Seven Ways to Make More Time to Watch Movies

We all love movies. And thankfully, there’s no shortage of movies to watch. There are multiple new movies coming to theaters every week, there are thousands (if not millions) of options on major streaming services, you probably have your own private collection of Blu-rays or digital downloads, and that’s not even considering the thrill of attending a local indie film festival.

The problem is that, despite so many options, most of us don’t have time to sit down and watch these movies. We’re busy with work and personal responsibilities, and can’t generally afford the two hours (or more) it takes to complete a film in one sitting. By the time we’re finished with our daily tasks, there’s less than an hour left in the day, and we have to go to bed so we can start it all over again the next day.

Fortunately, there are a few strategies you can use to make more time for movies in your life—without sacrificing any of your responsibilities.

Delegate Some of Your Responsibilities

One of your biggest priorities should be delegating some of your responsibilities. If you’re overwhelmed with things to do every day, it’s a sign that you’ve potentially overloaded yourself. For example, let’s say you wake up at 7 am, you get ready for work, you work 8:30 to 5:30, then you’re busy with side projects and taking care of the kids until 10 pm. That’s a hefty load.

Consider delegating at least some of your responsibilities, in one or more of these ways:

•         Hire professional help. One straightforward option is to hire professional help. At work, this could mean adding someone else to your team or hiring an assistant. If you’re managing investment properties, it could mean working with a property management company. And don’t neglect your personal life, either—you could hire a babysitter to help take care of the kids, or a professional cleaner to take care of your home environment.
•         Redistribute your team workload. You could also try to redistribute your existing team workload, if hiring someone isn’t an option. If you’re overloaded while other members of your team are sitting idle, it’s a sign that the balance is off and needs to be adjusted.
•         Ask for help from others. Finally, try asking for help from other people. For example, you could ask your spouse/partner to chip in more with household tasks (if they’re not overloaded themselves). You could also ask family members, friends, neighbors, and other people in your community for more help.

Eliminate Time Wasters

Next, you’ll want to free up more time by recognizing and eliminating time wasters. There are likely dozens of ways you waste time every day, even if you don’t realize it. There are tasks you complete and rituals you follow that don’t add anything to your life or serve your underlying goals; your job is to learn to notice these items and get rid of them. For example, let’s say you spend 45 minutes each morning scrolling through social media feeds, getting updates from friends and family; is this really a vital operation? Or is it a way to kill time that has wormed its way into your schedule permanently?

If you can find just two or three significant daily activities that don’t add anything to your life, you can cut them out and make enough time to watch any movie you want.

Start Saying No

People who claim to be overloaded with responsibilities and obligations all tend to have one key characteristic in common; they find it hard to say “no.” We all have a hard time saying “no,” at least to some extent, but if you want to free up more time in your life, you’ll need to start saying it more often. That means turning down requests for new responsibilities or help with various projects outside the scope of your own efforts. It also means setting more firm boundaries with your bosses, employees, and even your friends and family members.

Get Creative With Your Timing

Try to get more creative with your timing as well. Most people like the idea of settling in to watch a movie at the end of the day, in the last couple of hours. But your schedule may make this difficult. Could you consider waking up earlier to squeeze in a film before work? What about taking an extended lunch break for a movie?

Depending on how busy your schedule is, it may feel practically impossible to fit in additional time to watch movies. But for most people, this is a matter of time management and prioritization. Consider spending more effort on revising and rearranging your schedule, and you’ll probably find an extra couple hours a week, at least, for more film enjoyment.