Haven’t we all wished for more time? I have. Often it feels like I wish I could squeeze even just 1 more hour for sleep or hobbies or just time to breath. Well, tomorrow we get our wish (no, not really), because it is leap day—Feb 29th. Ok, you don’t really get more time or have the clocks stop. This is just astronomical juggling of the solar year because that same solar year is slightly less than 365.25 days. Way back in 45 BC, the Roman leader Julius Caesar decided that the current Roman calendar was too clunky. They had previously tried to have one big extra month every so often; Caesar’s lead astronomer explained that if they would intersperse various extra days randomly throughout the year, they could get the needed extra time down to 1 day every 4 years.
And you thought Julius Caesar was merely some tyrant or dictator who supposedly tried to destroy the Roman Republic. Well, regardless of whether you come down on the side of Caesar as enemy of the Republic or Caesar as attempting to save the Republic, in his time as leader, he certainly made this one change that has stuck with us. It wasn’t perfect of course; in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII tweaked the system a bit more, leaving us with the calendar we all know today.
What would you do with the extra day? Of course, everyone with a birthday today rejoice for getting their special day back. What about the rest of you? With that extra time, you can do amazing things, but only if you determine to.
- Why not work on a broken relationship? Nothing else to do, so just dive on in with that person. Put the focus on the issue or situation, NOT on the other person. Try to hear things from their side and then see if you can equally move to a solution.
- Work on your favorite ignored hobby; we all have these–something you really enjoy but never really make time for. Perhaps this hobby could actually become a revenue stream for yourself. Or, at the least, it could provide a sense of peace and rest
- Take the time to finish that project you have just laying around. This could be the script you have been writing or maybe one of your recent goals. You started it, but now, between work, people, TV and rest…you’ve just left it there
- Maybe your use of the time would be best applied to something with your body, your health. You’ve wanted to attempt a triathlon or a marathon or maybe just get the bike out, yet you constantly tell yourself you don’t have time.
- Rest. Yep, that is right. Maybe you need to just sleep the entire day. All the studies abound that indicate that Americans simply don’t get enough rest.
Ready for the kicker? Though leap day really doesn’t give us a free 24 hours, the idea already is there. You own each of your 24 hours. Those 5 things I listed (and probably others you came up with yourself) are things that you could do right now. You simply have to decide to do it.
For some of us, if we would just turn off the TV, we’d discover 2-4 hours of time that we could apply in many ways. Certainly some of us are busy with valuable actions, yet even in that instance, we are often guilty of saying “yes” too often and then being spread too thin. Learn to say “no” and then take control over that time.
It’s a leap year with that special leap year. Why not decide on this February 29th that you plan to leap into the rest of your time in full control? You can do it!