This blog is for people who struggle with time.
You probably ask yourself:
WHY DO I STRUGGLE SO MUCH WITH TIME MANAGEMENT?
Because you don’t realize you are in a relationship with time and right now you are allowing that relationship to be dysfunctional. Time is one of the most important relationships in your life. In fact, it is the CURRENCY of your life.
It’s time to start treating time like a relationship you want to be great and to last! Think about a relationship that you take great care of. There are certain characteristics to that relationship—for example, you pay attention to that person, you care about their needs, you learn about that person, you try hard to be respectful and try really hard not to cheat.
Let’s follow this analogy with time.
1) Paying attention to time means setting aside time to plan with it. For example: On Sunday night you look at your week ahead and make sure your important deliverables, goals and appointments are scheduled. You make room for exercise, time with your loved ones, and of course sleep, socializing, studying and balancing your check book.
2) Caring about time’s needs means you note how long things take. If you know it really takes you an hour to get ready in the morning and you have to be somewhere at 9am, you know you have to get up at 7am…and you do.
3) Learning about time means that you study how you spend it and analyze if you are using for the most important things. You notice if maybe you are avoiding things that seem scary or too hard and you learn to schedule those things early in the day and get them done.
4) Being respectful of time (and people) means you don’t double book it. You avoid that by writing down your commitments in a calendar as soon as you make them. Not just your appointments, but also work you have to do to accomplish something you have promised someone. And you don’t ignore time and pretend like it doesn’t exist when it really is TIME FOR BED! That would be like cheating on time. And you wouldn’t do that.
Sometimes you get really fed up with your relationship with time and you force a trial separation. That is code for: you come down with a cold or another illness. Just as in my relationship-coaching, I don’t recommend solutions that avoid tackling the relationship issues head on. Your issues are your issues and though they are not “your fault,” they also can’t be blamed on time or any other partner. They must be faced. Can we help?
Love,
Laurie
P.S.- If you are having trouble keeping the romance alive with TIME, try our 1-hour teletalk, Mastering Time.