Finding Time When You’re the One in Charge of Your Time!

Finding time to check keywords in Twitter is often a very interesting and rewarding thing to do.  Yesterday, a quick check of the words “time management” by my VA yielded a very frequently retweeted blog post on Fuel Your Creativity – a site for freelancers.  The post is titled Time Management Tips for the Busy Freelance Designer by Jon Bergen.

RhythmIt is definitely worth a read, offering some great tips on managing time and maintaining focus and energy … for people whose work leaves them in a position to create structure for themselves. 

I was especially intrigued by Mr. Bergen’s introduction of the concept of rhythm as a key element in time management.  He writes:

Organizing your time is all about introducing some rhythm into your life. Our brains love working in patterns, so if we can start implementing some tasks that recur at regular intervals during our week, our brains will quickly snap into the right mode for the right task at the right time. This is the first step in establishing some structure to your week.

If you’re a reader of The Time Finder, you know the value I place on ritual and routine as elements of any time management plan.  Let’s add the concept of rhythm to the mix!

If you think about it, rhythm is one of the most fundamental components of our being.  Our hearts beat.  We breathe in and out.  In a very real way, we are rhythm.

So it makes sense that our minds crave and thrive on rhythm.  Wherever we can establish patterns for ourselves, we’ll be giving our brains a jump start on focus and flow … and enhanced efficiency, creativity and productivity are likely to follow.

Do you already have patterns and rhythms in your everyday life?  They may even be things you’re not fully aware of – patterns that have developed over time.  Are there others you’d like to establish?  I’d love to hear how it goes for you … so please feel invited to drop me a line!

What if you could find another hour every day? You can! 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 …

Comments

  1. I just love this post and can’t agree with you more about the power of rhythm to make time management efforts so much more effective. I’ve recently gotten my office organized and one of the things I established over the weekend was a weekly schedule, Monday through Friday, covering my most important priorities. For example, I’m building in the habit of commenting on two blogs per day in the morning (see…it’s working!). By creating a weekly roadmap I can already see the power of building the time in, which makes it that much easier — rhythm and routine are key for me.

    Thanks for a great and insightful post Paula!

  2. Kristina von Rosenvinge says

    “We are Rhythm” is a novel way to think about time. I will have to read Jon Bergen’s article. I have thought of patterns as having rhythm but I have not tied them in to time in the way you discuss it in your article.

  3. Hi Wendy and Kristina – Thanks so much for stopping by and adding your comments!

    Wendy – I love hearing about your weekly schedule – and your two-a-day plan re. blog comments. I am honored to have been among the first. (And it’s a great idea!) I’ll look forward to hearing (and reading) about how the weekly schedule goes for you.

    And Kristina, thank you for adding your thoughts. One of the places where I often notice a convergence of rhythm and time is when I am exercising and get into a “zone.” And I think it can happen with other activities as well, albeit not always as recognizably. I’d love to hear any further thoughts you have on the subject!

  4. Helene Desruisseaux says

    Aahh! You’ve just provided me with a key to my frustration about productivity: rhythm.

    Now I knew that on one level but conveniently forgot to apply it to my week. After decades of a crushingly scheduled corporate life, I wanted to leave room for my extremely creative mind. I also wanted to be responsive to incoming requests. Well, I haven’t been accomplishing what I know I can do given the amount of time I devote.

    Thanks Paula for reminding me of this fundamental idea.

  5. Hi Helene,and thank you for your comments. I love the way you took the idea of rhythm and ran with it. I’ll look forward to hearing how it goes as you incorporate more rhythm into your weekly schedule.
    To your time success!
    Paula

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