[00:00:00] Christine: Hello, Amazing Milspouse. Welcome back to day four of our More Than a Milspouse series. Today is all about how to find time for what matters to you. Now, just to quickly recap where we are in the series, on day one we talked about why. We feel unfulfilled as military spouses. Day two, we talked about what to do to get unstuck and how we choose to take ownership of our life.

[00:00:30] In day three, we talked about identity, about purpose, and about why taking time to get clear is so important. And as I was thinking about where we are on this path, this journey together, I really wanted to say. Just this thought that’s been on my heart and why I love the clarity piece of the puzzle and how it fits with our military spouse life.

[00:00:59] Because so often we think we’re too busy or that we need time to do all the things, to try all the things, to see what we like, what we don’t like that. We focus so much on the ability to have time to take big action steps, and so many people think that they just have to stay stuck, that they have to stay where they are the way life looks today, until we have a lot more time in our schedule, until something.

[00:01:31] Big happens to us to create time and space to do something different. But what I love about this journey, about taking time for clarity is that it doesn’t take a lot of time. It doesn’t take having big holes in your schedule to fill with trying something new. All it takes is some intentionality. So if you are in this place where you are working full time, And a job that is not fulfilling.

[00:01:59] If you are in this place where you are home with littles and feeling like you don’t have any time in your schedule, whatever your life looks like today. I guarantee you that all it takes is carving out some time to dream, to get clear on who you are and what you want your next steps to look like.

[00:02:20] Because when you wait till you have a lot more time in your schedule, you feel this urgency to do something, to try something, and then we actually end up wasting more time trying things and figuring out that they didn’t work. Then if we would start right now, Right where we are today. To get still, to start to gain awareness about where we are, what we really want, what really lights us up, and how we can begin to change our daily life, our daily schedule to add in to infuse purpose into our life to date, so that.

[00:03:01] When we have the chance to make that big change, to do that thing that is ultimately on our heart to go after that big dream, we’ve had all of this time to get clear, to build that foundation that allows us to move even more quickly down that path if we wait to get clear. Then we’re only kicking the can down the road, but choosing to get clarity today, choosing to.

[00:03:34] Be intentional with the time wherever we are today. Whatever amount of time we have is going to serve you so much more in the long run, and it is available to each and every one of us regardless of the way our life. Looks, and so that is why I get so excited when we talk about purpose and clarity as military spouses because this piece of the puzzle that so many people ignore until they have a bunch of time is so important for us and for our ability to craft a life that truly lights us up.

HOW TO CARVE OUT TIME AND CREATE A SCHEDULE AROUND WHAT MATTERS MOST TO YOU

[00:04:12] So that was just really on my heart to share with you today. Let’s dive into talking about how to find time and create a schedule around what matters most to you. When I was sketching out this series for us to walk through together, I really wanted to have a day that was focused on our schedule and our time because I think so many spouses struggle with the idea of, how do I find time for the things that matter?

Sometimes we feel like our time is not our own, that there’s so many other external demands on our schedule that we put ourselves, that we put our purpose on the back burner, and that is why we get into this place of feeling stuck and unfulfilled.

[00:05:52] So, I knew we needed to have a day devoted to looking at our time and our schedule because it is such an important piece of the puzzle, and it’s not about having more time. It’s about how we use the time that we do have now the fundamental piece to our ability. To use our time wisely to be able to make time for what matters most is actually knowing what matters most to us.

[00:06:22] And that’s what I hope you have gathered from the last three days together, that we’ve talked about ways that we know what matters most to us. When we get clarity on what our purpose is, we are able to create time and space for that. When we have taken the time to dream about our future, to begin to envision a different life, envision a way that we want to show up and serve others, then we’re able to start making that our priority.

DEFINE WHAT MATTERS MOST TO YOU

[00:06:53] Maybe you’re still at the very beginning part of this journey and you don’t really know what matters most to you. There are two places that I would suggest that you get started. Number one, you can download my free values worksheet because the starting point for knowing what we want and what matters most to us is understanding what our core values are, what makes us unique, and I have a free worksheet that takes you through how to uncover.

[00:07:24] What your unique core values are. I will have that linked below in the show notes, or you can just go to milspouse mastermind.com/values to get that worksheet. But that is a good place to get started. The other thing you can do to get started is just to go back to day one of your homework. When I had you do the growth wheel assessment, you assessed the 10 core areas of your life, and you can just revisit this look at.

[00:07:53] Which areas you’re struggling with, which areas that you would really like to grow in that area. You answered the question, which area growth in which area would make a difference in so many other areas of my life? And so for you, what matters most to you? Might just be investing. In growth in that one area.

[00:08:17] For example, you recognize that, that maybe you’re not where you want to be with your mental and emotional health. And if you took some time for mindfulness just a few minutes a day, it could make a big difference in the way you show up. And so what matters most to you in this season is making time for that mindfulness.

[00:08:41] Or maybe it’s a yoga practice or maybe it’s carving out time to clean your house once a week. What matters most to you and what you need to create time and space for might vary from season to season, but it all starts when we get more intentional with our time and our schedule. So today I’m going to quickly walk you through the five steps that I personally use in my own life to be able to craft a life with purpose.

CLARIFY YOUR PRIORITY AND GOALS FOR YOUR CURRENT SEASON

[00:09:15] The first step is to get clear on the priority and the goals for each season. Now, what constitutes a season is going to depend on you. I am to this place where I try to schedule things out. I try to look about three months at a time, but the way life looks for our family during the school year differs from the way it looks in the summer.

[00:09:41] So whether you divide this out by. I’m looking three months out, or I’m looking at the fall semester, the spring semester. However you wanna do that, you gotta pick a certain amount of time, and what I would say regardless is don’t just look at it for the foreseeable future. If you set a schedule in January, that schedule is probably still not going to be the same.

[00:10:09] The way that you need to structure your life is going to look very different 12 months later. So don’t just do this exercise once a year, but you gotta pick the timeframe that you think is going to work best for you. But say, I’m gonna look. However many months ahead and say, what is my priority for this season, for these next three months?  What are the goals that I am prioritizing in this next season?

ASSESS YOUR COMMITMENTS AND DISTRACTIONS

The second thing I’m going to do is look at what my commitments are. What are the things that are already on my plate that I have already committed to doing? The third thing that I do is I look at my distractions. What are the things? What are the areas where I waste time that keep me from doing what I need to do that keep me feeling stuck?

[00:11:06] For me, it is social media. It can be super distracting and I have to put my phone on do not disturb mode so that I can focus and get things done so that I’m not distracted by all of these other things going on, but, I don’t know what the distractions are for you, the things that cause you to waste time to not be productive.

[00:11:29] But it’s important to be aware of those time wasters, those things that keep us distracted. And then once we’ve looked at, okay, these are my priorities, these are my goals, these are the time commitments that I already have, these are the things that cause me to waste time, not get things done, then I’m going to.

CARVE OUT TIME FOR YOUR FUNDAMENTAL NEEDS

[00:11:50] Start crafting the way that I want my schedule to look, and that starts with my core commitment. These are the things that I want to infuse into my weekly or monthly calendar that really fuel me and fill me with life. These are the things that I know I need to do so that I can show up for myself. For my relationships and help me pursue my purpose.

[00:12:20] Now, what your core commitments are, these are the things that you are committed to do on a weekly or monthly basis that are going to help you show up for your life and what they are. Are going to look different for each of us, but you gotta figure out what those things are. Those are your non-negotiables.

[00:12:40] You need to put those into your schedule, into your calendar first. So, for example, for me, one of my core commitments is having a morning routine. I wake up, I set an alarm so that I can get up and have that morning routine before my kids wake up. If I just wait to wake up until my kids are awake, then I don’t start my day off on the right foot.

[00:13:07] So, One of my core core commitments is having a morning routine. Another core commitment of my life is scheduling time for workouts, because if I do not schedule it, it usually doesn’t happen. It has to be scheduled into my calendar or it doesn’t happen. So, You need to sit down, look at your schedule, look at how you wanna show up, go back to that life assessment wheel, look at those 10 areas and say, okay, I want to grow in which area, and what is the action, the thing that I can do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis that is going to help me grow in that area If you need to rest more because you know you are over committed.

[00:13:55] Then how are you going to do it? Where in your calendar, in your schedule are you going to prioritize that? I had to go in because I tend to fill my time to try to be productive, to do all the things and tell myself, oh, I’ll rest when everything is done. But nothing is ever fully done. There’s always more to do.

[00:14:18] And it started by me saying, rest is a core commitment, and I actually block out time on my calendar each week to say, this is the time that I am not going to do something productive. I am only going to do something. That is going to help me rest to refuel myself, to help me feel refreshed so that I can show up for the rest of my life.

[00:14:45] Now let me tell you, as soon as you schedule that in, there are going to be things that try to keep you from keeping that commitment that is just a part of life, but it is so important to figure out. What are those non-negotiables that are going to help me show up for my life and how can I schedule that into my calendar?

CREATE YOUR SCHEDULE

[00:15:09] And then the last piece of this puzzle is actually creating a schedule, looking at a full week and saying, how do I want to spend my time? Because so often, It’s the things that are distractions. It’s the things that we’re not as efficient and productive as we could be because we don’t know how we should be spending the time that we do have, and if we want to be able to create time and space in our schedule for the things that matter most to us to pursue our purpose, to take care of ourselves.

[00:15:46] To invest in relationships, then we have to be intentional about putting those on the calendar Now. For some of us, this is going to be an adjustment. I used to love to fly by the seat of my pants to embrace life as it came to just let life happen and just be open to new adventures, and that is great when you do not have a lot of outside responsibilities.

[00:16:14] But as kids came along, as I began to work from home as I under. Stood the importance of caring for myself and being able to live a life that truly matters, that truly lights me up and makes an impact. It comes from being super intentional with my schedule and actually sitting down and saying, how do I want to spend all the hours of my day?

[00:16:41] What are the things that matter most to me and how can I create? Time in my schedule for those things. Now can I do everything I wanna do? No, there’s only 24 hours and then a day. But there is a way to be able to set up your schedule so that you are prioritizing the things that matter most to you so that you can have a life that lights you up.

[00:17:07] And makes an impact, and that schedule is going to look different for each of us, whether we are a stay-at-home mom with littles, or we are working full-time outside the home and really trying to create the time and space to pour into ourselves and to be able to live a meaningful life. But, It is possible and available for each of us.

[00:17:31] Now, I go into a lot greater detail in how to build your schedule inside the Milspouse Purpose Playbook. When you jump inside, I give you daily planning sheets. I give you. My weekly review sheets, my calendar scheduling sheet, my quarterly planning guides, these are all the things I personally use to help me stay on target and move towards creating a life that lights me up and helps me pursue my purpose.