How to make time for everything

By Bill Jackson November 14, 2025 2 mins read 2 Views

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It’s quite hard for me to find free time now.

But a few years ago, I worked as a doctor in the UK and I built my business on the side. The key that helped me manage my time was an automated 168-hour spreadsheet I created: https://go.aliabdaal.com/168spreadsheetyts

If I had to start again, I’d use the same spreadsheet again and here’s what I’d do 👇🏼

1️⃣ Audit Your Time Expenses.

Most people think they don’t have time, but the truth is they’ve never actually measured where their time goes.

An average person’s week looks like this:

😴 Sleep: 56 hours (8 hours/night)
💻 Work: 52 hours (commute, lunch, prep)
🍔 Food: 12-15 hours (cooking, eating, groceries)
🧹 Chores: 12 hours (cleaning, laundry, errands)
📺 Entertainment: 30 hours (TV + social media)

Most of the 168 hours are already exhausted. Before kids. Before goals. Before side projects.

2️⃣ Strategic Sacrifice.

Most productivity advice fails, as it assumes you can cheat maths. You can’t. You have to sacrifice. I made 3 trade-offs while working as a doctor.

❌ Firstly, I spent zero time watching TV. The only exception was social watching with friends.This freed up 15 hrs/week.

🍱 Secondly, I lived off takeaway meals only. Skipped breakfast entirely for years. And never set foot in grocery stores. This is not a lifestyle I’d recommend to everyone. This cut my food time to just 2-3 hours a week.

🧽 Thirdly, I outsourced cleaning. I’d get my flat cleaned every other week and this saved another roughly 10 hours a week.

3️⃣ Double-Dip Your Dead Time.

The final unlock was utilising “dead” time.

For example, my 2-hour daily commute.
➡️ I listened to business podcasts at 2x speed.

My lunch breaks at hospitals.
➡️ I scripted my YouTube videos if I had some time.

This added another 10+ productive hours weekly.

Result: 31 hrs/week of free time while working full-time as a doctor.

Most people at the time thought I was really productive.

But in reality, there are physically not enough hours in the week to do all the things you want to do.

It just comes down to what you’re willing to sacrifice.