FIND OUT WHERE YOUR TIME REALLY GOES

PART 1

How you use your time and energy directly influences how happy you are and how much success and satisfaction you feel in your life. The problem is that most people use their time and energy in non-beneficial ways (think reality TV etc) and don’t get done things that actually contribute to their overall success personally or professionally.

The bottom line is that you have control over how you use your time, and you have the ability to not only get things done that contribute to your success, but you also have the ability to sit back and enjoy time with your friends, family, and even yourself. All you have to do is organize your time better.

Time Can Go Quickly When It Is Not Managed!

If you are not managing your time effectively, then you are wasting precious hours of your day.

When I first started writing, I found that my days went by way too quick. Worse, I never seemed to get anything done! There just wasn’t enough time in the day. Even if I did manage to get my work stuff done, I definitely didn’t have free time to do things that benefited me personally because I was so disorganized.

Then I found Mark Joyner, the founder of Simpleology. He was the first guy to put me on a path of organization, and get me focused on things that needed to be done so that I could have a more fulfilling life both personally and professionally. (By the way, I highly recommend checking out Simpleology for yourself. It is a great online tool for time management.)

You may think that flying by the seat of your pants and doing things in the moment is the best way to experience fulfillment and enjoy your time, but it actually soaks up more of your time than having a structured way of going through your days. This is because your focus can easily be pulled from one direction to another, and that drains your mental and physical energy throughout your day.

You can still live in the moment (the only place to really live and enjoy life) when you have a structured day planned out. And you will feel less stressed and more in control of your life when you know exactly what the next step is that you need to take in the direction of your desired future. Plus, being organized will allow you to have a calmer mind, stay in an alpha state, and reap all the rewards that come with that.

Find Out Where Your Time Really Goes

Before you start using your time effectively, you have to find out where your time is currently going. Are you really using it wisely, or are there a lot of minutes that are spent doing things that take your focus away from your personal and professional goals?

This will be interesting. I promise.

Take a few seconds to write down everything you do in a day. It’s only a few seconds of your time, but I’m willing to bet that it will free up hours of your week to do things that you really want to do.

Keep a pen and paper handy or open up a word document and write down the time you start a task, what the task is, and when you finish it. Your tasks can be anything, including going to the bathroom, watching TV, working, surfing the Internet, eating, going for a walk, visiting with friends, etc. Whatever it is, make sure you write it down.

Do this for one week and you will be amazed at how much time you really waste in your day. For instance, I quickly realized that social media was taking up at least two hours of my day (10 hours a week). I would never have admitted this before I became accountable for my time, but when I wrote it all down, I couldn’t deny it any longer.

I also realized that I spent more time surfing useless websites and watching other people’s lives than I did participating in my own life with friends and family. That was a big wake up call for me. I don’t want to miss out on my life because I am so busy watching other people’s lives. Once I started using my time more effectively, I was able to put more attention on my personal relationships (including the one with myself), and now all of my relationships (including the one with myself) have improved.

You Need A Daily To-Do List

A daily to-do list is a must. You have to know what you want to do with your day in order to be effective with your time.

In order to create a to-do list, you need to have goals for your day. A to-do list is really just a tool that helps you get things done and move you closer towards your goals.

If you don’t have goals, it’s time to get some. Goals help you move towards the future you want. They give you self-confidence. They make you feel like you have control over your life, and they give your life purpose. And, a to-do list helps you to take one step at a time towards those goals, which makes large goals easy and fun.

Your goals should include things that help you achieve happiness in regards to:

– Health
– Home
– Money
– Relationships
– Work
– And anything else you want to work on.

Dream big and create large goals for yourself. I’ve heard someone say that the larger your goals are the better because if you reach them, your life will change will in a big way, and if you only get halfway there, your life will still change in a big way!

Therefore, create some big goals that you know will change your life in a big way. Make sure they excite you and get your heart pumping so that you stay motivated to reach them and easily visualize them as a part of your reality. Click here for part 2