“The Responsibilities of Time Freedom: Balancing Work and Play”
Captain’s Log: Day #17 of my 30-Day Challenge to write a 500-word article every day for the next 30 days.
We all dream of having more control over our time and being able to work from anywhere. Freelancing and entrepreneurship offer us the promise of time and location freedom. However, the reality is that freedom can quickly turn into chaos if we don’t define it properly. In this article, we’ll explore how to make the most out of our time freedom without sacrificing our productivity, health, and happiness.
And while this is true in most cases, we are not upfront when we talk about time freedom. What does that even mean? Does it mean you can do whatever you want, whenever you want?
I will admit when I started having freedom over my schedule, I thought it meant that I could do anything. I would spend hours watching my favorite series or movies or go out to the malls and have some coffee. However, it ended up with me staying up late, not being productive, and overall was an unhealthy habit.
So I had to define what I really meant by having control of my schedule. To me, time freedom, just like any freedom has an adequate responsibility attached to it. It means when you pick up one end of the stick, you also get the other side of it.
Just like you have freedom of speech to say what you think, you also have a responsibility to observe that what you say is the truth, or is beneficial to those concerned.
So how can we make good use of our time freedom responsibly? My answer to this is building routines and having a schedule. Having a schedule doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re stuck in that schedule. It just means that you have a set of priorities for the day that you need to get done.
Here are some ideas that I have so you can get your schedule and routine set up better and you can enjoy more time freedom.
Track your schedule of activities. Before we can figure out a schedule or routine, we need to have a baseline on how you manage your time. There are a lot of free tools or apps online that can help you with this. One tool I can suggest is Toggl. It’s a free time tracking tool that can provide you with insights about your activities.
Identify your priorities. When I was working as a Supervisor in a BPO company, one of our Leadership trainers would always ask what are your mission-critical items for the day? And that’s a great question to be asking when you’re prioritizing. What are the things that are essential that you need to get done by hook or by crook? When you know that you can already identify and plot how to go about your day.
Schedule interruptions. Of course, all work and no play will make you a dull boy or girl, so you need to make room for interruptions. Do you have kids? A stay-at-home or work-from-home spouse? Old parents living with you? Maybe you’re on vacation and have a list of things that you want to do or places to go to. Those are some things that you will need to consider as well.
Once you have all of these in place, you can create a schedule that fits your activities. You can use Google Calendar or your phone’s Calendar app for this. And once you have a schedule stick to it, make adjustments if needed, and make sure to celebrate small wins by ticking off your to-do list.
Having time freedom is both a blessing and a responsibility and it is your most precious non-renewable resource. You don’t need to sacrifice your hobbies or hang around with friends and family as long as you’re able to manage your time efficiently. Make the most out of it, make good memories, and make good time while you still have it.
