Louise Thompson: Finding time

Prioritise time for your wellbeing. Make it a non-negotiable in the diary and choose not to do something else. Photo / 123RF

Gorgeous client who I will call Maggie; busy lady, juggling work and home and all that good stuff. As is really common she is struggling to find time to eat healthily and exercise consistently.

"I was going to do it Wednesday but I couldn't find time."

"I just haven't been able to find the time to get to class."

"I just have to find time to do that. I'll find time next week."

Yeah yeah yeah. I have heard that before!

Time is not something you find down the back of the sofa. Time is not something you can rummage for at the bottom of your purse. Time cannot be found. It also cannot be made. It's not something you whip up in the kitchen like a batch of cupcakes.

Time is just time. We all have exactly the same. 24 hours in a day. No more, no less. No matter how complicated or full of responsibilities our lives may be you get exactly the same allocation. All you can do with time is prioritise it.

You prioritise time. That's what you do with time.

Think about money. If you want a really healthy pension or good medical insurance or enjoy having a nice house or whatever, what do you do? You prioritise that payment, on direct debit so it goes out on payday each month. If good retirement or medical cover is important to you, you prioritise that money. The mortgage or the insurance gets paid first no matter what. Then you figure out what choices you are going to make that month with the money that is left. Beans on toast. Island holiday. New shoes. No new shoes. Whatever. The point is you have prioritised what you have deemed most important first. It's a non-negotiable and after a while it's automatic. You don't even think about it. That money is allocated first because it's a priority. You don't try to find the money for it at the end of the month when you have been on trips to the zoo and eaten out and been to the supermarket. You don't look down the back of the sofa for mortgage money.

Prioritising time for your wellbeing is the same. If it's what you want, what you genuinely want, then genuinely prioritise the time for it. Make it a non-negotiable in the diary and choose not to do something else. Be okay with that choice. It's your time and your choice about what you prioritise.