“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.” ~Harvey MacKay
When I ask most business people what some of their major obstacles or challenges to success are, Time Management is what most people say—being overwhelmed with all there is to do in a day.
When I say the word Time, what does it bring up for you?
Not enough? Not enough hours in a day? The clock’s ticking? It goes too fast or too slow?
Believe it or not time for the most part is no longer a major problem for me. People often ask me how I have time to do all that I do. I work full time in my business. I homeschool my son. I have an organic garden and love preparing most of our meals from scratch. I preserve much of my harvest. I have a very active social calendar. I enjoy a lot of pampering and self-care on a regular basis. I travel and take vacation often. AND, I still get 8 to 10 hours of sleep every night.
So how do I do it? Here is my secret…
It has nothing to do with any time management program.
It has everything to do with how I perceive time itself.
Today, I’m here to help you with your relationship to time. It has to do with how you live your life and how you can become more effective by being truly present and being in the flow within your life.
Being in that place, you are automatically more effective; you are more productive; and you get more bang for your buck out of any activity that you do. When you’re in that flow state, you have more power with each activity that you do.
Instead of it being “I’m trying to get as much done as possible in the shortest amount of time”, it’s more the idea that “Everything I do I want to do with the most power possible.”
Wouldn’t it be great to no longer feel overwhelmed by all the things that you have to do to in a day? To no longer be hurried and rushed and worried?
It’s a fact that the more that you want to accomplish in the world, the more things there are to do, the more things you put on your plate. Ultimately, how you spend your time IS how you live your life. It’s a currency you don’t get back – EVER. So spend it how YOU want to.
Do you feel used by life?
Many of us feel victimized and resentful of all that we think we must do.
But you don’t have to feel this way. If you really want, you can choose to shift your perspective. And shifting your perspective will help you do things differently and more effectively.
Here are three suggestions for how you can do that:
- Free your mind of time scarcity. What mindset do you think most people have? You guessed it. A sense that there is never enough time and you don’t know how to get everything done. You feel overwhelmed and at times out of control.
Are you a “busy person” or an “I’ll make the time” person? A “busy person” has a sense of time scarcity, through which they see everything. It doesn’t have to be that way. It is actually a defense mechanism – a way to try to protect yourself from disappointment and stress. But this scarcity mentality usually does exactly the opposite. It creates more stress and disappointment, by focusing on what you can’t get done or what you still have to do.
When you see life through a time abundance mindset you know you can find the time to do what is really important. Where do you stand on the time, scarcity vs abundance continuum?
- Love everything that you do. When you love everything you do, you don’t dread things. You don’t procrastinate. If you’re choosing between watching your favourite TV show or watching your favourite movie that just came out on DVD and you can’t wait to watch either one, how motivated do you need to be in order to watch one of those things?If you could imagine that the work that you do could be just as enjoyable as deciding between watching your favourite TV show and watching a great movie, if they’re both joys, motivation basically takes care of itself.
It’s going to come down to either doing things that you love or getting yourself to love things that you do even if you don’t currently love them. Start making a conscious effort to choose to do things you love. For the things you don’t love, is there some part of it you can love?
- Develop patient timelines. Most people have unrealistic expectations about how much they can accomplish which leads them to over-promise and under-deliver. Sometimes self-judgment gets in the way and keeps you from developing patient timelines. “Well, I should be able to do it this fast.” And “Other people do it this fast.”
Be patient with yourself. Don’t over pack your day. Create a list of 3 top priorities for a day and then do those. If you have a larger task, break it down into small tasks spread out over a few days, weeks, or months.
If you need to clean the garage but just can’t face it all at once, decide to clean out one small section a day until it is done. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Be patient. Rome was not built in a day. Take daily consistent action and your goals will be achieved.
So there you have it, three time abundance principles to get you started.
If you even apply just one to your life, you will suddenly find yourself feeling less hurried, less stressed, and you will feel more peace and joy. If you apply 2 or more principles, the changes in your life will be dramatic.
Do you struggle with time? I’d love to hear your biggest take-away after reading this article, share in the comments section below.
Heather
About the Author, Heather E. Wilson
Need help? Would you like to learn more ways to avoid burnout, add more fun, more success, and more joy into your life and business? Heather E. Wilson, is a certified transformational coach, author and international speaker who loves to share her passion for helping you take charge of your life and business so that you can have the success and fun you've always dreamed about.
Go to HeatherwilsonInternational.com to view more of her free training and to receive a copy of her FREE ebook: The Burnout Principle.
