Making Time for Career Changes
“But Lisa, I really don’t have time for that!”
People come to me saying they desperately need a change. They are unhappy and can’t spend another year doing what they’re doing. But when it comes time to put in the work, they are too tired, or they don’t have the time.
How true is that really though?
Unless you are working 112 hour weeks, I would like to challenge your thinking. ([24hrs – 8hrs for sleep] x 7 days = 112 hours).
Let’s unpack this a bit:
- Let’s say you spend approximately 50 hours physically at work each week.
- Add another 7.5hrs for your commute (avg 1.5 per day M-F)
- Add another 10.5hrs for personal hygiene and making meals (45 mins personal hygiene, 45 mins cooking per day).
That’s 68 hours.
So, what do you do with the other 44 hours?
I am a big proponent of downtime. It is necessary and important, and you can burn out without it. But how much do you really need? Some say taking one full weekend day of quality downtime is enough. Others say you should take an hour each night. Regardless of what you decide, it still leaves many hours each week to work on other things that are important to you.
The truth is, you need to decide what your priorities are. If you decide 44 hours per week watching TV is your priority, power to you! If you decide spending 44 hours with your friends is your priority, awesome. But if you decide starting a side hustle or working out regularly is #1, it’s up to you to work that into your week.
And sometimes that will mean doing things when you’re tired. You won’t get very far if you only put in the work on the days that you feel like it.
If you have big plans for this year, whether that be in your career, your health, or your personal life, I encourage you to do a time audit. Take note of how you spend your evenings and weekends and decide if what you’re doing now is serving your larger goals. If it’s not, commit to making small, sustainable changes like cutting down on screen time or putting in 30 mins per day.
You CAN do this! Anything is possible when you put your mind to it. The choice is yours.