[00:01.81]Free Up Time to Do What You Love Most
[00:08.04]Two years ago Shirley Michels of St. Louis found herself
[00:14.09]getting up earlier and earlier,
[00:15.68]and going to bed later and later,
[00:18.13]just to meet everyday demands.
[00:20.13]The wife, mother and ophthalmic technician
[00:24.07]met her responsibilities，but lacked time for the things
[00:27.18]that mattered most.She and her husband, Vic, an attorney,
[00:30.94]began searching for ways to simplify their lives.
[00:33.71]“We had to decide what was really important.”
[00:36.36]says Shirley. They knew they wanted more time
[00:38.97]to play with their three-year-old son, Ryan,
[00:41.31]to exercise and eat right, and to nurture friendships.
[00:44.63]So the couple chose to live more modestly，
[00:48.32]shopping with care for necessities
[00:49.95]and enjoying inexpensive pleasures such as reading,
[00:52.56]cooking and going to the park.
[00:54.94]Shirley quit her job and began working part time from home.
[00:59.02]She printed up business cards that read
[01:01.73]“At your service buy yourself a little time”
[01:04.83]and hired herself out for personal tasks such as shopping,
[01:08.22]paying bills, organizing parties,
[01:10.66]doing Internet research whatever clients needed.
[01:14.42]“I still work hard, but being able to
[01:16.66]control my hours makes all the difference.”
[01:18.96]she says. “I can carve out time to take my son to the zoo
[01:22.69]or play basketball with him. My stress headaches are gone.
[01:25.74]Having a chance to get to know neighbors not only has been fun,
[01:29.43]but it's also helped us further simplify.”
[01:31.85]According to trend watchers, the Michelses are far from alone
[01:36.29]in wanting to slow down and live a more satisfying life.
[01:39.79]A Gallup Poll found that half of all Americans claim
[01:43.26]they lack enough time to do what they want.
[01:45.76]54 percent of parents say
[01:48.10]they spend too little time with their children,
[01:49.90] and 47 percent of married couples complain
[01:52.84]that they lack time together.
[01:54.65]Where does the time go? For most people,
[01:58.49]work and commuting dominate the day.
[02:01.45]According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
[02:04.62]one out of five of us put in 49 or more hours a week on the job;
[02:08.72]one out of 12 logged 60 hours or more.
[02:12.00]Then there's the rich fast food of modern life,
[02:15.35]so much information to sift through,
[02:17.71]so many products beckoning.
[02:19.63]“We're wearing ourselves out trying to have it all.”
[02:22.65]says Elaine St. James, author of Living the Simple Life.
[02:26.44]Simplifying means becoming aware of the ways, big and small,
[02:30.19]that we expend money, time and energy,
[02:33.08]and then raking steps to curb the waste.
[02:36.22]Then we have to gain control over life's hassles
[02:40.27]in order to have time for the pleasures.
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