How to Squeeze More Time into your Day

Are you time challenged? I know I am. In spite of knowing all the tips and tricks to manage my personal time, take care of my clients and get my marketing done, I still found myself needing a serious transformation in my relationship with time.

Sometimes we need to dig deeper to get at the root of a challenge.

So I took a good hard look at what was really going on, and I had two realizations that turned things around. Only two – but what a difference! I’m more organized, I’m getting more done in less time, and I’m still able to offer the same amount of value to my clients!

Want a sneak peek at my personal process, to see how I did it? Read on!

My starting point was being truly sick and tired of always feeling like I didn’t have enough time. So my first step was to accept that there were never going to be more hours in the day.

It was never going to get better.  No matter what happened, there were only 24 hours in a day, and I would always have more to do. Seems simple, doesn’t it? But I know so many people who always think it’s going to get better down the road. It rarely does.

Besides, if suddenly the “powers that be” decided to bestow another 5 hours upon me daily, I’d just have extra time to eat more food, rack up more bills, and need to entertain my kids anyway . . . which would require more time to manage and pay for!

I was simply going to have to accept that what I had was enough for what I truly needed, and make the best of it.

Immediately, an interesting thing happened. Once I was clear that this was it, I began to see all the places in my life where I actually wasn’t utilizing my time according to its true value . . . in other words, where I was “squandering” it. Hmmm. That provided some motivation for change.

My next step was to notice that I am, in fact, deadline driven. Without a deadline, I’m more likely to allow interruptions, indulge in perfectionism, take extended breaks, or spend more time on the phone than I should.

I’m also more likely to put off the tasks that will bring long term rewards (marketing) in favor of more mundane tasks that will bring immediate gratification (laundry).

Sound familiar? I don’t think I’m alone here.

Being a marketing coach, of course I know how to overcome each one of those challenges individually (See “10 Strategies to Find the Time to Market your Business“).

But those strategies, for me, weren’t put into play if I didn’t have a deadline to meet. So, how to create deadlines when I needed them? The answer quickly dawned on me: a timer!

All I needed was to schedule everything into my calendar as though it were an appointment, give myself the minimum amount of time to do it, and then set a timer for each item.

Wow. I was amazed at the difference in my ability to get things done! It was working.

I began to do all those things I know how to do: set boundaries, not allow interruptions, get off the phone sooner, stay focused, and remember that “done is better than perfect!” All because I now had a deadline to meet. I was racing against the timer. I was motivated to stick to it because I needed time to work for me.

I also took a look at my coaching programs to see how I might leverage my time, and still offer the same value to my clients. I could do it if I made a few critical changes, and then used my timer. Yay!

It wouldn’t have happened, though, if I hadn’t shifted my perspective and accepted that this is what I get: 24 hours in a day, and nothing more. That extra time became a lot more valuable, so I began to honor it accordingly.

Where are you not honoring the true value of your time? I invite you to do an inventory, and make the changes you need to “spend your time wisely.” Oh, and be sure and buy a good timer!

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For more great information on how to manage your time, check out “10 Strategies to Find the Time to Market your Business.”