We all know that a day consists of 24 hours: sleeping should take up at least 8 hours of that time and there is also the hours we spend at work and study to be taken into account. Do this and it quickly becomes apparent that not much time remains for you.
In today’s fast and complex world, it would appear that there is very little time to spare for activities such as recreation, entertaining and relaxing or achieving those goals and dreams we all have, but in order to live a complete and fulfilling life we must make time for these things. In order to achieve time for ourselves we have to learn to make the most of the 24 hours that any day gives us.
Ask questions before agreeing to do anything
Time problems arise when you can’t make the right choice. You often stretch yourself and end up completing tasks doubtful necessity.
You usually start working on something just because it caught your eye or somebody asked you for a favour. Your indecision and failure to refuse are the reasons why you are not master of your own time. You can change the situation by asking yourself three simple questions before you agree to do something.
- Is it really very necessary?
- Do I have to do it right now?
- Can someone else with this task?
Asking these questions every time and you will undoubtedly save yourself time, energy and strength on a day to day basis.
Free Your Mind to find solutions to long term issues or problems.
The above questions may not appear to be helpful when trying to decide what you would like to achieve in the future or making decisions on how you are going to achieve your long term goals or solve long standing problems. However, it is usually the day to day stuff that gets in the way of thinking clearly about our futures.
Take time to allow your sub – consciousness the freedom to make decisions (it is never wrong). Resist the temptation to beat yourself up with constant negative reflection. Consider the following method which is both simple and effective.
Before going to bed, formulate the problem that you want to solve in a clear and brief manner, word it in a positive way. For example, “I have written a new eBook for my website”, “I will manage to write a win – win marketing essay for the college”, “I have found a way to pay the children’s school fees”. Let this phrase be your last thought for this day. You will find that your sub – consciousness mind will give you an answer to routine problems within a day or two. A more serious matter will take longer, but you will require less effort than when you are “thinking“ as usual.
Create a plan
You have now determined how you are going to achieve your goals or solve that pressing problem, now you must find the time for implementation. You definitely need a plan, but don’t let it become all consuming. Sit down; with a notepad, pen or pencil, your task is to make up a timetable for next week.
Keep in mind the following points when creating your timetable: Allocate enough time for sleeping, recreation, entertaining and relaxing, mark in all your work or study hours; Review your plan, does it reflect all the daily activities you have to do (shopping, getting to college, work, cooking, etc); Think of the interests that you don’t want to sacrifice in any case and assign two hours for them. Once you have completed this part look how much time is left.
These are the hours that you have available to spend on reaching your goals, how will you spend them?
Till Next Time
Mike Gardner – The Time Doctor
Would you like some more tips on managing your time – Click here
I recently decided to make some changes regarding my time management. This was by cutting lose a few monthly projects that cost me more time than anything else. Felt good to do that and I actually turned down freelance projects to work on my own instead.
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Hi Hi Mike, I Hi Mike, love the idea of writing the to-do list in a positive manner, I’m going to give it a try. I also like to let the subconcious solve a problem, and would love to see more on that. Thanks for sharing the tips
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Good tips, Mike. I’ve recently stopped doing several tasks after years of doing them when I realized they were no longer all that important. Even a few minutes here and there add up. Your suggestions are solid.
I love your question: “Do I have to do it right now” Mike. It can be so easy to get distracted when emails pop up…one link leads to another and before you know it you’ve wasted 20 minutes surfing the net! Great tips, thanks for sharing
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Great post Mike!
It’s so easy sometimes to get caught up in process and find ourselves in overwhelm – I know I do! I love the idea of asking your subconscious to find the solution for you.
Your brain, the subconscious brain is the perfect servant. What ever question you ask of it, you will always get a perfect response from it.
I guess a great question to ask your subconscious could be something like – “How can I use my time in a smarter way?”
We all have the same 24 hours in a day, yet some people are running multiple businesses successfully, whilst others struggle with more basic functions throughput their day and it all comes down to how we associate with time doesn’t it.
I think it’s always a good idea to have a plan!
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Amazing words Mike. As I get busier, I get more focussed in what I do. It is even the case that the busier that I get the more that people ask me to do with the belief that you should always ask a busy person to help you, because they always get more done.
I always find my mind racing to save time – in good ways. Multi-tasking in the houses, cleaning up after myself – whatever it takes to ensure that I can put more time into what I want to do! Thank you for sharing!
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I actually work an average of 10 hours a day and i just needed this tips. Thank you for this wonderful information!
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Hi Richard thanks for your comments if you need other tips you will find plenty on my site or if you need anything specific let me know, i am always willing to help.
I am intrigued by the technique to get your subconscious to solve a problem for you. I’ve done that from time to time but not in an intentional, organized manner. I am going to try this technique to solve a couple of long standing problems in my life. I also tweeted this post. Thank you!
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Thanks Alana,
let me know how it goes, it takes a bit of practice but does work.
I thought this was interesting too. I haven’t even considered doing this, so I will give it a shot!
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