8 Things I Don’t Make Time For (And Never Will)

Living an intentional life means that you have to take inventory of your actions—frequently. Where is your time going? Is it being spent well? Where could you take back some space on your calendar?

Before you start to try to make time for something new, take stock of what needs to GO. No matter who you are, there’s some things you’re spending time on that you really don’t need to be.

1) Arguing with the people I love

Arguments happen. We’re human. We will disagree, harbor resentment, and let things blow out of proportion. But we can also learn from our mistakes, reconsider the standards we hold people to unnecessarily and give ourselves an attitude check.

Are you seeking out arguments that don’t need to happen? Give everyone a little bit of grace and let it go before a small thing becomes big and you lose precious time with people who deserve better.

2) Trying to rewrite the past

I doubt this is on anyone’s “to do” list each day, but a lot of us spend time doing it fairly often. This could be a big picture regret, like “I wish I had gotten my degree when I was younger…” or even something small like “Why did I say that? Was my tone off? I wish I had said this instead..”.

What’s past is past. Sometimes that hurts. But what you do going forward is what counts.

3) Regretting moments that I was truly being myself

Piggybacking off of #2, this one is a great golden rule to have in life. Never make time to worry if you were too authentic, too bold, too YOURSELF. That’s just no way to live.

If you said something, did something, or acted a certain way because you were being true to you—you do you, boo.

4) Regretting moments that I wasn’t myself

For every moment we WERE being authentically ourselves, there’s likely a handful of moments that we failed to do so. Again—regret doesn’t change what happened. Figure out what went down last time so you can feel assured the next time a similar situation comes up.

5) Feeling guilty

We feel guilty for a lot (a LOT) of things. For taking a break, for raising our voice at our kids, for skipping out on our goals, for snoozing the alarm…yeah, the list goes on. Guilt is going to come knockin’ on your door more often than not, and it’s your job to not give it that space in your day.

6) Watching TV after 10pm

Personal preference here, but if I’m watching TV past 10pm it probably means I’m watching WAY too much. Plus, that kind of screen time right before bed means I’m playing a dangerous game by messing with my sleep cycle. No thank you, that’s a habit I definitely don’t need in my life.

7) Comparing myself to people who have not been on my path

Or, people who HAVE been on my path, for that matter. We all play the comparison game, even though we know there’s no winner. In fact, we are guaranteed to lose and yet we still take the gamble.

Your path is only yours. Own that process to own your success when it arrives.

8) Apologizing when I don’t need to

A lot of us have picked up the sorry habit, and it’s a tough one to quit. An easy place to start is to recognize where you’re often apologizing and what for. Identify those situations so you can be on the lookout for the “s” word coming out of your mouth in the future.

Of course, some of these things will still happen in my life. I’m no superhero. It’s not about having a perfect streak, but being self-aware enough that I can escort them out quickly when they do happen.

There’s no room on the schedule for self-sabotage. Not today, not tomorrow, not any day.