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The “How Do You Find the Time?” Question
This is the question I hear most often from people around me: “You have a full-time banking job, you’re enrolled in 3 different universities, you’re married, and you have a 5-year-old son (Arda)… How do you find the time?”
My answer is usually an honest one: “I don’t find time. I create it.”
Most of us complain that 24 hours isn’t enough. But the truth is, our problem isn’t a lack of time, but how we use it. For me, creating this balance isn’t a luxury; it’s the main pillar of my personal project called “Limitless,” my journey to discover my potential.
I’m a banker from 8 AM to 7 PM. In the early hours of the morning, I study the social structures of Sociology, the aesthetics of Visual Arts, and the limits of the human body in Exercise Sciences. And at the end of the day, I share in my son’s laughter in my most important role: “father.”
So how do I bring order to this chaos? I don’t have a magic wand. I just have some systems that I apply ruthlessly. Here are my strategies for “bending” time.
Strategy 1: Create Synergy (1+1+1 = 5)
If I tried to manage 3 universities, banking, and family life as 5 separate pieces, I would have burned out long ago. My rule is simple: Not “Divide and conquer,” but “Unite and conquer.”
- How It Works:
- What I learn in Exercise Sciences helps me protect my physical health in my desk job as a banker.
- Sociology helps me understand my human relationships at the bank and society’s travel habits (for my blog posts!).
- Visual Arts takes the photos and videos I shoot beyond a hobby, allowing me to create content for my “Discovery” category with an aesthetic perspective.
- In other words, studying isn’t an “extra burden”; it’s a tool that makes my current life “better.” The universities are in conversation with each other and with my life.
Strategy 2: Energy Management > Time Management
This is the most critical lesson I learned from Exercise Sciences. You can have 2 hours in a day, but if your energy is at “0,” those 2 hours are useless.
- My Application:
- Mental Energy: I set aside the moments when I’m freshest—the early morning hours—for my most challenging subjects (e.g., a complex sociological theory).
- Physical Energy: Short but intense exercises in the middle of the day or after work clear the “brain fog.” However, the key point here is that avoiding the nutrition that causes brain fog is as important as exercise.
- Emotional Energy: The time I spend with my son Arda is not “lost” time. It is my emotional “recharge” time… (The rest of the strategy is the same)
Strategy 3: “Second Brain” and Digital Minimalism
A banker’s agenda is clear. But an agenda only tells you when you’ll do something, not what you’ll do or where to find the information.
- “Second Brain”: I can’t keep the information from 3 universities, my blog post ideas, and my notes from the bank all in my head. I use a digital system like Notion (or whatever tool you use) to write everything down. This frees up my brain to “think” rather than “remember.”
- Digital Minimalism: A “Second Brain” shouldn’t be a data dump. I only store information that is useful to me and related to my goals. Everything else is ruthlessly deleted.
Strategy 4: “The Minder” and the Blocking System
It’s not enough to build the system; you need a “Manager” to run it. For me, this is the mental model I call “The Minder.”
- What is “The Minder”? It’s an acronym: M.I.N.D.E.R. (My Internal Neural Decision & Evaluation Responder). “The Minder” is the logical, planning, and disciplined “CEO me” that stands one step behind my emotional, impulsive “self.” It doesn’t look at feelings; it looks at the plan. You must have heard the expression “The MONKEY in my brain and the CEO in my brain.” Well, The Minder is my CEO.
- My Application (Time Blocking):
- My calendar is my boss, and “The Minder” is the CEO who prepares and enforces that calendar.
- 04:00 – 07:30: Deep Work
- 07:30 – 08:30: Family & Breakfast Time
- 09:00 – 19:00: Bank (Allocating lunch breaks for a Power Nap)
- 19:00 – 21:30: Family & Dinner & Arda’s Time
- 21:30 – 22:15: Focused Work (Reviewing the study texts I prepared)
- After 22:30: Unconditional SLEEP time. Not open for discussion.
- When my emotional “self” says “5 more minutes” at 04:00 AM while the bed is warm, “The Minder” steps in and says, “Get up. It’s on the plan. You have goals.”
- When I want to collapse on the couch from exhaustion in the evening, “The Minder” gives the command: “First, 45 minutes of review, then sleep.”
- “The Minder” doesn’t trust motivation. It trusts the system and discipline. It is the willpower manager that takes the information stored in the “Second Brain,” places it into the “Time Blocking” calendar, and ensures it gets done.
Time Can Be Bent, As Long as You Are the CEO
As you can see, I’m not a superhero. I’m just someone who knows what he wants and builds systems to achieve it.
Bending time isn’t about running faster; it’s about knowing which direction to run. Banking gives me structure, my family gives me my “why,” the universities give me the “how,” and “The Minder” provides the “willpower.” And my “Limitless” project is the glue that holds it all together.
This system doesn’t run perfectly every day. Sometimes Arda gets sick, sometimes there’s a crisis at the bank, sometimes my emotional “self” rebels against “The Minder.” And that’s okay. Because the important thing isn’t to be perfect, but to readjust the course and stay on course.
How strong is your “Mind Manager” (The Minder)? What’s the most effective method you use to balance multiple hats? Share them in the comments, let’s learn from each other.
Sources: Personal Experience
Photo 1; Photo 2; Photo 3
