Stretch Your Time

1.4 hours of family time. 1.3 hours of business time. Same afternoon.

That's what my time tracking app showed me the day my youngest started full days of kindergarten. And I didn't rush, multitask myself into a frenzy or feel guilty about either one. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Here's how it happened.

Tad had just spent a year and a half at home. Half days of kindergarten? He loved them. Full days? Not so much. Going from zero to 60 overnight is a lot when you're five. So I was the on-call parent. The plan was simple: be in the school parking lot around lunchtime, out of sight, close enough that if he needed to come home, he wouldn't wait 20 minutes for me.

Most of us would treat that as lost time. An hour and a half of driving, sitting and waiting, just in case.

I didn't want to lose it. So I set it up.

I pre-ordered my coffee. I grabbed a little treat for Tad. I queued up a podcast episode I'd been wanting to hear, opened the sunroof and drove. The drive itself, 20 to 25 minutes, became something I looked forward to.

I also brought a fully charged laptop and one project I could finish in about 45 minutes, which is how long I expected to wait. When I parked, I texted that I was there, opened the laptop and got to work. The text came back that Tad was doing great and I could head home. I turned my podcast back on and drove home.

I didn't find more time. I set up the time I already had so it fed me while it got done.

That's what I mean when I talk about stretching your time. It isn't rocket science. It's a drink you enjoy, something good in your ears and the right tool ready when you need it. (And please, never be a distracted driver. Stretch a drive with things you can listen to, not things you have to look at.)

It works because I know what my time is worth. When you know your hourly rate, you start noticing the hours that slip by unused. Then you get to decide what to do with them, calmly and on your terms.

Don't try to redo your whole schedule. Pick one thing. Thirty minutes is plenty. A podcast while you fold laundry. A playlist while you garden or walk. Your kids folding the laundry while you listen, which, in my opinion, just tripled the value of that half hour.

Tamsefikation happens to carry my name, but you could put your own name on it. That's the point. There's a person at the center of every one of these decisions, and that person deserves to enjoy the hour too.

In this episode of Tamsefikation the Podcast, I walk through the whole afternoon and how to find your first hour to stretch. It's a private podcast, so it's just you and me.

Purchase access and have me in your ears just when you need a friend, a cheerleader or a business mentor most.

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