Banish Time Management To Get More Done
Banish Time Management To Get More Done – Do ever feel that you have more “to dos” than you do day? Does “overwhelm” feel like a place that you reside rather than a temporary state of mind? Do boring time management techniques make you feel like a boa constrictor is squeezing the life force and creativity right out of you? If you are finding it difficult to cram your life into the time management techniques you have, let me introduce you to your new secret weapon/time creator energy management. When you feel pressed or behind the “eight ball” or you are about to fall under the wave of overwhelm these are the five things you can do to create more time, get more done and have fun.
The first thing you need to do is breathe. Breathing, especially deep breathing allows your mind and body to connect. It also connects your “spirit” and energy so you can begin to harness that part of yourself. We are human beings not human “doings” and we all run on energy. Breathing and focusing on what is happening right now in the present is the same as filling your car with a full tank of gas. When you are in the now or “being present” you naturally focus on what is important. You have access to power and the ability to harness as much energy as you need to get the task you need done. Being in the now takes you out of time management and connects you to your power. Remember the present is perfect that is why it is a gift.
The power to get things done is in the NOW
When you find yourself in “overwhelm” or feel really stressed or frustrated; that is a clue you are not in the NOW. “Overwhelm” occurs when you focus on the all the details of a task at once. When you get too focused on the details or the “how” things get done you are focusing on the wrong thing. The key is to take you out of the valley and focus on the end. Go to the mountain top and take a look at the view and see the big picture. I promise it looks completely different and it feels much better. You see things on the top that you can’t in the valley. You can see the ENTIRE picture and ways to get things done in ways that you could not imagine. When you focus on the end you are taking yourself out of time management and traveling to the future where the task has been completed successfully. Remember success always leaves clues. The how to get things done is always available when you focus on the end.
Make Time to Put Yourself First
This is difficult for many people, including myself. My natural instinct is to put everyone else first including my “to dos”. Do you find yourself saying you don’t have time? I have found this is true for many of my brother and sister “human doings” who live in time management. This is the wrong strategy to implement when you have a busy to do list. Remembering to put yourself first works much better and allows you to get more done in less time.
Let me explain. Time management focuses you on time and no matter what you do there is only 24 hours in a day and 168 hours in a week. We can do our best to cram as much as we can into time but like a house or computer it has its storage limits. If you put too much stuff in, it is going to get crowded and feel overloaded. Have you ever had your computer crash? Why did it crash? Information overload, you put too much in too little of a space. The same thing happens with time management and human beings.
Time Management is Finite…Energy Management is Infinite
Have you ever heard the terms “crash and burn” and procrastination? These are symptoms and natural outcomes of time management. Even great time management techniques create these outcomes when pushed beyond its limits… With energy management there are no limits. You can create as much as you need. Energy management focuses you on creating energy and the way to do that is to put yourself first. The principle is simple. The more “to dos” that you have to get done the more energy you need and your time is best served putting yourself first and fueling up.
How do you create energy? Great question! You focus on your energy centers. Eating, sleeping, exercising, having fun, feeding your creativity and passions. You might be thinking right, how am I going to fit that in? Energy management requires this because putting yourself first allows you to focus and manage the fuel you need to skyrocket your mindset outside of time and space to harness the power of energy.
Give Yourself Room to Breathe and Get More Things Done
Energy is your natural state of being and allows you to get more done with less and still have time for fun. The more you need to get done the more energy you need. You can create as much as you can handle. Even if you don’t get EVERYTHING done on your list you are energized, focused and motivated to find ways to have everything accounted for and you avoid the familiar “crash and burn” syndrome and familiar procrastination patterns.
Manage Your Big Rocks
You may have heard me talk about the big rocks. Your big rocks are the FIVE things that when properly managed keeps everything else moving forward and takes care of the small things. Have you ever read the book “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”? If not, read it because it is a great book and explains energy management in a great way. It teaches you to focus on the big things because the big things naturally take care of the small things. Strategy always dictates tactical action. When you choose to focus on the small things and details you tend to get buried or lost in them and never find your way back to the top where you need to be.
Big Rocks are the way to get things done and have time for fun
The challenge with time management is that it leads you down the slippery slope to what time managers call “busy work”. Busy work is what you tend to focus on when you are overwhelmed, tired or unsure of how to tackle the big stuff. When you manage your big rocks you naturally show up to what needs to be done and have time for fun too.
Create a Data Dump List
If you have made it this far you are definite interested in energy management. If you are a die hard time manager you may feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, saying “I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore, Toto”. Well, true but we are not that far away either. Here is a technique that you will recognize it just has a new look and twist. Your list. Most champion time managers have a “to do” list. Sometimes your list is longer than Kobe Bryant’s leg. That is fine keep it but call it a data dump list. Put everything on that list.
Choose the six most important things that need to be done in the next 90 days
Choose the six most important things that need to be accomplished in the next 90 days. You read it correctly, 90 days. Not today or this week. Focus on the end. Once you have your horizon list (that is what I call it) break down your to dos in to steps. Tiny steps and it is these steps that you incorporate into your daily/weekly to do list. Each list whether it be a daily, weekly or Monthly to do list keep to only six things. If you get tasks done ahead of time you can cross them off and add another task to your six most important to do list. Keeping only six in front of you rather that the entire data list will help you focus and implement the above steps. Even if you fall back to the familiar land of time management you will feel energized and empowered and ready to battle the boa called time.
Banish old time management techniques,
Embrace energy management to get more done,
Then your time for fun will happen on its’ own.
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