How to Gain Control of your Free Time by Laura Vanderkam is possibly one of the most useful Ted Talks I’ve watched in a while. If you can’t spare the 12 minutes it takes to watch it, here are the facts:

Your Time:

You have 168 hours a week to spend. That’s a fact. Subtract how many hours a week you work, sleep, and spend on essential chores. What you have left is “free” time. This is time you can do whatever you want with. How are you using it?

Prioritize:

So how do you figure out what to do with your free time? Laura suggests you examine what matters most to you in one of two ways (or both, if you have the time):

1. Write your next year’s performance review now — what would you like it to say you accomplished?
2. Write next year’s holiday family letter now — what would you like to say made your year fabulous?

This will give you an idea of wish list or goals you can schedule time to accomplish.

Small moments have great power

Break your goals into manageable steps. Prioritize these steps by scheduling them into your week.  Even if it’s only a few hours a week, it matters. Use your bits of time with purpose because, truthfully, you have lots of time to do these things.

Look at the whole of your time and fill it with the good stuff. Watch less TV. Tweet less. Play less video games. Push everything that doesn’t matter, that doesn’t forward your goals, aside.

We can build the lives we want with the time we have.

artwork by Photography Dream on Etsy

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