A big mistake we all make is that we try to do them all, or we don’t do them at all! Have you ever experienced this? 😂 I have.
It used to be I WANT TO FINISH EVERYTHING TODAY. Or I’m so tired that I don’t want to do anything, and I’ve become a procrastination monster. All that changed when organizing my life was a matter of survival. It became such a valuable life skill that even when my life doesn’t depend on it, I’m still a to-do list person!
I read an article recently that people who live on to-do lists are decisive and value their time. This is so true for me. I do this in my life and also make sure my clients follow this ‘rule’ in order to live their lives with much more purpose. This is not to say that I am super organized or rigid in the way I do things.
One factor why I value my time is that I have realized that there are so many things I want to do in my life and that 24 hours a day is almost any time. And if I don’t organize myself in how I use my time, I can end up in the last hours of my life full of regrets. I don’t want to end up like this, so the best I can do is take care of what I can!
Over the years, I have developed different systems for how to take charge of my time. NOW, I have a daily to-do list, no matter if it’s a work day or a rest day. (I work weekends because those are the best days for my coaching clients) The list helps me stay on track to finish the tasks at hand.
What I really like about the lists is that it helps me filter too: urgent vs important vs needs to be done. By sorting my to-dos into three categories, I have a broad overview of what I need to do. The list includes my personal tasks, chores, work related things, coaching sessions with clients, etc.
I have set days where I only do certain things, and leave the rest to other assigned days. This way, I don’t have to keep adjusting my headspace multiple times a day to get things done. I just have to focus on the few things and do one thing at a time without any interruption. For example, writing this article is done at an allotted time and day. I am prepared to write every week at this particular time and at this particular desk! The writing flows as my mind prepares to do its thing.
During my days off, my list gets a little loose. I can choose to take the dog out for an hour in the open, but I don’t have a set time for that. I go more with the flow of my body and mind. I can choose to cook or just read, and again with no set time or schedule. So it’s quite calm without any stress.
So not everything needs to be done NOW or TODAY! It all comes down to planning your time, and the trick is not to fill your time with too much or too little. If you are beginning to take charge of your time, adjustments are necessary.
In my experience working with clients, I’ve witnessed there be two extremes here: there are people who will realize they can’t really squeeze that much into 24 hours. And there are those who realize that they can add so much more to their 24 hours! It has been too much or too little. Isn’t this interesting?
Just yesterday, my partner scolded me for not wanting to train my dog right away to be more consistent in a new behavior. I told him, I am not going to choose that battle today. Simply because I’ve had a full day’s work, and this with the dog is going to require more work than I can put in in that short amount of time and it wasn’t something I wanted to tackle right away. In addition, it did not endanger life or harm anyone. My partner let it go and everything was peaceful again.
So choose how you use your time wisely. Most importantly, remember that it’s not just about the time you use. It is about energy management as well as mental and emotional exertion that plays a big role in how we use our time.