We have all heard the term work life balance and we all know the importance of setting goals and prioritising our “to do” lists. All of these are supposed to help us focus on what is important and be more productive.
The trouble is we still procrastinate.
We check our emails, update our Facebook status, play games on our phone or do busy work that ultimately isn’t productive.
The big question is “Why?” and I think the answer is because we don’t value our time.
We all have the same twenty four hours in a day in which to accomplish our life goals and some of us get our heads down and pump out content, create amazing technology or build epic new inventions while the rest of us moan about being too busy to go for coffee.
The truth is we just don’t value our time.
We assume that we will have time to get through all the things that we want to accomplish in life…. And we’ll start on them tomorrow. Tomorrow becomes that magical place when everything will get done; we will finally have our life sorted, we will have started our diet and exercise programme, we will have started writing our book or working on that creative project we always dream of and the list goes on. Then tomorrow comes and we say “I’m too busy for that right now. I’ll start tomorrow (or Monday, that other magical day )
What we really mean is “This is not really a priority for me . I would rather spend my time doing something else.” Often that something else is not super important to us either but it takes minimal effort and that other stuff will be something we get around to later… or not.
Earlier this year my brother passed away from cancer. He had been battling it for the previous 14 months and when he was first diagnosed he had to give up his job due to all the treatment he needed. He also decided to finally enrol in floristry classes as it was something he had always wanted to do. He figured he would always have time to get to it later. Turns out he didn’t. He was 55when he died.
Five steps to value your time:
(1) Write down what you value: Get clear on what is really important to you. What is it that you love the most about yourself? What do really want to spend your life doing? Spend some time figuring it out so that you don’t get to the end of your life wishing you had done things differently.
(2) Prioritise: Now that you know what you want to spend your time on prioritise everything else. If you really want to be fit and healthy then make time in your schedule for exercise. If you want to feel a deeper spiritual connection in your life then make time to meditate.
(3) Make time: Once you have prioritised take out your schedule and see where you need to make adjustments. What can you let go of that is not in line with your values? Turn off the television, step away from your computer, put your phone down all these things gobble up time and time is precious. We do not need to be available 24/7. Technology was designed to give us more time and yet we seem to have less of it now than in the past.
(4) Before committing to anything check if it is in alignment with your values: You don’t have to say “yes” to everything. Check in with your gut feelings and see if this is really a good fit for you before committing to anything. Practice saying “No” like it is a complete sentence. Don’t make excuses. Just politely decline and say it doesn’t fit in with your schedule.
(5) Schedule “Me” Time in your diary: If you have committed to an exercise plan or a meditation practice or anything else write it in your diary like it is an appointment because it is. Make an appointment with yourself and stick to it, just like you would any other appointment. This is the hardest part. We tend to break commitments to ourselves easier than we do commitments to others. The reason is we don’t want to let the other person down but we happily let ourselves down each day. By writing it in your diary you may be less inclined to blow it off. Look on it as just another appointment.
