Spend your time more wisely, more efficiently and with more awareness

Do you often find yourself thinking ‘I’ve too much to do and I wish there were more hours in a day?’ You are not alone.

But as a mentor once told me, “Time is actually the most democratic thing on the planet. Each person has 24 hours every day.” He challenged my thinking and said: “Each time you feel pressed for time ask yourself: How do you want to spend your time? Is this the most important thing  for me to do right now?”

The truth is, we can’t do everything all the time. We have to make choices about how we spend the 24 hours we have in the day.

Asking this question has been hugely helpful for me as it has allowed me to feel more in control of how I spend my time rather than being swept away by a million things only to feel dismayed and drained wondering where the time has gone.

Now, whenever I have to make a choice about doing this or that, taking on this project or that task, signing up for this course or that, helping this friend or that colleague etc. I ask myself: “Is this really how I want to spend my time? Do I need to spend time on this?”

Here are some more tips on how to spend your time more wisely, more efficiently and with more awareness.

1. Prioritise: When we have a head full of things that “must” be done, it can be difficult to prioritise. Give everything a number rating from 1-5.  If something has a 1 rating, it absolutely has to be done.
2. Take 5 minutes: You may say, ‘no, I don’t have 5 minutes!’ Give it a go and practice taking 5 minutes. Look out of a window on the train, take a few deep breaths and feel your feet on the ground, have a cup of tea – and at the same time switch off your “busy mind” that is running through the list of things that “have” to be done. I very often found that taking 5 or 10 minutes to think of nothing allows my unconscious to work on stuff and solutions pop into my head about how I could do things differently, change schedules and so on.
3. Delegate: If you are a control freak, delegating tasks to others is a good practice in letting go of needing things to be perfect or your way. Sharing work can be rewarding for yourself and others.
4. Learn to say “No”: You are just one person with 24 hours in each day.  If you can’t, you can’t.  Say why you can’t do something for someone. People more often understand than not and they will get over it.

I hope you find these tips helpful. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas. How do you manage your time effectively. Please share your tips on Facebook.

Karen