First things first…

What will you do with your extra time?

In an ideal world, I think this course can save you a few hours a week, each and every week. Put another way, that’s half a working day. Think of how much time that could save you! The following table gives you an approximation of how many days you might gain, assuming you have a one month of holiday every year… and that you don't work on the weekends.

But before we look at how to earn those hours, we need to figure out what you’ll do with them – because if you don’t have a plan for them, chances are you’ll fritter them.

Check out this 'horror story from history'.  If you don't know what you're going to do with the free time, you don't deserve it 😉

So let’s make a plan

Psychologists have figured out that we tend to spend our lives in seven ‘boxes’. Of course, there is going to be some grey areas involved and some overlap but with a bit of common sense it shouldn’t be too hard to fill in the first blank column of the table below – I’ve labeled it X for now. This audio might help things a bit…

Now comes the hard part, where you need to be ruthlessly honest with yourself.

In the column labeled Y, jot down a reasonable percentage for how much time you’d like to spend on each row. It’s easy to just put zero for the work bit and so on (trust me, you won’t be the first!) but don’t expect miracles. 

Besides,  you’d get bored 😉

The difference between columns X and Y is – pretty obviously – what you’re aspiring to move, achieve or whatever.

So far so good.

But here’s the catch. Remember that I said that without a plan your extra time will just be frittered away? What I want you to do now is look at column Z and jot down in the boxes in it something specific – detailed ways you can ‘embed’ the free time you’re going to get, into the appropriate row. 

For example, if you’ve decided that the the extra time you’re going to get is going to be added to your Friends row, put down in column Z, on the Friends row, what you’re going to do to make sure the time goes there.

Be specific. Be honest with yourself. Be brutal. Don't just make vague aspirational promises to yourself. Make it concrete.

• What about sending that email to your friends to see who’s up for a regular meal out once a month?  Or arranging a night away? Agreeing to go the the cinema?  But don’t just leave it as that – that’s too vague and aspirational. Be specific – what kind of film? Who’s going to decide?
• If the extra time is going to be spent on your health might that be join gin a gym?  Which one? What classes? How are you going to sort out the induction Off-peak membership or any-time membership? Who do you know you could go with? What specific targets might you set for yourself? What help might you need?

See what I mean? Digging in now will give you somewhere to go with your extra time – and make it more likely that you’ll go there.

Ready?  Once you know what you're going to do with your extra time you deserve it – so move on and make it happen.