Do you ever find yourself wondering – where the hell did the year go?
I’m the first to admit I’ve asked myself this question, on several occasions. It’s a common thought that time seems to move faster as we grow older.
The truth of the matter is time doesn’t speed up or slow down but it can feel different under certain circumstances.
For starters, we notice the passing of time more when we believe we have less of it left.
I remember the school holidays when I was a child. My brother and I would stay at my grandparents’ house for six weeks over the school holidays.
Back then, the holidays seemed to stretch on for a very long time. I didn’t have a lot of things to do with my time other than hanging out with my cousins. While I did have chores to do, I didn’t have places to go or many responsibilities.
The fact of the matter is six weeks is still six weeks. As an adult with work, responsibilities, goals, a wonderful family and friends, and one whopper of a to-do list, I simply fill my time with more tasks.
The time itself isn’t different, it’s what I do with my time that has changed.
Here are my thoughts on ways to make the most of your time this year.
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Plan your year
Have a plan for what you want to achieve in a year.
Grab a calendar right now (preferably one broken into months). Reflect on the list of things you want to achieve this year and write them down. Then it’s time to plot out what you plan to achieve or start each month.
While dreaming big is fine, you also need to be realistic about what you can achieve each week and month otherwise you may feel overwhelmed and give up your plan entirely.
If you really want to get serious about your goal planning, I highly recommend the Slay Your Goals Planner by the super-productive Nadalie Bardo. To see if this product is a good fit for you, start with the free Slay Your Goals Guide.
Don’t over-plan
Of course, you can go a bit crazy and do too much planning.
I’m sure a lot of parents, particularly with children at school, often feel overbooked when their kids have too much on. Some parents must feel like they are simply running from one event or responsibility to another.
Give yourself some breathing room.
Allow yourself some time to stop and relax.
Related post – Should You Keep Your Goals to Yourself?
Watch out for the lure of someday
When a new year begins it’s wonderful to be full of enthusiasm for a fresh start. We think about all the exciting things we plan to do during the year. Then we get bogged down in work or other issues and we start to put things off.
Before we know it the weekend away we were planning in February turns into August, then into next year, then into someday.
As many of us already know someday often never happens.
Related post – The Perils of Someday, One Day or Next Year
Learn to say NO
Stop! Stop right now constantly saying yes to people when you really want to say no.
Learn how to say no.
Be polite, there is no reason to be rude or obnoxious but learn to say no.
Related post – The Importance of Setting Boundaries
Don’t live just for the weekends
I love weekends as much as the next person. The trick is to realize that you only have so many weekends in a year. If you are fully focused on only living for the weekends, you are missing out on a huge chunk of the year and consequently your life.
It can be harder to schedule activities, catch-ups, and tasks around work, children, and our sagging energy levels but it is worth the effort.
Don’t wish too far ahead
When it comes to holidays I tend to plan ahead, more for my finances than anything but also because I enjoy the anticipation and planning as well.
What’s not a good idea is being so focused on the future that you completely miss out on the here and now.
Time will fly by when you are not living in the moment.
Related post – The One Thing You Can Do Right Now to Feel Happier and Less Stressed
Don’t waste time
One of our biggest problems is that we waste our precious time.
Whether we like to admit it or not, we all have our favorite time wasters.
For some, it’s watching television, the Internet, procrastinating or simply being lazy.
Take your time back. Understand what your time wasters are and start phasing them out of your life.
Work less – play more
This one really speaks for itself. As much as we may love our work, sometimes we need to take a step back and simply spend more time at play.
Have you ever noticed the weeks that fly by the quickest are usually the ones where we do long hours at work and have nothing else exciting happening in our lives?
Nothing will make a month fly by faster than working too much.
Related post – How to Lighten Up – 25 Tips for More Fun, Play, and Relaxation
Step away from the to-do list
For a blog that often talks about achieving goals and getting stuff done, it’s equally important to point out that there are times you need to put away the to-do list.
There are times you need to give the chores a miss (the ironing isn’t going anywhere folks and you have much more fun things to be doing).
Put down the to-do list and pay attention to people. Get among your friends and family and have some fun.
Often we can spend so much time trying to work through the to-do list that we completely ignore or neglect the people around us.
Related post – Are You Having Enough Fun?
Fill your time with love, fun, and laughter
I can’t guarantee time will feel like it’s moving at a slower pace if you are enjoying yourself more but I definitely believe if you fill your life with love, fun, and laughter you will have one hell of a good time.
Set goals and work towards achieving them. Find the joy and fun in those goals to make the most of your time this year.
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Great to see you back Thea. Seems like it’s been quite awhile!
I’d add Just Do It to the list. Stop putting things off. Stop making excuses. Unless you’re focused and determined to do something, you won’t make the commitment to do it.
Great to see you again Thea.
Some lovely points here. It can be so hard for me not to over plan, I have to make a conscious effort to avoid it this year.