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“I’ve been spending too much time doing anything but what I actually need to be doing,” my best friend complained the other day.
“I envy you,” I replied. “All I’ve been doing is things I need to do.”
I perpetually feel that there’s never enough time for me to do anything joyful after I’m done taking care of those mandatory, non-negotiable matters first. The fridge is stocked, the dishes are done, the emails are read — and now it’s 10 PM, and instead of doing some Spanish or finishing my painting by numbers, I should get ready for bed because I have an early morning tomorrow.
As it turns out, there’s a term for this — time famine, which is the feeling of never having enough time to do everything you want to. I’ve been experiencing this phenomenon for as long as I can remember, and I’m sure most of us have felt this way once or twice in our lives. My particular kind of time famine applies specifically to meaningful activities that make me happy: creative hobbies, playful endeavors, and joyful little acts of experiencing life by doing something for the sole purpose of having fun.
A while ago, I wrote about having too many interests and mentioned the concept of the “someday” list — a list of hobbies and activities I’m saving for some indefinite future when I hope to have more free time and financial independence, because I can’t fit them into my life right now. This list was born out of necessity rather than for the sake of existing. As I discovered new interests for myself, I would sooner or later face the unpleasant truth: I couldn’t fit them all into my life without compromising something else. Some of them, like painting by numbers, don’t require consistency, and so I can buy myself one painting a year and take as long as I want to finish it without worrying about the schedule. Others, like learning French or playing tennis, require a consistent routine or financial investment that I simply can’t afford at the moment. And so they’ll have to wait.
A job and a handful of responsibilities associated with adulthood aren’t the only things to blame for my inability to indulge myself in every fun activity on the list. I spend most of my free time doing a few things that, after careful consideration, I’ve decided are the most important and/or time-sensitive for me at this stage of my life. I write regularly because I hope to become a better writer. I’m improving my Spanish because moving to Spain is a dream of mine. And I work on my relationship with yoga because my history of hatred for physical exercises is catching up with me, and my body is paying the price.
All of these easily qualify as joyful activities (the jury’s still out on yoga, but, well). And sometimes, life gets in the way of doing these things, too. On some weeks, I carve out the time to write, practice Spanish, and move my body — and I might even throw in a half-hour of painting, for good measure. On other weeks, I have to resort to 5-minute practices on Spanish mobile apps and jotting down a few sentences just to make sure I haven’t forgotten how to write.
I don’t pretend to have the answer to having enough time for everything I want to do, but there are a few little things that save me a bit of extra time for fun and joy. They may not work for everyone, but it’s still worth giving them a try.
- Make the most of the commute. I use my travel time to use those Spanish learning apps, check my emails, or simply read for my enjoyment. That helps me turn lost time into bonus time.
- Limit social media to the bare minimum. That’s a popular piece of advice to give these days, but I honestly swear by it. I genuinely don’t enjoy social media. I open Instagram once a week, usually with a specific purpose in mind, and I immediately get sidetracked and end up scrolling mindlessly for half an hour. Avoiding social media altogether saves me more time than I would have thought possible.
- Multitask with intention. Pair a necessary chore with an activity that supports a personal goal or is simply fun. For instance, I sometimes listen to a Spanish learning podcast while cooking. Keep it meaningful so it feels productive or uplifting rather than distracting.
- Use small pockets of time. This may prove a bit of a challenge for perfectionists (hello!), but if you only have 10-15 minutes left in the day, do a mini-version of an activity instead of skipping it entirely. It’s not a solution for every scenario, but I’m learning that 10 minutes on the yoga mat is better than no practice at all. This mindset keeps habits alive and reduces the feeling of never having enough time.
If I’m being completely honest, I’m not sure we’ll ever have all the time we want. I don’t know if I’ll ever reach the amount of free time and financial independence to tap into every item on my “someday” list. But maybe it’s not about doing everything, but about valuing what we do get to do. About connecting with your body while on that yoga mat instead of calculating how much time you have left to write.
The time we think we need to do everything we want is always a moving target. Maybe time famine is just part of being human — like breathing, or wanting more than we have. It gives us something to write about or to complain about collectively as a human species. Let’s make sure it won’t distract us from the beauty and joy of the precious free time we do have.
I’m curious — what’s on your “someday” list? And have you found any little tricks that help you steal back a few minutes of free time?
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