Would You Like to Have More Time?"
by Mary Jo WehniainenOK, you’re right. We all know there are only twenty-four hours in the day, no matter what we do. We can’tcreate any more. What we can do, however, is make some minor changes in how we spend our twenty-four hours so it really "feels" like we have more time!It’s really about making the choice to take control of your time, rather than have it control you. In order to dothis, you need to be very clear about where you’re headed…..your goals, your future, your ideal life. Onceyou’ve decided what’s important to you, the rest is pretty easy.Here are some simple steps you can take which will help you feel less stressed, more decisive, and "incontrol" more than ever before.1.Choose the one or two areas you’re going to focus on during this time in your life. For example, if you have a family and you’re the primary caregiver, this will probably be one. If you also have abusiness that you’re happy about, that ’s probably the second. You can’t take on any more major projects at this time (unless of course they will directly affect and benefit one of your main areas of focus). Some people may even narrow it down to one major focus for a specific period of time, sothey can reach their goals faster. Base all your future decisions and commitments on whether or notit supports one of these two main areas.2.Figure out what your high priority items are and spend your time on those. 20% of what we spendour time doing makes up 80% of the results. In other words, about 80% of what we do really doesn’tmatter! What are your 20% items? Is it bringing in new customers, making presentations, a newmarketing campaign, or spending quality time with your children? Make sure you’re spending your time on your 20% items and not on busy work or someone else’s agenda.3.Have a major "theme" for each day. Ask yourself "what’s important about today?" It might be"catching up", "Joey’s birthday", "business plan", "handle finances", "fun with kids", "monthly report",etc. Although you will definitely get other things accomplished as well, deciding on a major theme for each day will help keep you focused and moving quickly toward your chosen destination.4.Spend at least ten minutes a day doing nothing. This may sound impossible when you already feelthat there’s not enough time, but it’s amazing what happens when you take the time to sit and donothing on a regular basis. You may even want to close your eyes and take a short "power nap"!When you’re constantly busy, you won’t get the creative ideas on how to do things better, thesolutions to situations you’ve been dealing with, and you may even miss some big opportunities thatwent right by you, but you were too busy to see!5.Look at the things you’ve been procrastinating on in your life and figure out why. Procrastination isnot as bad as you think. In fact, most times procrastination is actually a "red flag" directing you totake a look at something. The thing you’ve been procrastinating on may be something you don’teven want to do, but someone else made you feel like you "should". If so, get it off your plate! Itcould be that you’re procrastinating because you don’t have the information or expertise to do the jobat hand. Instead of getting down on yourself, get the answers you need. It might be that you justdon’t have the "right" solution or feel uncomfortable with the current options and need some time tomull it over. If so, go do something totally different and get your mind off it for a while. The perfectsolution will come to you. Another possibility is that the job itself seems too overwhelming and youdon’t even know where to start. In this case, give yourself permission to break it down into tinypieces and tackle one at a time. Before you know it you’ll be done!
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Begin saying no to anything that is not in your best interest, and in line with your one or two mainfocuses. This can be one of the most empowering things you ever do. It may feel uncomfortable atfirst, but once you start saying "no", you’ll feel more in control of your life than ever before. Also,don’t feel you need to offer any lengthy explanations. Saying "no", "no thanks", or "not this time" isgood enough. Remember, if you want to have a stress-free life, you need to be in control of what youdo and you can’t say "yes" to things that are not in your best interest.
7.Spend most of your time on what you’re good at doing. When you hate doing something or find aparticular job or task extremely difficult, you’re "going against the flow" and are seriously depletingyour energy. Don’t give strength to your weaknesses! You shouldn’t feel guilty because you’re notthe expert at everything! Let the real expert do it and you be the expert at what you love to do! Whenyou spend your time doing what you’re good at and what you enjoy doing, your energy level will stayhigh and life in general will take on a much better feel.
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