How to create more time

Yes, I am one of those people who sees the word "break" and immediately thinks: just how much can I squeeze in? And I'm working on it. Despite constantly reminding my yoga students that the end of the year is a time to slow down, take a step back and reflect the before the new year - like that brief but oh-so-rich pause between inhale and exhale - with my precious time off between quarters in grad school I wanted to fit in everything I possibly could before I lost all those extra hours in the week again.

We have one of those silly but sweet "take what you need" flyers at the studio right now, and as I very strategically ripped off a slip that said "time" the other morning, I got to thinking - what would it look like to actually create more time? Is there a way to actually work with time, to stretch and expand it?

Well, the great paradox is this: slow down, and you'll create more time. Sounds completely backwards, right? I mean a couple things by this...

First, at the end of the day, time (like thought), is largely a matter of perception. In the same way we say "time flies" when we're enjoying something, or just 10 minutes can feel like hours, our relationship with time is dictated by how we experience it psychologically. When we go through life rushing, we feel rushed, and often end up filling all our space with things that don't really matter a whole lot - literally "squeezing" this little vortex of energy we're trying to expand. When we slow down, we become mindful of what we're actually doing, and - lo and behold - we actually enjoy it more. Because we're actually happy in the moment, we stop so desperately needing more time, hoping it will make us happy in the future ("I'll be happy when..."). We're no longer coming from a place of lack.

Then, when we slow down and take a step back, we create the opportunity to make better use of our time. We can prioritize what we have on our plate, and let go of those things that aren't going to actually contribute significantly to the bottom-line (your life). We can become more intentional about what we invest in, rather than allow ourselves to get caught up in the overwhelming spiral of "productivity."

So as you step into a new year - one which I am sure will once again will go by too quickly and in which you will feel starved for time - I challenge you to slow down and take a real break before things ramp up again. Spend quality time looking back on your growth and your wins from 2019, re-read old journal entries, create and sit with your intentions for your new year. Set your priorities and your habits while you have that larger sense of perspective, because we all know how quickly we can lose it once we get back into the grind.