How many times do you hear people say, or you may even hear yourself saying, “I just don’t have the time to do that”? Life & Business Coach Eric Gilston advises on managing your time and your priorities…
We all lead such busy lives these days, and we have so many things to cram into each day that it is inevitable that some things that you would love to do, keep getting pushed aside and never get done.
Should this be the case, or is there a way that we can get round to doing these things?
It is all down to Time Management, or from my experience, it is called Priorities.
So, I am going to assume that you have some tasks that you sincerely want to do, but have not got round to doing them, for whatever reason.
Here is what I recommend you do, starting RIGHT NOW…
1. Make a list of all those tasks that you want to do, e.g. clear out the loft, reduce the pile of paperwork that has accumulated, sort through all your clothes, etc.
2. Now, think about a time in the day when you could put aside just 20 minutes to do one or more of these tasks? Maybe it’s ten o’clock at night. So, starting tomorrow at ten o’clock, you will begin working on one of the outstanding tasks.
3. Initially, this is going to be a 30 day project. So, for the next 30 days at the same set time, you will do one or more of those tasks that you have been putting off. There could be days when something crops up and you don’t do something. Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day.
4. Once these 30 days are up, and you look back to what you have achieved, you will not only have started the momentum, but you will want to carry on as you feel more motivated.
Unfortunately, in life, we all have our own priorities, and we tend to do those things, both at work and at home, that we ENJOY doing, but these are not necessarily the IMPORTANT things that should be done.
The answer to the question, “How do you eat an elephant?” is quite simply, “In small pieces”, and that is why 20 minute blocks of time is what is needed on a daily basis to get done those tasks that you keep putting off.
Only the other week, my wife and I were meeting friends in London for afternoon tea, and had arranged to meet at a particular venue at 3 pm. On our journey there, we received a text message to say that one of the other couple had to work a little later and they would be half an hour later than arranged.
Being his own business, he could have said no to working on, but his priority was to do it. Someone else would have said that not letting his friends down is more important and that is his priority.
We all have choices in life, and our time management will determine how we are perceived by others, as well as the path that we take in life.
I remember back to when my son was studying for his A levels, we had no trouble getting him to make that his priority. He was focused on what he wanted as his career, gave up his table tennis and girlfriends for a while, put together a great spreadsheet for what he needed to study, on what days and for how long, and just got on with it. He is now a lawyer in the City of London.
At the end of the day, we all can be excellent at Time Management. It’s simply a case of getting our priorities in the right order.
If you would like more tips on Time Management, then email me on eric@coachandcourses.com You won’t regret it. GOOD LUCK!!