Manage Your Commitments, Not Your Hours!

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” – Michael Altshuler

One of the biggest complaints I hear from my clients is that they don’t have enough time. Are you also one of those people who wish they could squeeze out another hour out of every day? Well, let me tell you how you can have more time.

When I tell my clients that they are the pilots and they do have the power to change their lives, they look at me as if I'm speaking a foreign language. Yes, we can be our worst enemy and we often shoot ourselves in the foot on a regular basis.

Everybody gets the same amount of hours in every day. That's not the main culprit in trying to squeeze everything in. The problem is what you are doing with those 24 hours. Time management processes are a great tool to use as a way to become more efficient at handling tasks. However, it is not a great thing when you use it to beat yourself up because you can't get everything done. There's nothing wrong with you if you can’t complete EVERYTHING you want to get done in a single 24 hours!

You're just overcommitted. You say YES more times than you say No, there is the biggest problem in a nutshell.

Stop trying to manage time and instead start managing your commitments. When you manage your commitments, you are not as likely to get sidetracked by what I call the ‘bright shiny object syndrome.’ Women in particular want to nurture and serve others. However, this can be a double edged sword because we try to please everybody else at the expense of our own needs. We’re so busy trying to make everyone else happy that we totally ignore our own wants and desires.

Here are 3 concrete steps to making sure you make every minute of every hour count.

1. Set your intentions for the day so that you are clear about where you are going and what you want to get done. By being concise and realistic with the items on your ‘to do’ list, you’ll be able to accomplish more during your day. Failing to prioritize what the top 10 things you need to finish are just sets you up to fly off in a 100 different directions throughout your day.

2. Think before you commit. How many times do you say YES to others and five minutes later you wished you would have said NO? In all probability you realized that you weren't clear about the expectations and you bit off more than you could chew. This leads to guilt, resentment, and being out of integrity with yourself. Stop and check in with yourself before you commit to doing something for someone else.

3. Leave room for breakdowns. Stuff happens and emergencies do occur. The problem is when these setbacks happen, we let it ruin our whole day. Handle the breakdown and get back to where you were going in the first place.

The object of the game is not to fill up your day and become more of a workaholic. It’s to fill your day with tasks that are in keeping with your intentions, your core values, and what matters most to you in your personal and professional life.

When you start managing your life out of your commitments, your life is permeated with more peace, passion, purpose, and productivity, with less overwhelm, and more results.