How to Get More Time in Your Day with Julie Voris

We got the doors open today. We’ve got all the dogs in the room with me, so no doubt you’ll hear them. And speaking of hearing, we’ve got the little raspiness that happens when we transition from one season to the next even if those seasons aren’t quite as dramatic in Florida as they were when I lived in Indiana, so pardon the voice a little bit.

However, I’ve had this topic on my mind, and I wanted to share this with you. You know, I have this vision. I really have this vision of, you know, specifically women. However, men too, theys and thems, women, men, all the humans waking up in the morning.

I’m stepping right into this morning routine. And I just heard author, speaker, podcaster host, Jay Shetty, say, “Your morning routine is that piece of certainty you get in an otherwise uncertain day”.

Oh, that was so great. I think people get caught up in this idea that to have a morning routine, you have to get up at 3 AM and do this complicated situation. Not true. I digress.

Make Every Minute Count: Strategies for Maximizing Time

I have this vision of people all over the world waking up, having this morning routine, stepping into this morning routine. And, honestly, this podcast being part of it, this podcast being part of the intentionality of your morning that you are waking up and you’re stepping into listening to something, into putting something with intention into your head and into your heart that will hopefully fuel the rest of your day.

It will help you set your intention for the rest of the day. It will perhaps give you something to aspire to.

It will just give you that fuel, be that catalyst for the rest of the day. That’s my vision that you’re listening to this in the morning.

However, you can listen to it whenever you want. My vision is that you’re listening to it in the morning, and you’re using the thoughts, the concepts, the ideas, the conversations that we’re having to really set the tone and set the intention for your day.

And this one in particular because this is on time, and I wanted to share with you some bits that I have heard and been the receiver of recently, and I think it could help you as you move into your day. So that’s why I’m hoping. I’m really hoping that you’re listening to this in the morning.

How Much Time Do You Spend on Social Media… Really?

So recently, I heard that the average American spends 2 hours a day on social media. Now this is not creating.

This is just scrolling. 2 hours a day scrolling away on Facebook and Instagram. Now listen. Your girl loves some Instagram. I surely do. I love the Gram so much, and I know how easy it is to go down a rabbit hole, and all of a sudden, it’s 30 minutes later, and you’re like, wait. Wait. What? What just happened?

And that scrolling is a distraction, which is such an issue for all of us.
There’s so much white noise. There’s so much going on. There’s so much information coming at us. No wonder we have decision fatigue. There’s so much white noise out there. Right?

So the average American spends about 2 hours a day on social media. Again, not creating, not putting anything out there for the greater good of the world, just scrolling. Now let’s say that’s not you.
And you’re like, JV, I don’t really mess around on social media. Cool. Cool. Maybe for you, it’s TV. Because there’s also studies out there that show the average American, get this, watches up to 4 hours a day of TV.

Imagine if you’re the person that scrolls on social media for 2 hours and watches TV for 4 hours, and that’s 6 hours out of your 24 hours a day that you’re just sort of, can I say, mindlessly consuming rather than creating or putting something good in the world or the spending time with your family or reading a book or going on vacation or traveling or whatever it might be?

Okay. So let me bring it back a little bit.

So let’s just go with the 2 hours a day on social. So let’s say you’re one of those. I’m one of those. We are one of those. Let’s just say, together, collectively, we’re one of those people who spends 2 hours a day on social media. K? Not creating.

Just scrolling. 2 hours a day on social media times 365 days is 730 hours.

So 2 hours a day on social media times 365 days is 730 hours.
Now divide 730 by the typical 8 hour workday.
So divide 730 by an 8 hour workday, and you get 91 days or 3 months a year.

Here’s what’s so interesting about this. I hear all the time. I bet you’ve said it. I know I’ve said it. I bet you’ve heard it. I know I’ve heard it.

If I just had more time in the day, well, I can’t start that business because I don’t have enough time? Well, I can’t take that vacation because I just don’t have enough time. I can’t earn more money. I don’t have enough time. I can’t fill in the blank for anything. I don’t have enough time.

The Importance of Personal Growth

“If there is one thing I have learned over all these years of marriage, of raising kids, of building a business, and just living life, it is this. Personal growth is the key to everything.” — Julie

Imagine Reclaiming 45 Days a Year!

Now think about this equation. 2 hours a day on social times 365 the Equals 730 hours divided by an 8 hour workday is 91 days or 3 months a year.

3 months a year. What if you got back even just 1 hour a day? And by got back, I mean, got intentional. Even if you’re like, no. I really enjoy 20 minutes of just kinda scrolling around on social. You know what? I do too.

I enjoy, like, 20 minutes just kinda scrolling around on social. I enjoy seeing the latest videos of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey. Sure do.

I enjoy seeing the latest video of someone having an amazing time with their little ones at Disney. I enjoy seeing the dog videos. I sure do. I don’t enjoy it for 2 hours a day because that means I’m not actually moving the needle on my goals and dreams for my life.

It means I’m not doing things to make more money for my family. That’s important to me. That’s important to me. So the What if we scale that back just to 1 hour a day of sort of mindlessness? What right?

And you got intentional, and you got back 45 days in your year.
Tell me this. Would you have time to start that business, Read that book. Travel with your family. Take that vacation. Whatever it is, fill in the blank.

Would you have time if you had 45 extra days in your year? And the thing is we do. We have to get highly intentional about our habits. We have to get thoughtful about our time.

We’ve talked about this before. It’s not not time management. It’s energy management. So when you think about your day, it’s not working more hours. It’s not okay. If I take those 2 hours back, now I’m working more. No.

What you’re doing is getting more intentional with your energy and your actions in that time, you’re getting more intentional about your time on this planet rather than using it just to scroll.
Is that something that sort of resonates? That really resonates with me.

I also heard this sort of equation a couple years ago in terms of a morning routine, and we’ll talk about that for a moment too because I think people believe that when I say or anyone says morning routine. Well, you must get up at 3 AM, and your morning routine needs to be 7 hours long.

Like, even Jay Shetty, who I referenced earlier, has the most amazing podcast, fantastic books, just a really inspirational thought leader. He talks about how his morning routine’s, like, 2 or 3 hours long. Oh, that’s okay for him, but that might not work for you.

Your morning routine is a moment of certainty in a day where the rest of it might be uncertain. So let’s say we get more intentional with our time. Let’s think about that in terms of the morning. Let’s say the average American gets up at 7 AM, which studies show that’s about the average time the average American gets up at 7 AM.

What if you got up at 5? That’s 2 more hours a day to work on your goals and dreams. And author speaker John Acuff references this a lot. He talks about when he was working his full time job, working towards becoming a writer, working towards writing his books and becoming a full time writer, He would get up at 5. He would be riding at 5:30 AM.

Why? Because there’s no meetings at 5:30 AM. Very rarely does someone need a call with you, a Zoom with you at 5:30 AM. That was his time that he could write, and he could work on his dream. He could say it was sort of like stealing that time out of the day. Right? So what if the average American gets up at 7 AM and you started getting up at 5 and you just gave yourself 2 more hours to work on your dream?

Not to spend on social media, not to spend on social media… to work on your dream. What if you like the time that you get up? You don’t wanna change that. And instead you get really intentional about the time that you feel like you’re distracted or go down those rabbit holes, and you get those 2 hours back a day or you get at least 1 hour back a day. It’s a lot of math.

It’s a lot of numbers. Listen. I was an English major, so sometimes math and numbers are, you know, not my wheelhouse. However, what is my wheelhouse is getting intentional with your time, getting thoughtful about your habits, then I’m moving the needle on your goals and your dreams because this, I know your family needs you.
This, I know the world needs you. This, I know you need you. And you’re not doing anyone a service on this planet, most of all yourself, by wasting your talents and your gifts scrolling on social media or watching mindless TV for 3 months a year?

Go ahead and watch your shows. Go ahead and scroll a little bit.

• Can we get more intentional about our time?
• Can we get more thoughtful about our time?
• Can we get more aware?
• How could we do that?
• Could we set timers? Absolutely.
• Could you install an app that tells you you’ve gone over their time on social media? Could you do that? Absolutely.
• Could you push your phone out of your room? Absolutely.
• Could you turn your phone off? Absolutely.
• Could you take some actions around getting more intentional and thoughtful with your time and your habits? Absolutely.
• Does it have to mean that you give up your shows or give up your 20 minutes of scrolling? It doesn’t.

It just means you get more intentional and more thoughtful about your time, and you get a real commitment to moving the needle on your goals and dreams. What’s gonna build the future of your family? Are you scrolling on social media or watching TV, or are you getting more intentional and thoughtful about your time?

When we get more intentional and thoughtful about our time and we get around other people who are like that too. That becomes our new normal. That becomes our new normal.

So that is your challenge this week. Get intentional about your time. And if you’re not sure on how much time you might spend on some of these activities? Keep a little time diary, you know, for a couple days, 2 or 3 days. Just kinda get a gauge.

And if you’re a parent, sometimes your days don’t look anything alike, right, day to day. But, you know, for a couple days, keep a little time diary, what time you get up and then what you literally do every minute of the day.

And I would bet we would all be surprised at some time that just isn’t accounted for. Right? Time that we probably are scrolling around or time that we’re watching mindless TV or time that we’re ‘insert any activity’ that really isn’t moving the needle on your goals and dreams.

And can we get some of that time back? It’s not can we never watch TV again or never be on social again? No. Absolutely not.

Can we get a little bit more intentional and a little bit more thoughtful and get some of that time back?

Rather than losing 3 months a year, could we cut that down to 45 and get 45 days back a year to do something really extraordinary with, to work on that passion project, to follow your curiosity, to spend with your family?

Because I’m gonna guarantee you this. You already know as a mom with grown children, the time goes fast. The time goes so fast, and we’d all give just about anything for more time.

And it’s right there within your control. It’s maybe getting up a little bit earlier. It’s getting you more intentional when you’re on social media. It’s getting more thoughtful when you’re watching TV.

The time is right there in our control. We get to decide what to do with it? So that’s your challenge this week.

Get a little more intentional, get a little bit more thoughtful. And if this Podcast episodes served you, if it gave you something to think about, if it was helpful to you, would you do me a favor? Would you just share it with a friend?

That’s so helpful to newer podcasts, and we’re always trying to get traction on the podcast so that we can serve more people, so that we can bring more humans into this ecosystem… 

… so more people get up and step into a morning routine and put good stuff in their head and their heart and really move the needle on those goals and dreams and make more income and make more impact and have more time with their family.

The best way that I can do that because I’m only one person is if you share with a friend that might find this useful too. If you’ve got time, if you get a little extra time, like, if you have some of that time back from scrolling and you wanna go over and leave a review, my gosh, that’d be amazing. That would just really be so amazing.

But at the very least, if you’ve got a friend that can benefit from this and you could share this with them, I would appreciate that so much. And until the next time, Crank up your habits.

Crank up your goals. Crank up your dreams. Most of all, crank up your life.