconnect from that job (yes, you do!) in order to be more productive and to enjoy it more after the break. Thus, here are my tips to create little stretches of time you can use to do whatever makes you happy, enjoy!
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Make sure you really love what you want to make time for
It can seem obvious, but take a minute to think about it. What is the main thing you would love to make more time for in your day? Let’s say it is reading. So you want to read more but can’t seem to find time for it, right? Then maybe you just do not like reading that much, do you? Maybe you do, and in that case, please follow the tips below. If not, keep in mind that whatever you want to create more time for in your already busy days, you won’t be able to do it if that thing does not rrrrrreally set you soul on fire. You are already too busy to create free time dedicated to something you do not enjoy.
Do not try to do something because of pressure
This tip goes hand in hand with the first one. Let’s take the same example again and imagine that you want to read more books. Now, let’s say that you really love books and that you have managed to create time for that passion of yours every night. You will now read every night for about twenty minutes. The problem is the following: you have seen this crazy challenge on Goodreads and now feel pressured to read 50 books this year. STOP! Sorry for the capital letters, but really, stop. You need to let your passion (reading) be nothing more than a passion or you will give up quite easily. Do not embark on any type of challenge because of social pressure, your leisure time is here to destress, not to stress even more.
Do not monetize that hobby of yours
It will definitely be tempting if your hobby is something commonly monetized, such as blogging for instance. However, and even if most people will tell you that not monetizing that passion would be “stupid”, do not listen if you do not feel like taking the leap. Indeed, once you start monetizing a passion, you take a risk: what if the passion disappeared? You are the only person to be able to make that decision for yourself, but remember that not everything in life needs to be monetized.
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Do not focus on what does not matter
This is quite obvious as well, but needs to be said and said again: your time is limited. Thus, you need to establish priorities and stick to them. I am not saying that you should never clean the apartment, but maybe do not spend an hour ever morning doing chores if you dream about creating a website. You need to dedicate your time to hat truly matters, and thus twenty minutes of chores in the morning and forty minutes of website creation seems smarter. Remember: when you try to make time for anything in life, perfectionism is your worse enemy.
Learn not to go from task to task
Basically, you need to learn when to stop working. If you work from home or if you are a student, this can be quite hard, but it is totally doable. Make to-do lists and once all the tasks for the day are done, stop. Today is not the right time to do things you have planned for tomorrow so if you finished the to-do list earlier in the day, just stop. You see, you have just created time for what you love, so there is no reason not to enjoy than time!
Learn to say no to things that matter less
Once more, life is a matter of priorities. If someone invites you to a party you do not really want to go to, just decline the invitation politely. You will probably feel rude the first time, but just know that people will have fun without you anyway (that is a truth). By not going to that party, you just created time to do whatever you want to do, congratulations!
Remember that life is all about balance and you need to put yourself first, before school, before work, before it all. So just remind yourself of the importance of that me-time you are making time to create. It is really important to enjoy your life, as in the end, is not it the overall goal of life itself?
The English-speaking Frenchie 
Love this! I totally relate to the monetizing the blog thing. So many people tell me I should while I’m having fun not doing that yet (if ever) I’d much rather focus on another career and leave this as a passion
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I totally agree with you as you can tell ; monetizing is probably good for other people but as far as I am concerned, it is just not a priority right now. Blogging for the sole purpose of enjoying it is so much fun!
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Most people have this time management issue, which keeps them from being productive!
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Totally, which makes it even more important to share advice of that kind. Sometimes, I tell myself that it is « natural » but then I remember that what is natural to me may be complicated to others and vice versa. Actually, we may all share our « logical » advice in order to help people who differ from us understand it, and we may read their advice as well. 🌸
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