5 Game-Changing Ways to Escape Time Poverty and Achieve More

I've said it before and I'll say it again: TIME isn't the reason you're not reaching your career/biz, income, and lifestyle goals. Sorry, not sorry, because that's the truth, and the sooner you own it as truth, stop blaming time, and start looking for the real blocks, the sooner you get free + create the life you want to create!

Ok, ok, all of that said, we DO live in a 4D world where time is a factor (and area of opportunity) for women who have big ambitions both inside and outside their homes. I hear what you're saying about "busy" and "out of time," and giiiiiirl, I get it! We’re building careers / businesses, raising babies, investing in strong marriages, trying to have a social life, tending our health…😳

So here are 5 impactful things to help with that challenge:

GET ON THE SAME PAGE

Once/week my hubby and I have a meeting to discuss our schedules and what we each need from each other in the upcoming week. It’s been HUGE in creating efficiency with our limited resources, it prevents unnecessary “emergencies,” and as a bonus, helps us support each better.

Examples:

• A ride to/from the airport.
• An extra hour to get ____ done on ____ night. (i.e. mow the lawn, or working late)
• Help completing a big project or task (i.e. getting ready for something we’re hosting).

GROCERY DELIVERY

I don’t go to grocery store any more, and the time that frees up, plus the stress it eliminates, is lifegiving for me! Here’s how we do it:

• we (hubby and I) have a shared app on our phone that we both add items to, when we need/want something, or run out of something
• once/week I complete our dinner meal board and add what I need for the meals
• I do an order through Instacart
• Food is delivered to our door and my children dance for joy (like we don’t ever feed them or something, it’s ridiculous)
• (Bonus: tonight HE did the grocery order. When there's a solid, simple system in place, anyone can do it, not just YOU. That's a huge win!) 

SCHEDULE IT

I schedule everything in an electronic calendar. Ev. Ah. Ree. THING. I highly recommend it for a multitude of reasons, including but not limited to: I don’t forget important tasks or dates, I don’t double-book, and I don’t waste my brain space on things that can just go into my calendar instead.

Bottom line with scheduling: you can’t create more efficiency (thus freeing up time) if you don’t have an easy way to strategically organize the tasks and to-dos, and spot your current inefficiencies (AKA unnecessary time sucks). You also can't create more space for the things that you value + light you up if you don't have a clear way to organize + prioritize your time.

GET LEVERAGE

There are approximately 2,233,976 ways to get leverage in your home and life. Our house cleaner is probably my second favorite (behind daycare). It frees up a big chunk of time every single week, and removes something I really dislike doing from my calendar. Maybe you love cleaning your house, rock on, sista! Get leverage on something else you DON’T love doing.

I recently shared about the company that comes and puts up + takes down our Christmas lights every year. Others: daycare, nanny, yard maintenance, grocery delivery, meal prep packages, CPA/tax preparer, clothing subscriptions, virtual assistants….it goes on…and on...

Leverage = Help. Get it. Because...it helps. 

DITCH OVERWHELM

This isn’t a platitude; this is a real step I took, and it helped with my feelings of Time Poverty massively. Everyday was a repeat of the last; always feeling behind, always rushing, always feeling anxious about TIME. So, I made the decision that feeling constantly overwhelmed with the amount of work / tasks / to-dos still to be done each day was no longer an option for me.

Here's why: Besides the fact that constantly feeling overwhelmed isn't a fun way to do life, I was incredibly inefficient when I walked through my days on the edge of my breaking point. Stressing over the future was taking over my mind, preventing me from seeing creative solutions + causing major brain fog in the present. Here’s how I started to quit overwhelm:

EVERY SINGLE TIME I started to slip into overwhelm, I STOPPED what I was doing, and asked myself, “What do I WANT, right now?

By asking the question, I stopped future-tripping and pulled my back into the present. Then I got specific by giving my mind a clear question to answer. The ego loves vagueness because it can use it for master manipulation. When I got specific and asked myself what I wanted right now, the answer was clear + simple. Some examples: 

• Go get a coffee shop coffee
• Check my social media
• Get lunch
• Go for a run
• Set up for this weekends party / event 
• etc. etc. etc.

When I started to move into overwhelm, I stopped the emotional run-away train by asking myself what I wanted in the present, and created instant and easy ways to take action and shift my state. And on a really practical level, I did the thing I wanted to do, and then was able to jump back into the tasks at hand with more focus, energy, efficiency, creativity and enjoyment.

Eventually the loop was broken and I stopped going into overwhelm so frequently. IRL it's not 100% gone, but when it does happen, I'm aware that it's a choice to continue down that path...or not. 

A lack of time is always perceived; We actually DO have time to do the things we want to do if we prioritize them, and thinking we don’t causes uncomfortable feelings (perhaps overwhelm).

And that's the story of how I knocked that shit off.  

Truth: Time is still a factor for me, but I've taken back my power. Time poverty used to haunt me every👏damn👏day👏, in a way that felt soul crushing! The pull in our hearts to make the impact + create the life we feel called to make + create isn’t strong enough to pull us out from under the weight of of that. We have to make that decision ourselves, and make necessary changes, if we want to show up in all the ways we feel called (and hey…maybe even enjoy the journey, too😜).

Have any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear from you! Shoot me a DM on IG - @alirspicer.