Find Time by Giving Your "Outer" Critic Less Air Time!

The Time Finder with Paula Eder

The way you use your time is the way you live your life.

Find Time by Giving Your “Outer” Critic Less Air Time!

Posted on February 11, 2009, under Time and Energy.

In some recent blog posts we’ve focused on the ways that your inner critic can rob you of time and energy – and ways that you can put a stop to that!

I recently coached a client who was struggling with her “outer” critic. As an example, she told me about a recent afternoon when she realized that she had spent about 15 minutes at her desk ruminating angrily about a co-worker whom she felt was wasting time. (I was very glad that she recognized the irony of this situation!) She said that it was almost like she would “come to” after having already spent a good amount of time thinking angry, critical thoughts.

The outer critic works very much like the inner. Where one exists, the other is always lurking. The outer critic is sometimes more appealing to people because it can briefly leave you feeling “superior” to whomever you are criticizing. But remember that indulging in one critic always awakens the other. It won’t be long before your inner critic starts vocalizing, too!

The key to dealing with both of these critical voices is to recognize what time wasters they are. Neither has anything helpful to offer. They will always distract you from whatever you are doing, AND sap your energy in the process. As soon as you find yourself going down a critical path, pause and ask yourself, “Is this how I want to be spending this moment?”

My client realized that she did not want to be spending her moments listening to that voice, and she has been working since to recognize it and make different time choices for herself.

Do you have a talkative outer critic? How do you feel about the messages this voice conveys? Do you find it distracting? Problematic? Leave a comment or drop me a line – I’d love to hear!

What if you could find another hour every day? You can! For more Time Finding resources, you are invited to sign up and download The New Finding Time Boundary Template. It’s FREE, and when you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) my FREE, weekly Finding Time Tips and my FREE, monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine!

Let’s explore time together …

Paula's Signature

There are One Response to “Find Time by Giving Your “Outer” Critic Less Air Time!”

#1 Find Time to Celebrate Who You Are! | The Time Finder with Paula Eder - 18 February, 6:03 AM

[...] self-validation is a very powerful and accessible source of energy. As much as the voice of the inner critic undermines and depletes you, your self validations are like vitamins for the [...]

If this is your first comment it may be held for moderation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed, or Trackback from your own site.