My list of things on the To Do list is always over 500 items long!

From time to time, I’m in a grad school class, and that puts a lot of things on hold.

Not only that, but most of my weekends are spent trying to catch up on things that I didn’t have time for during the week. Homework, chores, being social, etc.

But! Even with all these challenges regarding time, I know that it’s possible to make better use of it and be more productive.

Here are 5 typical reasons why time can be a struggle:

1. Prioritizing problems

Raise your hand if you come across something you want to do, but then make the excuse in saying, “I don’t have time for that!”

How often does that happen?

“I never have enough time” is the wrong thing to say!

What’s the solution? Say instead, “This is NOT a priority for me right now…”

Honestly, you’ll make time for the things you care about. In my engineering career, we kind of joke around how the problems we face on a daily basis are all “hot” or have high priority, but in reality, that’s not true.

Prioritize the things you care about.

If you have several things that are high priority, perhaps order them by time required, cost, long-term impact, or ease of execution.

2. Everything is shiny

I struggle with this one a lot, especially with running this blog, because I tend to acquire or pursue hobbies and other creative pursuits.

Before I actually make any decent progress with one thing, I’m already chasing after another thing. That’s not good! Because I don’t really develop or master one thing. I just end up with half-efforts on many things!

Just the other day, I was about ready to drop some money for a new course that’ll help me learn a new skill that will open up another avenue for me to earn money. Had I actually gone through with it, I would be missing a chunk of change for something I may or may not be able to pursue.

The solution is: set goals, and stick to them!

Setting goals is a lot like having bumpers while bowling. With bumpers, you don’t have to worry about wasting your shot to the gutter, and you can focus on knocking down pins with reasonable success.

Check out my post on setting goals SMARTly!

3. “Are you still watching???”

Binge-watching shows and movies and being a couch potato is a sure-fire way to eat up a lot of time!

I love Netflix, too, and I know that streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime tend to automatically play the next episode of shows you’re watching.

Not gonna lie, it’s easy to say “Yes” to the “Are you still watching?” question and move on to the next episode. Especially for gripping TV shows like end in glorious cliffhangers. every. episode.

Somehow, 3 hours have gone by, and the dog is begging for food and attention. This may or may not actually happen at my house…

So what’s the solution to binge-watching?

Put a limit on how much you watch TVs and movies during the week. Maybe schedule or block out an hour of time in your schedule just dedicated to watching a show.

Whenever Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, etc. asks you if you’re still watching, that’s a good indication to call it quits! Turn off the TV then! And then run away!

Lastly, you don’t really need to binge-watch an entire season of anything. Back in my day, growing up in the 1990’s, you had to wait until NEXT WEEK to watch the next episode!!! Madness!

4. Being a master at multitasking

This sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes multitasking doesn’t make you more productive.

When you’re trying to juggle multiple things at once, you’re probably doing multiple things not very well.

Similarly to point #3, I like to multitask while watching TV. Typically, I cook, fold laundry, or take care of computer-related tasks while I’ve got Netflix on.

Inevitably, if I’m multitasking like that, I don’t fully pay attention to what’s going on in the show or movie that I’m haphazardly paying attention to. I miss details and such!

Solution? Focus on ONE thing at time, and do it well

In general, remove all distractions. Simple in concept, difficult to execute.

5. Too much clutter

With cluttered spaces in your life, it’s difficult to sift through it all in order to find what you need to find. This is true for living, work, and play spaces. Ooh, and digital spaces too.

Are you hanging onto things that ought to be let go? Is your stuff organized in a way that you can quickly search and retrieve it?

A deeper question: is your stuff organized in a standard way so that your search and retrieve missions are consistently successful?

If your answers are “Nope!”, then you might be spending too much time looking for the things you need or want.

The solution obviously is: declutter, tidy up, and come up with a systematic way to organize.

Lately, my social medias have been showcasing people who have recently discovered Marie Kondo’s show on Netflix, Tidying Up with Marie Kondo. She’s a world-famous master declutterer and tidying up-er. She has several books out as well.

Basically, she goes full Japanese on tidying up and decluttering. I recommend watching her show and reading her books for inspiration and know-how! I’ve done a bit of both, and her work has helped me re-organize and declutter different aspects of my house.

Increasing time helps you, the pilgrim

I know with big trips and travel like pilgrimages can be a block for some because of how much time they require. Reason #1 is the typical excuse here, “I don’t have time to go on pilgrimages!”

But if you take the opportunity to examine the rest of your life, I’m sure you can reduce distractions and increase the amount of time that you do have in order to give yourself a day or two to go on a quick pilgrimage.

Pilgrimages tend to come in two flavors: big ones that involve a week or two of your time, or small ones that typically take just a weekend or even a day.

Either way, working on being better about the time you spend will help you have more time for pilgrimages!

A question for you–what other things eat up your time?? Let me know in the comments!

Featured Photo by Mike from Pexels

JR

JR is a full-time engineer working in the aerospace industry. Apart from having such a fly job, he flies unto the arms of Our Lady and the Church pursuing his faith and a relationship with Christ. Over the past several years, faith and flying via pilgrimages became a thing. When he’s not being fly, JR hangs out with family, friends, his chihuahua, and with thoughts of the next trip.

The post 5 Typical Reasons Why You Don’t Have Enough Time appeared first on Pilgrim for Less.

Hopefully the festivities didn’t get too lost in hazes of memory, and whatever recovery was necessary went smoothly!

But WOW, where did time go? I feel like 2019 just snuck up on me, and 2018 is already in the rear-view mirror! Regardless, 2019 is here! Obviously, with it being a new year, we all get super-motivated to do better than we did last year.

I’m sure you’ve been been thinking about the new year, and perhaps you’ve already been thinking about your new year’s resolutions. I have! Granted…a lot of that thinking happened on December 30-31, but whatever!

Deep down, I know we all want to do better. A new year means a fresh start and inspired motivation!

For most of us, this means coming up with new year’s resolutions. I bet most of them look like:

• “Lose weight”
• “Save money”
• “Get a new job”
• “Travel places”

…Uh oh, I think I just gave you my personal list…yikes! haha!

Anyway, behind these resolutions above are good intentions and the desire to be the best version of yourself.

However!

There’s a problem with these resolutions as they’re currently written.

They’re vague.

They’re not actionable.

They don’t give feedback on how you’re progressing.

I think a better way to do new year’s resolutions is to set goals!

In fact—forget doing resolutions!!!

Set goals, instead!

Why set goals?

A resolution, especially in the context of the transition between December and January, is an interior act of the will to do be better. The potential problem is that resolutions don’t give you a good indication of when you have achieved said resolution.

A goal, on the other hand, lets you know whether you have achieved it or not.

For goals to give you meaningful feedback, you have to set them smartly!

One way to set smart goals is the SMART method.

What is the SMART method?

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

When setting a goal, follow this mnemonic or checklist of sorts so that your goal is concrete enough for you to achieve. I’m borrowing it from lessons I’ve learned in my career in engineering. With a SMART goal, you should be able to answer the question, “did I achieve this or not?”

Specific

Be very specific about your goal. Keep it simple but with enough detail to ensure that you know exactly what you’re going for.

Measurable

Choose or write the goal in such a way that suggests some sort of metric. What can be measured? What’s the quantity?

Achievable

Make sure your goal is, in fact, achievable by you. Evaluate your time, effort, money, etc and work within those bounds.

Relevant

Set a goal that actually matters to you. Do you really have a personal stake or desire in this goal?

Time-bound

Put a date or time on when you want your goal to be achieved.

I hope that you’re able to see that coming up with resolutions as SMART goals allows your resolutions to be better formed so that you can take solid actions on them.

Keeping Track of Your Goals

Setting SMART goals is a useful skill to have, and I think it only serves you well when you write them down or type them.

You can use a good old-fashioned notebook. I know many people like having that tactile writing feel. But of course crossing out a goal or checking a checkbox with a pen is oddly satisfying!

Of course, you can also use electronic notebooks. I use Evernote as my note-taking app/software of choice for everything. In fact, not only are my SMART 2019 goals in an Evernote note, but I’m also drafting up this blog post in one, too!

Maybe using spreadsheets is your thing. I have a travel bucket list of sorts (written SMART-ly, mostly!) in an Excel spreadsheet. The nice thing about spreadsheets is that you can easily put down dates like date due and date completed. Doing so lets you easily calculate the difference between the time you intended to complete the goal and the actual time it took you to complete it.

Or you can kick it old-school and write your goals on a piece of paper, and display it somewhere where you can easily review it.

Another thought is to share your goals publicly, whether electronic or in print. This adds more of an accountability aspect to your goals to make sure you’re on track!

Lastly, and I feel like this is very important because I know I need to improve in this area–you need to review your goals periodically. Since you have written them down or typed them up, you should have easy access to review your goals. Maybe take a look once a week or once a month. See if you’ve made any progress or not. Maybe you have new goals or need to edit. You can do what you need to do when you review your goals.

Example SMART Goals for the Pilgrim

Because this blog is about pilgrimages, naturally we need to come up with some SMART goals specific for pilgrims!

Here are a few examples:

• “Save $500 by March 31, 2019 in order to book airfare for a pilgrimage to Washington, DC’s basilicas, shrines, and monasteries in July”
• “Go on one silent retreat in July 2019 at a retreat house across town with the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth”
• “Drive to Hanceville, AL one weekend in November 2019 to attend Mass and Adoration at the Most Blessed Sacrament Shrine”
• “On Memorial Day, go to Daily Mass and visit a local National Cemetery to pray for fallen soldiers”
• “During my one week vacation in Sydney, Australia in October 2019, go to Confession once at the cathedral or other local church”
• “Attend Mass each day at a different church during my week-long Hong Kong trip in January 2019”

Bottom Line

Resolutions have the tendency to be vague, and sometimes they don’t really indicate whether they’ve been achieved or not. Instead of coming up with resolutions, try coming up with goals instead. Not just any goals, but SMART goals!

Setting good, SMART goals is conducive to being more intentional about where you spend your time. Should going on more pilgrimages be part of your goals for the new year, hopefully setting your other goals smartly helps you achieve them so that you have more time/money for those pilgrimages!

Question for you—what are your (SMART) goals for 2019?

Featured Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels

JR

JR is a full-time engineer working in the aerospace industry. Apart from having such a fly job, he flies unto the arms of Our Lady and the Church pursuing his faith and a relationship with Christ. Over the past several years, faith and flying via pilgrimages became a thing. When he’s not being fly, JR hangs out with family, friends, his chihuahua, and with thoughts of the next trip.

The post A Smart Way To Set Goals In 2019 appeared first on Pilgrim for Less.

I guess I could just end this post with that, but let’s explore this further.

For me personally, I’m quite excellent at coming up with excuses with not going on more pilgrimages. I tend to get caught up in work that I need to do like school, my career, and making sure my house doesn’t explode. And then I have the added bonus struggle of not wanting to do something unless I feel adequately prepared for it. But even with these struggles, I still find a way to go on pilgrimages.

Is there ever a best time to go on a pilgrimage?

Yes, I would say there are times that are perfect for going on a pilgrimage. However, I will say that the perfect time is going to look different for each person.

In asking other people what some of the obstacles are for them going on more pilgrimages, the most popular answers seem to be “I don’t have enough time” and “I don’t have enough money.” Totally understandable, and that seems to explain why a lot of pilgrimage groups I see out and about in the world are retirees because they have the luxury of both time and money.

But for those of us who are not yet quite gray-haired with fatter wallets, we don’t need to wait for retirement in order to go on a pilgrimage.

I would say the best times to go on a pilgrimage are:

• When it’s really inconvenient to go
• When you’re young or even aging like fine wine
• When you have something to really pray about, either for yourself or for others
• When the travel bug bites you
• (insert your reason here)
• And so on

Ultimately, the point is that the best time to go on a pilgrimage is when the desires of the heart and soul as well as the anxiousness of the feet align with the motivation to go on one. Time, money, and logistics are merely obstacles that can be overcome, and that’s what this site is for.

When should I go on a pilgrimage?

A common theme in my recent entrepreneurial and ministerial pursuits is the idea of the “80% solution.” In other words, pilgrimage planning, logistics, and execution doesn’t have to be perfect in order for you to go. “Done is better than perfect”, says one of my teachers in unending refrain. So it is with pilgrimages. Just go on them, and don’t worry about them going perfectly.

Honestly, I have yet to have a pilgrimage that goes perfectly as planned. Or planned perfectly. From itinerary fails to literally winging my schedule on the fly, pilgrimages tend to be rather adventurous in more ways than one for me. And you know what? That’s okay. I might not have had a perfectly planned pilgrimage or a pilgrimage that goes perfectly as planned. What’s important is that God’s will for my pilgrimage goes perfectly according to His plan. And not mine.

With that said, when should you go on a pilgrimage?

Now.

Just go.

Do it.

Ok, but do so if it’s mostly prudent to go. I realize most of us have families and jobs to take care of, pets to feed, abodes to dwell in and maintain, Netflix shows and movies to binge on, fuzzy Japanese cat videos to post on Facebook, and glorious memes to retweet on Twitter. Do what you need to do, and prioritize going on a pilgrimage soon. And very soon.

Here’s a quick list of steps you can do to go on your next pilgrimage:

1. Choose a free weekend within the next three months
2. Set a cheap budget
3. Define where you’re going and what you want to visit
4. Decide what spiritual practices and devotions you’ll be doing
5. Roughly figure out your travel logistics like transportation and accommodation
6. Book anything that needs to be booked
7. Pray–especially pray for others and have others pray for you–leading up to your pilgrimage
8. Go on your pilgrimage
9. Share about it! (and tell me–I’d love to hear about it!)

Bottom Line

There’s never a perfect time to go on a pilgrimage, but despite any obstacles, pilgrimages can still be done. The best time to go is when you have the motivation to go on a pilgrimage for whatever reason even if there are struggles that get in the way. With a little bit of prudential planning and flexibility, you can go on your next pilgrimage as soon as this weekend.

Tell me about a place you can go visit that’s nearby—comment below! Bonus points if you actually went, and if you did, share about it!

JR

JR is a full-time engineer working in the aerospace industry. Apart from having such a fly job, he flies unto the arms of Our Lady and the Church pursuing his faith and a relationship with Christ. Over the past several years, faith and flying via pilgrimages became a thing. When he’s not being fly, JR hangs out with family, friends, his chihuahua, and with thoughts of the next trip.

The post When Is The Best Time To Go On A Pilgrimage? appeared first on Pilgrim for Less.