Are You In Charge of Your Time or Is Time In Charge of You?

Be in charge of your time.

Who’s in charge?

If you’re asking yourself that question, then finding an answer is going to be very important.

Whether it’s your time, your energy, or your choices about each, it’s important for you to be in charge. And making time to step up and take charge of your time is the path to learning that 24-hours really are enough.

Rather than feeling trapped by the ticking clock, when you are in charge of your time you live each moment to its fullest.  The finiteness of time isn’t something you experience as scarcity so much as a quality that highlights and elevates the importance of every moment and every choice that you make.

Being in charge…

It’s all about being proactive and focused, and about asserting and maintaining your boundaries.

When you are always in a rush, a slave to clocks and watches you are allowing time to manage you.

You’re not truly in charge when your day planner is overflowing because you’ve said “yes” to every interesting event or project. You’ve left yourself no space to breathe, and life’s “unexpected interruptions” are not taken into account.

If this sounds like you, then you’ve given time all the control. You will always  feel like there isn’t enough time because you haven’t added in enough space in between events.

Time your tasks.

A BIG part of the reason so many of us feel short on time is that we don’t give ourselves enough of it. And that’s because we don’t actually know how long our everyday tasks really take.

So, try just timing your tasks. Don’t rush or judge, simply observe and record what you discover.

I bet if you try this, you’ll find that you are setting yourself up to be behind, right from your first task of the day.

Knowing your starting point, and being realistic about your time, gives you a whole different sense of what’s possible. So, how will you get started with this today?

Some tools to help with this…

The Five-Column Time Estimation Template gives you a flexible and practical format for working with time estimates and sharpening your time-planning skills.

• See where you under or over-estimate your time.
• Notice patterns and start addressing them.

The Three-Column Scheduling Template gives you a simple and practical format for zeroing in on the snags in your schedule so you can address them and find more time.

• Recognize patterns like procrastination, over-booking, not being able to say no, etc..
• Concretize your time choices and their impact on your day.

Visit our Time Resources Page and sign up for one or both of these templates and the bonuses that come with them.

Feel empowered and energized as you take better care of yourself and stop letting time inflation rob you of precious time.