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The 5-Minute Life Tune-Up! |
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 | Your time is precious! |
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 Recently, in preparing for a workshop on time management, I was mulling over the very abstract concept of time and about how often we hear people use the phrase "I don't have time...".
There are so many implications to that simple four-word phrase, especially when it comes to the idea of choice and time. How do we make decisions about how our time is spent? Do we make those decisions freely or are there other pressures at play? Each day we make choices, tiny ones to huge ones, about our time. And each day is a new opportunity to regard our time as precious and worth spending in purposeful ways.
Sometimes we make clear-cut, major time choices such as the one to keep working at a job we value or to spend time with aging parents because of love and authentic committment. But then there are more fuzzy or nebulous time choices we make, seemingly by default: meetings we attend in our community that may no longer serve us, time spent picking up the slack for others in work or on projects; choices made more out of guilt or habit than pure meaning or importance.
Some of us make so many time committments because we are used to "being busy" but then all of a sudden we notice that we have totally run out of time! These are the moments it dawns on us that we have little time left to ourselves - for relaxation, for recreation, for meaningful projects, even for our families.
This month's Tune-Up will shine a light on our personal time-clocks to make sure they are not controlled by anyone but ourselves and from any place other than our authentic values and interests. |
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Tune-Up! |
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Do you feel that others "own" your time?
It can be hard sometimes to remember that we are the ones totally in control of all our choices about our time and how it's spent. At times we may feel we are on a ferris wheel we can't get off because others control the ride. But in reality we can bring ourselves down to earth any time. We can't let others take our time from us without our consent!
One way to get control back is to take a closer look at your current time choices to see if they match your values and our goals. In a few simple steps, over the course of a single week, you can evaluate your time choices to see how you're doing. This process can be used within your work life or more broadly, in all aspects of life. When doing this activity, try to choose a "typical" week to evaluate. Here's how to get started:
- In pen or pencil, divide a peice of paper into eight squares. Label each square: Work, Family, Friends/Social, Community, Spirituality/Religion, Self-Care, Rest/Recreation, Growth/Learning. If any of these lables do not accurately describe aspects of your life, rename them accordingly. (If you are doing this for work only, you will be writing aspects of your job in the boxes instead.)
- Inside each box write 3 lines: Time Estimate, Time Actual, and Time Desired.
- At the beginning of your test week, write in each box next to Time Estimate your best guess as to how much time you spend on each area.
- During the week, make an effort to keep track of the actual amount of time spent on each aspect of your life. Add it up at the end of the week and mark it on Time Actual for all eight areas. How did they compare to your estimates? Were there any surprises?
- Finally, sit down with someone close to you to fill out the line called Time Desired (for all eight). This is the most important one! Taking into account how your time is currently spent, decide what if anything, you'd like to change in each area of your life. How much time do you truly want to be spending on each area? This is a chance to make those active decisions on how your time is spent.
- It may make sense to repeat this process quarterly throughout the year so that you are always in touch with how your time is spent. The goal would be to get to a place in life where we can honestly forgo that awful phrase: "I don't have time".
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The Challenge! |
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Your challenge for this month:
A simple challenge this time. Try out the activity described above for one week. At the end of time week if you are so inclined, share the results with a friend or coworker.
Email me when you've done the challenge to let me know what you're learning. As always, I'd love to hear from you!
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for a free sample
coaching session.
Molly~
call me at 617-625-6804 or
Coaching can happen from any
location by telephone or Skype.
Geography is not a barrier! | |
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