‘ I simply don’t have enough time’. ‘I am always in a hurry’.’ I would love to do some exercise but can never find the time’. ‘I’ve always wanted to take up dancing lessons but don’t have the time’. ‘I’ve got loads of jobs to do around the house but no spare time to do them’.
Have you ever said or thought any of the above? Have you heard anyone else say these things?
It’s often said these days that life is ’speeding up’ and ‘passing much quicker’ than before.
Why do you think this is? Are there more things for us to do? Are the advancements in technology not giving us what they were intended to do… more time?
One thing that hasn’t changed is that we all have the same number of hours, minutes and seconds in a day.
How then can we ‘ do what we have to do when we should be doing it’ to free up more time to ‘do what we want to do when we want to do it?’
I would suggest we try the following:-
1. Clarify our goals. We ought to have crystal clear goals for all the different areas of our lives.
2. Be certain that any action we decide to do will take us closer to our ultimate goal.
3. Constantly ask yourself this question. ‘ Are you doing what you enjoy doing instead of doing what you really should be doing right now?’
4. Become disciplined to get the ‘ should do things’ done first.
5. Seperate out the things that you can delegate first to free yourself up.
6. Build in time for ‘interruptions’ and the ‘unexpected’.
7. Learn to say NO! and mean it.
8. Keep a log for two months and record in it how you spend your time. Then reapportion your time accordingly.
9. Build breaks and resting times into your schedule…time to ‘just be’…time to ‘look out of the window’.
10. Use a diary , ‘ to do’ list and prioritise. Paying attention to the top 20% of your priorities will bring you an 80% return.
Finally, when all the above is in place, allow yourself a little time to reflect on what you’ve done. review how you did it and what you achieved, plan your next moves and enjoy ‘doing it’.
Ok, time for a brew.. milk? sugar?
Sound advice Sam, much appreciated. It reaffirms the need to manage expectations and not be afraid to be clear that you cannot get ‘a quart into a pint pot’. Saying ‘no’ usually buys you respect and demonstrates you have an awareness of the need to be organised.
Sam, thanks for being as inspirational as ever.