By Nan McAdam
Time management is a subject we all deal with. Each of us have behaviors that can make managing our time a night mare! Time is a free commodity which can seem plentiful, especially when we are doing something we don't enjoy. It drags by, second by second, as if Father Time was dragging an elephant around on his coat tails. I remember watching the clock in school as it slowly made its way to the dismissal bell, thinking I was stuck in the twilight zone of frozen time.
Equally as confusing is when we are enjoying ourselves or crunching to meet a deadline. Time flies by in a blur. Harvey MacKay says it best, "Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back."
Where does our time go? To find out where our time goes, we must first recognize the behavior that's stealing it from us. Here is a list of eleven notorious time thieves.
1. Improperly prioritizing our work
2. Letting less important task such as email consume our time
3. Unable to say "no" to others
4. I'll do it later mindset or procrastinating
5. Poor crisis management skills
6. Not finishing something before going on to the next
7. Day dreaming
8. Feeling guilty and defeated for past unfinished projects
9. Stress
10. Lack of quality sleep
11. Sucked into other people's drama or letting other people distract us.
Do any of these seem familiar? It is easy to become unfocused and off track when we have any of these nipping at our heals. Setting goals can help us focus and get back on track.
Time really isn't something we can manage. We can't control the passage of the hours and minutes of our day. We can only manage our use of time. The eleven points can only be overcome by using self discipline. But, none of this will happen without, first, identifying your own personal limiting behavior. If this feels like a challenge, you may need a second set of objective eyes in the form of a coach or mentor.
No matter who we are, or how much money we have, the sands of time won't stop flowing in our personal hour glass. It is up to each of us, individually, to contemplate and locate our own personal time thief. Then, we can start behavior modification to get back in control of our time.
Equally as confusing is when we are enjoying ourselves or crunching to meet a deadline. Time flies by in a blur. Harvey MacKay says it best, "Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back."
Where does our time go? To find out where our time goes, we must first recognize the behavior that's stealing it from us. Here is a list of eleven notorious time thieves.
1. Improperly prioritizing our work
2. Letting less important task such as email consume our time
3. Unable to say "no" to others
4. I'll do it later mindset or procrastinating
5. Poor crisis management skills
6. Not finishing something before going on to the next
7. Day dreaming
8. Feeling guilty and defeated for past unfinished projects
9. Stress
10. Lack of quality sleep
11. Sucked into other people's drama or letting other people distract us.
Do any of these seem familiar? It is easy to become unfocused and off track when we have any of these nipping at our heals. Setting goals can help us focus and get back on track.
Time really isn't something we can manage. We can't control the passage of the hours and minutes of our day. We can only manage our use of time. The eleven points can only be overcome by using self discipline. But, none of this will happen without, first, identifying your own personal limiting behavior. If this feels like a challenge, you may need a second set of objective eyes in the form of a coach or mentor.
No matter who we are, or how much money we have, the sands of time won't stop flowing in our personal hour glass. It is up to each of us, individually, to contemplate and locate our own personal time thief. Then, we can start behavior modification to get back in control of our time.
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