It’s About Freakin’ Time (Management)!
You know that idea you’ve been kicking around forever, but never seem to start? If I asked you what was holding you back, you could probably come up with 101 reasons why and many of those reasons would be equally important uses of your time and a solid argument for never starting. But what if it just took a slight shift in how you were looking at it? What if you could get a little more organized around how you were spending your time, ensuring that you carved out the space in your life to finally achieve this goal?
This piece is about time management. I will write more later about setting goals and identifying priorities. This post is written with the assumption that you already have a clear understanding of what your goals and priorities are but just need some help getting started.
EVALUATE: Let’s start by taking a look at how you are spending your time. If you drew a circle that represented your entire day, what are all those wedges on a typical day? Where are you spending a majority of your time? Which areas of your life are begging for more time and attention? You have the ability to budget your time, but it starts with an honest assessment of how you are spending it.
VISUALIZE: As the mastermind of your schedule, the leader of your life, what do you want this wheel of time to look like? Now that you have a microview of one day of your life, draw a new wheel that clearly makes time for this project or goal. How much time do you need or want each day or each week? How many hours or days a week will you devote to this?
MOTIVATE: What is your why? This area of your life that you want to develop, this project you want to see come alive, why is this important to you? Who would you be if this goal were to come to fruition? Knowing your why is equally, if not more important, than the how! Let’s practice right now by naming it and connecting to your why!
This is what I want to do/create/achieve: _________________________________________
This is why this is important to me: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
COMMIT: What will it take to make this project or goal the center of your focus, or to at least move it up near the top of your list of priorities? I’m talking about doing THIS instead of binge watching that Netflix show, or scrolling through your social media feed. To achieve your future, you must attend to your present. It all starts now. What are you committed to doing?
ACCOUNTABILITY: When will you do it? What is your deadline? How will you know it’s done, that you’ve reached your goal? What are the benchmarks that will indicate progress? Who can you tell? Having an “accountabili-buddy”, a supportive friend or family member or a coach is a great way to help you stay focused and to reignite the inspiration when you start to waiver. Share your what, your why and when you want to achieve this by. Build in regular check-ins about this so you can share in your progress.
ACKNOWLEDGE: Celebrate your successes along the way, and your “failures” too. Every attempt, every stumble is valuable learning. We tend to be our own harshest critics and that internal voice can kick you around for not ever being enough or doing enough. I’m asking you to call up that internal coach that wants to celebrate you and acknowledge you every step of the way, and make that the loudest voice in your mind. You can do this!
Melissa Eppard lives in the beautiful Hudson Valley, NY area with her young son and husband. After overcoming breast cancer in her mid-30's, she knows that nothing is guaranteed in life. As a Personal Life Coach she has made it her mission to ignite the spark of purposeful living and creative fire in everyone she meets. What you nurture will grow! www.MelissaEppardCoaching.com