I hear it all the time from clients… “I’d love to start a blog or ezine, but I don’t have time”… I really should call and check in with my clients, customers or patients, but I don’t have time”… “I know I need to create a marketing plan, set some goals, create process docs and get organized; but I don’t have time”…
The same refrain echoes when it comes to personal life too. I hear people say all the time… “I want to start working out, but I don’t have time”…”I’d love to spend more time with my family, or have time to start a family, but I don’t have the time”… I’d really like to make more home-cooked meals, but I don’t have the time.”
Clearly, I could go on and on. My guess if you haven’t heard yourself saying these things, you’ve certainly heard friends and family say them.
The thing is, the more you say you don’t have time, the more that become your true reality. If you don’t think you have time to do this or that…Well, you don’t.
But we all are given the same number of hours in a day. Some people just make better use of those hours. It’s all about priorities, planning and a smidge of self-discipline.
Because you COULD do any of these things. You could probably even do all this and more. It’s just that you have to make whatever it is you want to get done a priority.
To do that, you have to get crystal clear on your most important goals as well as exactly where you’re spending your time right now. Then be ruthless in your decision making and action taking.
Start by answering the following questions:
- What are your 3 biggest business goals?
- What are the top three tasks or actions that will help you meet each of your goals?
- What are your 3 biggest personal goals?
- What are the top three tasks or actions that will help you meet each of those goals?
Now that you know what goals are most important to you, and what it will take to get there, it’s time to see where you’re actually spending your time. That way you can decide if you want to use your time differently.
- What are the top three biggest time sucks in your average day or week?
- According to your answers to the above questions, do any of these get you closer to achieving your business or personal goals?
If you answered no, then it’s time to see how you can cut those out of your day. Or at the very least minimize the time required. Because some of those time sucks may still need to be done even if they aren’t directly moving you towards a goal.
So think about what you can outsource, what you can automate and what you can simply stop doing. Look at trading with someone else if that makes sense. Consider sharing a job or task—like marketing your business or even chauffering the kids to soccer practice.
Most importantly, every single time you get ready to do something, stop and ask yourself:
- Does this get me closer to one of my goals?
- If not, does it really need to happen anyway (some things do, like paying bills)?
- If it does, is there any way I can do it faster, systemize it, automate it or delegate it to get it off my plate?
Listen I get it. When you’re crazy busy just trying to keep up it’s easy to say you don’t have time to take a step back and do goal setting and planning. But that’s exactly what’s going to create more time for whatever is most important.
If you just keep charging ahead, doing, doing, doing, you’re only going to keep adding more to your plate. Eventually you’re going to find yourself exhausted with little to show for it.
So schedule time each week to take a break, step back from the day-to-day grind, gain clarity and make plans. Then keep your most important goals in mind, and do what leads you towards them first and foremost.
Are you struggling with never having enough time? Have you found a way to get control of your schedule, and achieve your business and personal goals? Please do share by leaving a comment…
