Time is not refundable.

It’s up to us to be as intentional with our time as we can – whether it’s to reach a goal, start a new thing, maintain relationships, or take care of health – it’s all up to us.

What will you do with your time?

Come and find me on Instagram @makesunshineco

Transcript:

Hey friends! My name is Tracey and you’re listening to This Quote Changed My Life – a podcast about intentional action.

Welcome back to the podcast, it’s always a joy to be back in your ears 😊 It’s almost the end of November and I’ve been hanging out in my Patreon account as we go through our monthly mindset & mindfulness challenge which is What Do You Choose. It’s not too late to jump in and grab the worksheet and listen to the extra podcasts, so make sure you come find me over at Patreon. A link will be in the show notes, but you can also search Patreon for MakeSunshineCo and find me that way.

On with this episode’s quote – which does relate back to our What Do You Choose monthly patreon challenge – it’s Time is not refundable.

Time is not refundable.

Not to be a bummer, but sadly I have been reminded of this too many times in recent years when our family has lost friends to various illnesses and conditions. Most of them being children under 15 and I promise this is not going to be a podcast about them – I respect their privacy too much – but the notion of time being so precious is never more evident than when we’re saying goodbye to these beautiful kids. It just sucks.

Time is not refundable.

Coming back to our daily lives and thinking about what we’re doing with our time though – if you could look back on what you did yesterday, or this week – would you have used your time better in any way? Instead of hustling to exhaustion, could you have taken an hour or a morning for yourself to rejunvenate? Instead of playing on your phone for 30 minutes, could you have ticked one thing off your to-do list? Instead of working on something that could of waited a day, could you have picked up the phone and talked to a friend?

I think when we start to look at our time as value AND we also know our values – we start to live a bit more mindfully, and hopefully a little more at ease. We stop rushing, we stop wanting things to be over quickly, we understand that the moment that we have right then is precious and will be over before we know it, so we’re able to look at it as a seed planted so that the next thing we’ve gotta do isn’t clouded by regret. Does that make sense? If I’m able to ground myself into the time that I have right now, and get the things done that I choose to do right then – then in an hour, or later tonight or tomorrow or next week, I’m not kicking myself for wasting that time if I didn’t pay attention and make an intentional choice back then.

So how do we use our time wisely?

I think there are a lot of techniques to help you focus, study better, organise your time better – but here’s what works for me

Keeping a calendar. At the moment, I do have 2 calendars going – our combined family one, and also my smaller calendar that I keep on a clipboard. My smaller calendar really helps me breakdown the things I need to do to run my small business, to get this podcast recorded and up every second Monday. It gives me space to plan more projects if I wanted, because I can clearly see how much time I have to give. Time that I also have to share with family life, my marriage, parenting my 3 kids – without a bit of planning, I couldn’t be as intentional as I am with my time because I would be simply not prepared, a bit lost and wouldn’t know which direction I’m going.

Keeping my calendar off my phone has been a huge thing. Physically writing tasks and events onto paper helps me be intentional with what I’m committing to that day, that week – and ultimately creates a month of intentional action. It’s been hard, but also in a way, really calming to know what’s coming up.

Of course, life has a way and things DO pop up, but at least I can see what I know what was due that day and then move it or cancel it. It’s not a problem – I don’t want you to think this is some sort of strict practice, but it’s definitely a discipline that’s work for me so far. If I can create a routine around something in my life, then the other parts can run as wild and as unpredictable as they need to be.

Time is not refundable.

So I know that I’ve mostly applied this quote to my work schedule – but I also want you to think about how this quote applies to the other parts of our lives, to your life.

I think sometimes we don’t take on responsibility for our successes, our happiness. Yes there are things that we cannot help, but what about the things you can help? Even if it’s not a direct fix,  I don’t believe in direct fixes anyway – but even if there are many steps towards a goal – are you in charge of reaching that goal yourself? How are you using your time today towards your goals? How are you using your time towards your wellness?

Let’s not create a life of regret – a list of things we wish we tried, but didn’t. Don’t catch yourself in a moment where you say to yourself – I wish I did it – whether it’s taking time for yourself, trying something new, reaching out to a friend, asking for help – every decision that you make is yours to hold. What will you decide to do today?

Thanks so much for listening to the podcast this week – come and hang out with me in my Patreon community, whether you want to support me for as little as the cost of a cup of coffee, or joining the monthly challenges – I can’t wait to see you in there!

As always, I’m on Instagram @makesunshineco – let me know what you think of this week’s episode and I’ll catch you again soon!