Finding Time
I used to say (and believe) that I wasn’t creative, that I didn’t have the thought processes of someone who can catch an idea or whim from the air and shape it into existence, that I couldn’t take a blank sheet of paper and instantly transmit beautiful and meaningful images, or a take blank screen and surrender a flowing, song-like paragraph from deep within. Oh, the stories we tell ourselves.
I’m a linear, right-brained thinker, yes, but that only means I’m most comfortable there, that I’ve found safety there, knowing the lines, the rules, the path. But it doesn't mean I’m not creative.
I think of myself as a synthesizer of ideas, rather than a creator of them. I bring existing thoughts and ideas together and reflect on their larger meaning in my life and others. Isn’t that creativity?
I guess I’ve known there was a part of me wanting to show up and create. My creative writing skills were fostered by my eighth-grade English class teacher. My college major was in the design department. I’ve expressed both painful and poetic passages to my journals over the years when bottled too tight within to carry and absorb.
And underlying my rule-following, do-what’s-safe way of being, I longed for something different, something just a little bit out-of-the-box. I just didn’t know how to get there.
I had James Clear’s book Atomic Habits on my shelf for a couple of years when someone I was talking to about writing suggested I actually read it. (Genius!) So, I started it. It is, after all, right up my left-brain, linear-thinking alley. I only got about a quarter of the way through and had all the inspiration I needed.
I was stuck in my one-way, rote life, my daily agenda, and needed a way out. Clear’s suggestion of examining one’s daily life piece by piece, almost minute by minute, helped me uncover where I could make time to step out of my box and try something new. This is how I “found” time to write, create, re-examine my bucket list, all in the safety of my daily routine.
This is simple. So simple, in fact, that as I write this I’m thinking, “Surely everyone has done this at some point in their life, right?” Well, if you’re a laggard like me or just need to be reminded, here is Clear’s eye-opening Habit Scorecard system of examining your day and “finding” time for your creative self, or other pursuits you just can’t seem to make happen.
1. Make a list of your typical daily activities/habits, starting from the moment you open your eyes in the morning all the way until you close them at night. If you’re not sure, take a note pad or keep a note going on your phone during the day and jot down your activities throughout the day. This should be both small and large chunks of time (you can omit the bathroom breaks…). Just a list, in order, but no time frame associated with each item.
2. Look at the list and think about if that item is taking you toward or away from your goal or where you want to be. Next to each item put a plus (+), minus (-) or equals (=) sign next to it:
o “+” means “This is taking me to my goal.”
o “-“ means “This is taking me nowhere.”
o “=” means “This is neutral; something I need to do right now or is just part of staying alive (eating, showering, etc.”).
3. Look at your list and where your minuses are. Ask yourself, “If I eliminated that activity, what could I do instead that brings me closer to my goal or way I want to be?”
You might find—as I did—that your “minus” activities are a little embarrassing and there as “fillers” in your life. If examined more closely, these filler activities are ways we manage loneliness, boredom, insecurity, fatigue and uncertainty and that distract us from moving toward our goals and a more meaningful life.
In total vulnerability, here is screenshot of my daily activities from a few years ago and where I “found” time to write and move toward a more meaningful life.
I found 10 minutes to meditate by eliminating the morning “scroll” time. I found time for exercise by bumping back the evening TV time an hour and I made time to write by making that a priority instead of hitting the snooze button a number of times.
No one wants to talk about or acknowledge how much time they spend scrolling, clicking or staring at their Smart TV. I was in denial about the effect of these seemingly innocuous activities on my inability to move forward with my life, do something different.
At first, I made excuses: “It’s just a few minutes.” “It’s good downtime for us.” “It helps me relax.”
But these were (are) actually distractions to a more meaningful life and, for me at least, I believe contributed to my overall melancholy and depressive state.
Wow, that’s a lot.
The simple activity helped me realize that I could “find time” to meditate each day, that I could “find time” to read 30 minutes each day, that I could “find time” to write (even just a little) every day. And these are tasks I kept telling myself that I “didn’t have time for.” Meaningful, indeed.
Where are you distracting yourself from your goals and dreams? Where can you “find time” to move—just an inch—closer to more meaning in your life? I’d love to hear about your discoveries.
