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How to take back your time—and make the most of it

So you actually fit in what you really want to do.

By Weight Watchers
Published August 20, 2020
How to take back your time—and make the most of it

If you’re having trouble coming to grips with the fact that it’s almost fall, that’s OK! (Us, too.) Time can play some serious tricks on us as humans—and this year has been no joke. Days can feel super slow when nothing’s changing in our routines, but weeks and months can feel like we blinked and the year’s almost over. It’s no surprise that how we spend our time can have a big impact on our health and well-being. That’s why it’s key to make time work in our favor by paying attention to how we’re spending the hours in a day. This arms us with the right info to help make mindful tweaks to our lives—and make room for that list of what we’ve always wanted to accomplish.

3 fast facts

  1. Research shows that how we perceive time is impacted by what we're doing—and what’s happening around us. We tend to underestimate the amount of time it takes for routine activities and when nothing novel is really happening, time feels like it moves more slowly than when we’re keeping busy with new things.

  2. A recent study of over 30,000 people found that adults use an average of 4.5 hours a day on activities that aren’t mandatory.

  3. Studies show that feeling like we don’t have enough time is one of the biggest barriers to physical activity and healthy eating.

Try this technique

Feel like time is escaping you? Use the steps below to pinpoint where your time is going—and how you can save it.

  1. Set an alarm for every hour one day this week. When it goes off, write down what you did during that hour. (Bonus: Use that alarm as a cue to take a break from sitting or grab some water! Talk about an added win-win.)

  2. Create a cozy corner for yourself at the end of the day and reflect on how you spent your hours. Mark down next to each activity whether it was a must-do, want-to-do, or I’m not sure. Jot down what you also wish you’d gotten to.

  3. Look at your I’m not sure and want-to-do columns. Is there anywhere you can cut back on what you spent time doing for something on that wish list? If you want to watch TV at night, try saving it for after you meal prep tomorrow’s breakfast!