Time is one of those things that, depending on what you are doing, moves too fast, or too slow. Like at work, when you find yourself wondering why it isn’t time to go yet? Or on Sunday evening, when you realize you want to spend more time with your kids.

I think I noticed time the most when I had kids. Years fly by and it appears that these kids just grow so fast. Summer vacations, that felt so long when you were a kid, now fly by as an adult. You learn that time is our most precious commodity.

And while there are 24 hours in a day, and you are awake for over 15 hours of each day, sometimes you have to find the time to the things you love. Because there are so many things we must do that we don’t necessarily love all that much.

As a working mom, I have less time with my kids. I wake them just after 6:00 am every morning to get ready for school and we are waiting at the doors of their before and after-school program at 7:00 am, so I can kiss them and bolt to catch the subway.

I commute, to and from work, so that takes up two to three hours of each day.

Five days a week! That is about 10-15 hours I spend each week on a subway or in my car.

Thankfully, I’m a reader. And last year I read a lot of books. It’s a great way to pass the time; to do something that I can’t do any other time. (Trust me, I tried. If I read before bed, I’ll fall asleep).

If you follow me on Instagram, you will know that I often post about #mydailycommute and my love/hate relationship I have with the TTC. At the end of December, the Line 1 extension finally opened, which means that the subway runs from my neck of the woods in Vaughan, to the downtown core.

This is great news. My commute to the subway station just shrank tremendously. Before I was taking a major highway to drive to the closest, most western station on the line. Now, I only need to drive about 10 minutes locally. However, like with anything new, there are growing pains.

So, what does this mean? Did I miraculously gain hours back in my day?

The short answer is no.

The long answer is, sort of.

 

This actual line of the subway moves slower. Like, physically it is a slower train. There are more delays, (with no announcements as to why) and sometimes I feel like I can walk faster. The mornings are worse than the evenings, and there have been exactly two instances where I got to my car an hour after I left work.

I know, you’re thinking, an hour?! But that is great, because with the 10-minute drive home, I still saved myself 20 minutes from my old commute.

I have hope it will improve. I have hope that things will get better. But going from an hour and a half commute to an hour each way, is already an additional hour back in my day.

Being on a new line, means I’m not fully comfortable with the stops and the length of time the ride is. I don’t feel comfortable to bury my head in a book quite yet. I tried, a few times, and I am continually distracted, worried I’m going to miss my stop to change lines and unsure of where I am. And that will all come with time, I know, as I rode the previous line for a year and a half and could do it with my eyes closed after a while.

So, what I have been doing, since this is the year of me, and I’m working on my goals and this blog and my social presence, is I’ve been using the time to work on my social platforms, brainstorm ideas for upcoming blog posts and write.

It is easy to say I’m going to blog and brainstorm and plan when I get home from work, after I make dinner, help with homework, take the kids to their activities, read them a book and try to catch up with my husband, but the reality is, sometimes I just want to crash! I’m exhausted. I want to veg out on the couch, hang out with my husband and turn my brain off.

Using my train ride more efficiently is working out great! I am using my time productively. Especially in the morning, when I’m pumped and ready to take on the day.

I’ve also started to re-train my mind to use other times where I am just sitting around waiting, more productively too. The half hour I wait for the girls at music, has been used to plan posts and the hour at tutoring has been used to write.

Finding these little nuggets of time is exactly what I need to continue to do to meet all my objectives.

My life is not getting in the way of my 2018 goals!

 

What are some ways you find time in your day?