I put “Time is All We Have” on a clock that was given to me as a graduation present.  Here’s why:

The most common post-graduation questions I hear is:  “What are you doing with all your free time?”

I am not sure if “free-time” equals time away from work and other duties though supposedly there is time, that is free and I have more of it now.    I’m sorry to burst bubbles though I haven’t found it yet as there are still only 24-hours in my day (unless it is today and DST gives us 25-hours in one day).   Time, to me, is a passing of connected opportunities that we either take or we don’t and which we never get back.

I wanted to get my Master’s so in essence, I was already spending my “free time” fulfilling what was required to check something off my bucket list.   Now that it is checked off, I am working on other bucket-list worthy items using the same time previously spent doing homework.

At any given moment in time, you are choosing to do something.  Maybe it is a verb (sleeping, playing, eating, working, reading, blogging) maybe it is a state of mind (reflective, meditative, mindful).  Regardless of what you are doing, it is using your time and that time will pass and so on and so forth.

The best part, you get to decide if your time is used to check things off your bucket-list or to just simply do something because it brings you other forms of enjoyment, fulfillment, health, sanity, or fill in the blank.

Cut time spent on the unnecessary things/people

Recently a book was recommended to me called The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*** (pardon the language) and it was one of my first post-graduating reads.  It could also be called “The Subtle Art of Spending your Time Wisely” or “Drama-Free Living” though I am sure we can all agree those titles aren’t as catchy.  If you can get past the f-bomb in the first few chapters, then you too will enjoy the art of cutting out the things that don’t matter and the things shouldn’t require your time (I even made a list to keep me on track).  Once you do that, guess what happens?  You find more time to spend doing things you enjoy like checking fun things off your bucket list.

“Someday I will <fill in blank>”

Usually what is filled in this sentence is your bucket list ie: Get Married, Have Kids, Visit Bermuda, Get a Master’s Degree, Drive a Convertible.  What is missing from our bucket lists is the “by when” (sounds like SMART goals, right?)

Years ago (circa 2002), I was a certified instructor for a Franklin Covey course, “What Matters Most” (which has since morphed into a different course).  There was one activity in particular that resonated with me and helped me to figure out the “when”, and I will share it with you.

Go get a piece of paper.  Seriously, go get one (drawing is involved).

1. Make a timeline; start with the day you were born.
2. Add some of your life milestones; school, married, kids, Olympic gold medal, retirement, etc.
3. Add “someday” on your timeline, as this is usually the time frame that we choose for our bucket list. “Someday I will….”
4. At this point in the activity, you realize that “someday” doesn’t exist. It’s arbitrate, fictitious, and meaningless.
5. Instead, go back and add in when you will do your bucket list items to your timeline.
6. The next steps would include figuring out what is needed for you to then achieve your bucket list items, and then spending your “free time” doing these tasks until you can check it off your bucket list.

So, what’s on your bucket list?  When will you make it happen?

Mine is visiting Bermuda in 2019. 🙂