Now everyone I know hates that topic. I get it, you’ll read this and be like: “Impossible.” There is NO work-life balance. There is NO better way that I can manage my time then I am.
Because you already disrupted by distractions, because you already been interrupted all the time. Or you have all these obligations that it is impossible to think you could have harmony in your life.
SO WHY EVEN FREAKING TRY? To Do better with your scheduling each day. WHY EVEN FREAKING TRY?
Here is why:
If you don’t have a high level of focus resulting in progress and momentum in your life, you are not happy. You are not fulfilled. You are not contributing to what you could and wish you would. And even worse without time mastery you never have freedom. Because without structure in your time, work, day, life, it does not give you more time for fun, family, joy, to be.
Do you want more freedom, Do you want more free time in your life?
Then get more focused, clear, productive and effective in managing the time you have on this side, to enlarge the freeedom over on the other side
So let’s talk about the four big ideas in time mastery.
All timemanagment talk needs to start with bigger conversations like your life goals. What do you really want to achieve in life? And then work backwards from there.
It’s important to cover first the big ideas, before getting to the daily stuff. Because when the big stuff isn’t in place the small stuff won’t work.
If you don’t have this approach you simply do random tasks each day. You’re doing busy work, but not your life’s work. You might get better, faster or more respected over here, but it is in the wrong area for you.
Let’s not make you effective and productive going down the wrong path.
Start here.
BIG PICTURE – What do I really want for my life NOW?
- PERSONAL – Who do you wanna become as a person? What would create a lot of self-respect and integrity? Who would you be proud to be?
- RELATIONSHIPS – How do you wanna show up for your family, your spouse, your friends, your collegues, your team, for those who you lead? What is that energy like in your interactions?
- GROWTH – What would make you exceptional in what you do? What would bring a higher level of excellence into your life? What would make you happier, calmer, more centered?
MEASUREMENT – let’s take what is the simplest measurement. YEAR, MONTH. Here where it becomes really simple when you’ve done the first step.
On every first of the month, I want you to start your day with asking yourself: “Based on where I am right now, what are the MAJOR goals I need to work on myself, in my relationships and in my career contributions this month?”
And do this on a monthly basis. Because maybe you got thrown off last month, you lost discipline, you lost momentum. It is a useful trigger. It is a timeline that comes every month, twelve times a year.
TIME BLOCK – from there it is even simpler. You break your monthly goal into weeks and on that weekly level you block out time for things that are important to you:
- Every week you have a workout or more
- Every single week you have some free time planned in
- Every single week you have some family time in there
- Every single week you have some creative time in there
- Every single week you have some catch-up time.
They don’t have to happen at the same exact time. To have progress, momentum and success, it is crucial you have those times blocked out every.single.week.
DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT – It starts in the morning. Before you check your emails, check social media or whatever nonsense else, you sit down with a piece of paper, your journal or even your calendar and answer the questions: “What MUST happen TODAY? What THREE things MUST I move forward or achieve TODAY?”
So that you know:
- I’m focused.
- I’m progessing.
- I’m gaining some momentum towards those BIG Life Goals.
- If you don’t do that first thing in the morning and tell yourself, “Ah, I do it later, after checking my Email, after taking the kids to school etc.”, you don’t do it.
- You start living a Reactive life versus a strategic life. You start living by impuls and interruption vs setting intentions and inspiration.
I want you to start your day-to-day management today, to sit down first thing in the morning and write out your 3 goals for the day.
Then you not only have a better sense for your day, your week, your month and year.
You start to get MOMENTUM back into your life.
Until you start having this focus and doing the things that move you forward continuously and have that discipline, what happens?
You live a life that is totally random. You notice that not much has changed or grown in the last year. You ask yourself what on earth you did with your last five or ten years.
OR…
… you live with focus, momentum, motivation, and in harmony and live your best life ever.