A colleague asked me today – how do you find time to have a full time job, and your own business and take care of two kids?
I surprised myself with my answer which was: we are all in process with our relationship with time and it is constantly changing depending on what our priorities are … at least it should be, right?
It seems sometimes what we really want can be set aside for comfort or, for that matter, any pattern that we are currently holding.
It seems to me that it’s the conscious shifting of creating time to reflect what our true priorities are that can be challenging.
On the surface, I see five steps for creating time aligned with your priorities to create more of the results that you actually want:
- Track your time for at least one day and see how you are currently using your time.
- Take a look at what your current priorities, compared to how you are using your time and relate that to the results that you want to create.
- Does 1 consistently connect with 2? If yes, go forth!
- If not, consciously create a structure for your time to reflect what your current priorities are and then try it out.
- If you are on the right track you will know because you will be creating more of the results that you want.
Upon deeper reflection, it’s sticking to this structure that we create that is the challenging aspect within our relationship with time. And, also coming back time and time again to when our priorities shift to re-align how we are using our time.
Sure, we have all decided ahead of time that we are going to sit down and write whatever we need to write (it’s usually the projects without a deadline that are the hardest) and put it in our schedules for first thing tomorrow morning but when tomorrow morning comes it’s easier to answer emails or read an article or check something off your to do list … and that time we created washes away.
All of these actions are easier because they are more comfortable and they are patterns.
Why is that? Is it because it feels like at least that way you are getting SOMETHING done and that’s at least more productive than just thinking about how you want to frame something or wondering about what to include or how it will be received by others? Maybe.
I think it’s possible that so many of us have been programmed for years to get things done for others (assignments) and be rewarded for that through our good grades. And that worked for us for a long time. Now, as an independent academics and professionals most of the time it’s YOU giving yourself the gold star for finishing that paragraph. No wonder there’s a desire to just check things off the list instead of writing, especially when the “to do” is for someone else.
I see a shift happening for my clients through our work together. When you start writing for yourself and your community, this is when we start to see rise in motivation, release of creation and sharing what you truly have to contribute.
If you are finding yourself not sticking with your commitments to yourself to write and end up returning to a pattern of doing whatever is easier to get done (but know you should really be writing), please connect with me for a complimentary Discovery Call where we can talk more about what’s happening with you specifically and we can see if whether the work I do is a good fit for you.
Looking forward to connecting!
Sincerely,
Melissa
Melissa E Anders 