Time…
Everyone complains that there isn’t enough of it. ‘Where did the time go?’ we ask ourselves; meanwhile days, weeks, even years can slip by without getting us any closer to our goals.
Yet everyone is given the same 24 hours in a day; it’s up to us how we use them. You can’t create more time, but you can decide how you will choose to spend it.
Time is our most precious resource; it’s the currency our lives are measured in and once spent, it can’t be regained. The clock only goes in one direction. So knowing this, how can we make the most of the precious hours that we’ve been given?
To start with, you need to know what your priorities are in life. What truly matters to you?
It’s all too easy to get caught up in other people’s expectations for us. Our families, our bosses, our community, they all seem to have opinions on how our time should be spent. But you are the only one who knows what’s most important to you.
- Start by making a list of what your current priorities are….
- Do you want to spend time with your young children?
- Focus on your health and well-being? or,
- Maybe building a new business is what’s important to you right now.
Whatever your priorities are, getting them down on paper can help keep you focused on what matters most to you.
Focus on what matters and eliminate what doesn’t.
Once you know what your true priorities are, you can begin designing the ideal life for yourself. A good way to start is by asking yourself every morning, ‘What is most important about today?’ The answer to that question will help you to plan your day and will keep you focused on your priorities and making steady progress towards your goals. You can learn more about prioritization and planning your ideal day here.
Once you’ve scheduled your day around your priorities, you still need a plan to deal with the time-wasters. In this age of technology there are more distractions at hand than ever before; our ever-present phones, surfing the Net, falling down the rabbit hole of social media — these constant distractions that eat up hours of our time before we’ve even realized it. You need to decide how much time you want to spend with technology and then be disciplined with yourself. For example, you may decide to check email or social media just twice a day, morning and evening, or maybe limiting TV to two nights a week would work for you.
You’ll find some helpful hints on managing distractions here.
Once you begin designing your days around your priorities and eliminating the time-wasters you’ll be amazed at how much more time you have. The clock is ticking. Start harnessing the power of prioritization today and spend your days, and your life, on the things that matter the most to you!
P.S. You can learn more about managing your time here.
