How to Create Space for Guitar Playing and a More Spontaneous Life

Most of us live busy lives and find it difficult to make time for the things we love most.

Because of work, commitments, obligations, bills to pay, raising children, etc, it feels like there’s hardly any time left.

Were always in productivity mode and it’s difficult to turn off that switch, because we programmed our subconscious to act that way over and over again.

We finish one thing and without thinking we go on to the next. Often doing things that seem important, but in scheme of things we will find that they lose their importance. We can choose to delay, eliminate and replace them for the really important things: The things you love most.

I love playing guitar, meditation, Yoga, running, reading and spending time with my wife and kids. I’ve come to realize I can do it all in calmness and serenity.

To change the behavior of productivity, to step outside the chaos, the business of being busy, to breath and enjoy what matters most to you, you need to create space, room and serenity in your life.

Here are the keys:

Eliminate Stop making commitments and get rid of obligations. Stop scheduling. Dare to live more spontaneous. Learn to say no. Remove and eliminate all the things, relationships, commitments, etc, that don’t bring happiness to your life. Stop spending time with people who suck the life out of you. Stop investing time in things that don’t inspire or improve your life in anyway. Be ruthless or choose stay in misery. The choice is yours.

One of my mottos is: “Reduce, remove, delete and eliminate”. Just to remind myself how to create time for the things I love most.

Reduce Don’t just organize your stuff. Get rid of stuff that you don’t use or rarely use. Again be ruthless here. Take on a minimalist attitude. Reduce, remove and then organize what’s left. The less stuff you have, the more space. You’ll have less stuff to organize, to clean, to maintain, to fix, to get lost and to look after. It saves a lot of time and energy.

Do less Stop trying to do everything. Stop thinking that everything you do is important and must be done. Think outside of the box. Choose the things that are most important to you, but keep it to a minimum. So you have more time to enjoy the things you really love.

Start the necessary If it coms to the most necessary, don’t keep it waiting till the very last minute. You know those things that really have to be done, but you rather not think about. Just start small and start on time. Just tell yourself you’ll work on it for five minutes so you don’t dread those tasks so viciously. You’ll probably end up working longer than five minutes on the necessary and that’s great, and if not, don’t sweat it. Tomorrow’s another day to make a small step forwards. Believe me, it makes all the difference.

Turn off distractions Sometimes it’s a good thing to just turn off your cellphone and leave it off for the rest of the day. Yes be crazy, you won’t regret it. It will be liberating. Your cell phone completely rules your entire life with every call, message, seducing app or Facebook or Twitter urge that will interfere with living a spontaneous life.

Resist the temptation to turn on the TV or your computer. If it feels uncomfortable, just sit down and focus on your breathing for five minutes. Let the anxiety pass. Take a moment to get used to just being you without distractions. Feel the now.

Serenity Declutter and organize your room and create a peaceful space that breaths serenity. A decluttered room is a decluttered mind. A decluttered mind is a mind that feels like playing guitar, meditate and just enjoy good things.

Wake up early Go to bed in time and wake up early. I usually wake up at 4.30 AM. It gives me some quiet time to work on important tasks and do things I love most like Yoga, reading or meditation. I usually play guitar later in the morning or in the afternoon. Maybe 4.30 AM is a bit early for some but even waking up 15, 30 or 45 minutes earlier than you normally do can make a huge difference. Work on an important task, go for a run or evaluate your life. You’ll already have a head start and that feels great.

Evaluate Take time to think and evaluate on a regular basis. When you’re always on productivity mode you’ll end up being less productive. You got to take real time to think about what’s important and what not. What is fun and what is not? What is of value? How can you be more efficient and effective?

Are the things that keep you busy really that important? What’s the worst thing that will happen if you would postpone them or even eliminate one of those things? What’s the second worst thing that would happen? What would happen if you change things around? What can you reduce or remove from your life to create more space?

Keep this thinking process going. Write down everything you come up with. If you don’t write it down you’ll forget! Read your notes, think about it, re-read on regular basis and act on it.

Let go of timekeeping Contrary to some of the things I said earlier, try to let go of timekeeping, being consumed with time. If you schedule less, reduce or eliminate meetings, appointments, goals, commitments, you don’t have to worry so much about running out of time or shortage of time. Of course you have to deal with the necessary, but there are other ways to go around it and feel less trapped in your own time schedule. Be creative.

Take of your watch. Some people look at their watch the entire day, often without any purpose. Get away from the timekeeping habit and feel free. Get into the habit of letting go and living a more spontaneous life. Play guitar! :)

“By letting go it all gets done” ~ Lao Tzu