I dont Have Time Lah!

Funny right? When you ask any Malaysians to do anything thats out of ordinary; this is what they say' I don Have Time Lah'. 'I cant do this'. 'I really hope to do it someday but i dont have time' and so on.

So what happened when i started this entrepeuner Coaching Group in Facebook for those interested in Making Natural Product and starting a business in it? So many people joined! So many and everyone was excited because they wanted to change their life and they wanted to do something from home so that they could spend more time with people they love.

Only after sometime; things started getting slow and probably only 1% is still taking action. Exactly like gym membership where people go only the first week after New Year. Thats what happened to this group members too.
So what happened to the other 99% of them? I really wanted to find out so i did a survey asking all of them why or whats their roadblock. Guess what? close to 80% said this: ' I dont have Time'. As a parent i dont have time. And when asked further why; they give me this typical schedule every parent in the world has; waking up, preparing food for children and husband, sending kids off to daycare or school, go to work, come back, clean house and prepare food, put kids to sleep and fell asleep the same time and repeat!

Now tell me something; don't you think this is exactly what every parent in the world is doing? Then what is so different about your life as compared to them? And how about all those other parents who are successful entrepeuner? How did they start? How come they have 'more time' than you when in reality everyone only have 24 hours a day?

Now let me tell you my story; Im a Pharmacist thats still working, im the founder of this company (Soap Lab Malaysia), Im like you guys a Mom, wife, Daughter and also a person (so i need me time too). So how did I split myself into 6 and still manage to squeeze in workout session inside everyday?

Here's how i did it. If you want you can follow too. Who knows it might work for you:-)

First of all; list your priorities. What are your priorities? For me right now at this moment are my kids. They are 1 year old and 3 yrs old and i think that at this time; they NEED me and Emotionally i NEED them too. When they are older and teenagers; my priorities might change but at this moment; they are my highest. The second priority i have is my husband and parents. Only after that comes my career and business.

So how do I allocate my time to all this?
Simple; like you i was also in a mess. I tried to juggle everything and i was such an angry and negative person. But one day; i read this book called 'The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey' and it changed my mind and eventually my whole life. What was i doing! Why didn't i take control of my life! I felt like a 'slave' working because i couldn't do things that i liked or spend time with people i love and felt like i was 'selling' my time just for this hope that someday ill be rich and retired and i can do whatever i like whenever i want.

That obviously wasn't a good idea because then i realise that if i did that; what happens to the people in my priority list? My kids would have grown up and have their own life, my parents will be too old to do anything, i don't even know how i will be (overweight and old i guess), and husband? how the relationship going to be at that time?

So at that time i decided to stop and rethink my priorites. Sometimes; You just have to take a step back.

and this is what i did. I ranked my priorities, and i recorded everything i was doing for a week. whatever i was doing in normal uneventful situation.

During that time i realized that without me knowing; i was actually spending a lot of time in social media and tv. close to 5 hours a day. 5 mins here, 5 minutes there; it turns out when you combine all; it was about 40 hours of TV and social media time! thats not even a priority isnt it! Then; every morning and evening; it was cleaning and mending the house and food preparation etc. that took up at least 4 hours of my day! You can see how this was going isnt it?

So i ranked all the time together and categorised it to 3; high priority, medium and low. All those low ones; the ones that i could list down the chores or record it because it was repetitive; i outsourced it. This is when i got a house helper to do everything repatative for me. You wont believe it but i even got my maid to cook with me the first month she was in and write each and every recipe down (including how much salt etc) so that she can cook exactly like me later. True enough i havent 'entered' the kitchen for 3 years.

Next is the the medium priority ones; something that i needed to do but i didnt like doing. Example in soaplab, we have a lot of messages through different channels. I couldnt cope replying to all so i had trained and teach 3 staff to handle the customer service. i tried to make it as systemise i could so that i could outsource that.
So now whats left is only the high priority work. This includes all marketing; which i usually get it done earlier in the morning and second half of the day is wholly to my family.

Guess what? I've got too much of time in hand now! besides doing all the 6 important things on the list; i can now also ready 1 book in 2 days! (that was my new years resolution. reading 100 books a year).

So you see; its just about you and how you prioritise your time. Do i not watch tv anymore? of course i do; but thats just as a background when playing my my kids. I'm not in social media anymore? of course i am; as the seller and not the receiver. I dont care what my friends and family is posting especially those negative things because if i cant control it; there is no need for me to do crack my head over it.

So i hope this post helps you and if you have anything else you would like to know; do comment below. Thank you

Nisha