How to Reduce Stress Part 7: Finding the Time To Do Everything
How is it that other people seem to fit so much into their day, while I struggle with getting the necessary things done? I make a list of all of the things I have to do – but it never seems that I get anything done on it, or not nearly enough! I have too much to do!
We all know the feeling of “having too much to do”. Sometimes it is because we have over-scheduled ourselves or because we have procrastinated on a project and now it is just overwhelming and stressful. Finding the time to do everything is really about sitting down and deciding what needs to be done and what are the most important items on this list.
Many use a ‘to do’ list to help them organize themselves. Once we have that to-do list though we need to take some additional steps that will help to reduce our stress. Continue reading “How to Reduce Stress Part 7: Finding the Time To Do Everything”
The Value of Your Time
Our time is valuable and all parents have the same reaction when we see how fast our children grow up. I look at my own family and here we are with our youngest who will be graduating from college this spring. Where did the time go? We have learned about the formative years and we know that our relationships with our children will have an impact on how things go in their teen years. Yes our time is valuable – especially with our children.
In fact we hear the term spending our time. This is a very real term. In the stead of thinking about how we spend our money, we may want to think about this in terms of money. If we are going to take 5 years to save enough to pay for an item, no matter what the item is, we are in fact spending one- twelfth of our adult life for this item. Is this item worth spending that amount of time?
Talk to anyone in their 50’s or 60’s and you will hear that what and how they think about their time is different. They begin thinking about what they will be remembered for, what will they contribute to their community and society, the world? I would suggest that now is the time to think about those things. If we can help parents and young students to ask themselves, What is worth spending my life on? What is on my agenda today that is worthy of my life?
Each of us have the same number of hours in the day and week. Once it is gone, there is no bringing it back. In the matter of time management, one question that will impact your effectiveness is, What are the 4 or 5 things that I can do today that will have the biggest impact on my children, my goals and life? The time we spend with our children, the guidance on a day to day basis that we give to them is one thing that will have a very large impact on them, on the world and your own happiness. Seeing your work in that light may just change the way you manage your time.
Whats on your schedule today? Are they worthy of your life?
Dependability: time management
Each one of us play out a number of roles in our daily life. It does not matter if we are 5 years old or 55. Think about it – if you are 5 years old you could be a sibling, student in school and one or two extracurricular activities, grandchild, friend, and you may have been asked to be responsible for something in your church or other social group.
If you are a teen and adult it just multiplies. We have our roles at work, friendships, citizens, students, family and more. Each one makes demands on us that we find ourselves making commitments to and promises. At time we feel stressed because in trying to be ‘dependable’ we may feel stretched too thin and may even feel like we do not have enough free time for our selves.
If we are going to be dependable and keep our commitments we must first be balanced and moderate in the things we promise. One of the things that always surprises me is how much time a task takes that I thought would take so much less time.
So in fact it is about time management and priorities. If we want to be a powerful leader we must only make promises that we are able to keep. Here is a quick hint I received from something I read recently.
Write down what you need to accomplish the next day – the night before.
Choose the 3 most important things that will have the largest impact on your business, life or family
Tackle the biggest and hardest one first thing in the morning and stay with it until it is complete.
You will feel great about it and be able to do the other items easier, knowing that big one is complete. More on time management later. If you are going to be dependable though, it is most important to know when and how to say no and not to overload yourself.
Continuing to learn
This morning I sit in a hotel room anxiously awaiting the start of this day. Today is the first day of a 4 day workshop / seminar with Anthony Robbins. When I first signed up for this I was happy that I had but not nearly as excited by the idea as I am now. Here is the reason.
In the month of February I took an 8 hour workshop on time management with the Franklin Quest facilitator. I thought going in I knew about time management – I thought I knew the Steven Covey message. Coming out of it though I realized that I did not know as much as I thought I did. in fact since that time I have become more productive. Not in the sense of how much I am getting done. No rather in the sense of how many important things I am getting done.
It has allowed me to have accomplishments and not feel stressed doing it. Now here I am at the threshold of a new workshop. I come into this one too, thinking I know a little about Tony Robbins message. Will I come away with a whole new picture? Will I be as renewed and reinvigorated as a white belt seeing this stuff for the first time?
I am approaching it as a white belt, with an empty cup, ready to be taught and ready to accept and practice what I learn. If any of you have ever thought about attending a seminar that you thought may impact you, I would encourage you to do so. The money spent doing it will no doubt be well worth it. It is also a great example to your students – that you are still working on yourself too. I will tell you about my experience as the days go by.