Have you ever felt like there’s never enough time in your day? Like, no matter how hard you try, you’re always behind?
Here’s a thought: what if it’s not that you’re out of time, but that your days are out of rhythm?
Time isn’t just the ticking of the clock or the endless to-do list. It’s also the space for what matters. It’s the moments of insight, connection, and purpose. The trick isn’t finding more time. It’s seeing the time you already have differently. And when you do, your days start to stretch naturally, holding more of what matters most.
Time Is More Than Minutes
Time comes with a lot of preconceived ideas. To our minds, it often feels fixed. Set in stone. Something that doesn’t change. While that often feels true, the reality is it’s none of those things. Time is actually relative, even abstract. It can shift and change from one day to the next.
Think about a day when you’re doing something you love, like hiking in nature or getting lost in a creative project. Hours can fly by. What felt like five minutes was actually five hours. Contrast that with a day when you’re stuck in a long, tedious meeting or waiting in a slow line when you want to be somewhere else. Each minute drags, and it can feel like time is stretching endlessly, even though the clock moves at the same pace.
This shows that time isn’t just a fixed, objective measure. It’s relative, experienced differently depending on our attention, emotions, and context. One “minute” can feel like an eternity or a blink of an eye.
Time is experienced differently depending on how we show up.
The key is using time to your advantage, not letting it control or overwhelm you.
Redefining Time:
Modern life has made “time” feel fast-moving, even compressed. Productivity and busyness have become our markers for defining a life well lived. Unfortunately, it rarely feels that way. Time isn’t just about what you can get done. It’s about what you can experience, what you can create, and how you can grow. It’s best measured not in tasks checked off, but in moments lived fully and meaningfully.
Which makes it important to understand how you are spending time. Is what you’re doing adding value, or is it just making you feel busy?
If we go back and redefine time, it helps determine how you should fill it.
The word time itself has numerous layers. In fact, its Old English root, tīma, was flexible. It could mean:
- Chronological time: Which is measurable and sequential. It’s what you see on clocks and calendars.
- Significant or appointed moments. This defined time based on moments that matter, opportunities, or different seasons of life.
The flexibility of the word “time” in Old English reflects the Greek distinction that divided time into two words: chronos and kairos. Chronos was defined as chronological or measured time. Karios was opportune or the appointed time.
English eventually merged these into one word: time, but both ideas still exist. To appreciate the flexibility of time, we need to understand it as both chronos and kairos — chronos provides the container (structure, routines, schedules), and kairos gives it meaning (the moments of purpose, insight, and divine timing).
However, the real power lies in combining the two. When you plan your time intentionally while staying open to what matters most, you’re not just letting life pass — you’re actively engaging with it. You honor structure without losing significance, and you begin to recognize opportunities in ordinary moments.
3 Secrets to Mastering Your Day & Take Back Your Time.
How you fill your time changes how time is perceived. If you often say, “I don’t have the time,” pause and ask yourself: What are you filling your time with that makes you feel like a victim of it? Here are three prompts to help you reclaim your time and shift the way you live it:
1. Start with Alignment
Ahem… plan your days. And I don’t just mean “fit everything in.” Plan with intention by using alignment. Unfortunately, so many people are so far out of alignment that they’re just adding things to their day that they don’t need—or shouldn’t—be doing. We overschedule our lives, creating busyness where it doesn’t have to exist, all because we’re out of alignment with what we’re here to do.
Get clear on your vision or create one if you don’t have one. Use this to build a plan that’s in alignment, blending chronos (structured, clock-based time) with kairos (time for reflection, inspiration, and presence).
Plan with chronos, but leave space for kairos. Don’t just fill your schedule—plan with intention.
In practical terms: use calendars, routines, and schedules to create structure that aligns with what you are here to do and what fills you up. Doing more of the things you know you should do and actually want to do. Then use kairos to leave room for reflection, inspiration, play, and connection.
Practical examples:
- Set aside time for learning, health, or creativity.
- Schedule breathing room between tasks or meals.
- Block “buffer time” in your planner.
- Release what doesn’t belong to create more space for what matters.
- Ask: “Is this task mine to do—or just something I think I should do?”
Add a check-in ritual: Create space to assess how you are spending and filling your “time.” If you find yourself engaging in things that aren’t healthy, energy-filling, or yours to deal with (ahem, endless social scrolling), plan a better way to fill that time. You don’t have to beat yourself up about it (that’s a waste of time); just choose to do something different next time.
2. Slow Down
We live in a culture that glorifies rushing, multitasking, and “doing more.” But moving faster doesn’t always mean moving forward. Often, it just creates overwhelm, mistakes, and the feeling that there’s never enough time. The truth? Slowing down can actually help you accomplish more, with less stress and more clarity.
When you slow down, you notice what really matters. You make fewer mistakes, you connect more deeply with others, and you give yourself the mental space to innovate and create. “Slow is fast” isn’t about being lazy. It’s about working smarter, not harder, and letting the unnecessary fall away.
Practical ways to slow down:
- Take a few deep breaths before starting a new task. Reset your mind and body.
- Break tasks into smaller, deliberate steps instead of rushing to finish everything at once.
- Set intentional pauses in your day—walk, stretch, or simply do nothing for five minutes.
- Ask yourself: “Am I rushing because I have to, or because I’ve made things more complicated than they need to be?”
- Batch similar tasks to reduce mental switching and create flow.
- End your day with reflection instead of scrolling. Review wins and lessons, not distractions.
Slowing down doesn’t mean stopping. It means moving with intention, focus, and ease so you actually get further, faster.
3. Shift Your Language
How you talk about time shapes how you experience it. Saying “I don’t have time” creates stress, guilt, and the feeling that life is running away from you. Your words have power. They shape your perspective, which in turn influences your actions.
Try replacing “I don’t have time” with phrases like:
- “I always have time for what matters.”
- “There is always enough time in the day for what needs to be done.”
This simple change reminds you that time isn’t your enemy. It helps you approach necessary tasks with ease instead of resistance, and even find joy in things you’ve previously attached a burden to. Laundry, emails, cooking, meetings, they don’t have to feel heavy. If you let it, they can become moments to practice presence, care, and intention.
Practical ways to shift your language and mindset:
- Pause before saying, “I don’t have time.” Ask: “Is this really true, or am I just rushing?”
- Reframe tasks as choices rather than obligations: “I choose to do this because it matters.”
- Celebrate small wins in routine tasks to find meaning in everyday moments.
- Pair necessary tasks with something enjoyable—a podcast, music, or a mindful moment—to make them lighter.
Shifting your language isn’t just semantics. It’s a powerful way to reshape your relationship with time, reduce stress, and make space for more enjoyment in everyday life.
Try This Practical Tool for Everyday Rhythms
This concept, expanding time, is exactly what The Nourished Planner offers. It helps you plan your chronos while noticing kairos, giving space for what matters most. It’s a tool that supports alignment, intention, and rhythm, so your days are full — not just busy.
When you plan with purpose, leave room for the moments that matter, and release what doesn’t serve you, time stops feeling like a grind. And that’s when you start creating a life well lived. The best news? It happens without doing more, just by understanding time differently.
If you’re ready to plan differently, end schedule shaming, and find joy in the everyday, grab your own Nourished Planner and start creating a life well-lived today!
