It's About Time Ruth Wong

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Unnecessary tasks cut into valuable time

When dealing with clutter, after getting rid of what's unneeded, I focus on finding storage for the need-to-keeps. Often clients say that they don't have any storage, that all the closets and cabinets are full. So I say, "Let's see what they're full of," and sure enough, when the unneeded is removed, there's the space we need.

The same is true for time. When people say, "I wish I had more time for (fill in the blank)," I take a look at where their time is going.

Often by eliminating the unnecessary, we can recoup time for meaningful and rewarding activities.

What I find is that we often aren't aware of where our discretionary time is going. We do so much by habit, not questioning whether a particular activity is a good investment of time.

Take, for example, the military wife whose husband was deployed. She had children and was a full-time student. Her chief complaint was that she didn't have enough time for her children. When I asked her how she used her time, she replied with the usual -- cleaning, cooking, laundry and ironing.

I said that ironing shouldn't take much time, as children's clothes don't need much, if any, ironing. She said she ironed everything, even underwear! I questioned whether ironing underwear was a necessity -- "Wouldn't that time be better spent with your children?"

Another example: a friend used to spend two hours each day reading the newspaper. She would read every article and ad. She complained that after a vacation, it took so many hours to catch up reading old newspapers. I reminded her that for old newspapers a fast review is all that's needed, if that, and that it's a waste of time reading ads for things no longer on sale.

These might be radical examples, but many of us do the same, to a lesser degree. Excessive, mindless TV watching, shopping, video gaming or Internet surfing can leech time from necessary, meaningful activities. There are many who lack time even for basics such as sleep, exercise and relaxation.

What are some things you wish you had time for? What are some things you are spending too much time on?

I encourage you to identify ways you are spending time unnecessarily, eliminate or curtail them, and put that precious time to better use.

Let's be careful to invest our time where we get the best "ROI" (return on investment)!

See you in two weeks!