How to Set Limits on Your Time

You see THE LIST OF TASKS and you head for the television or the chocolate ice cream.
One of the most effective ways to decrease schedule-overwhelm is to Set Real Boundaries. Since a boundary indicates a border or limit, boundaries can be established for the 24 hours you are allotted each day.

Is time is a nebulous concept to you? Picture a shoe cubby holder which has space for 24 pairs of shoes. With shoes, if you purchase a 25th pair, you can buy another shoe holder, leave the extra pair on the floor, or donate one of your existing pairs and keep only 24 which fit in the original shoe cubbies. In the world of time, we only have 24 hours in a day. Picture the same 24 pairs of shoes, remove eight pairs of shoes to represent the recommended number of hours of sleep, two to four pairs for the time it takes to get ready in the morning/evening, and eight pairs to symbolize your workday (if you are the household manager, you still take the eight hours). You are left with four to six hours. Within that time, you have to exercise, socialize, work on a hobby, take care of appointments, or participate in other activities of interest or necessity. Of course, this doesn’t account for your work commute if you have one. Use this analogy to look at your day and see how many hours are not already “taken”.

What are some time-based boundaries? First and foremost, learn to say “no”. When someone approaches you with a task, the path of least resistance is to say “yes” because then the person will leave you alone. Your power phrase is “can I get back to you in a day or two?” If they say “no”, then politely decline. If they say “yes”, this gives you time to check your calendar, discuss it with your family, etc. After a full evaluation of your availability, if your answer is “no”, tell them so without excuses. Here are some phrases you could try:

• I am unable to add new projects at this time because I am involved in several time-consuming projects already.
• My calendar is full for that (day, week, month, year, etc.).
• I need to decrease the amount of stress in my life by cutting back on tasks. I hope you understand.
• My (spouse, family, friends, etc) need my full attention at this time so I can’t take on additional activities.

Another time-based boundary is to allot the amount of time on a task relative to the importance of the job. Planning a meal for the President requires more effort than preparing to have your long-time next door neighbors over for a barbecue. Once you have determined what you consider to be a reasonable amount of time for an activity, consider setting a timer to help you honor the boundary. Need more time? Reset the timer. Also make a mental note that that specific task may take longer than you anticipated. You can plan better next time.

Creating boundaries in relation to your time will reduce stress and mental clutter. What are you willing to do to decrease schedule-overwhelm?