How to Stretch Time - 24 Hours Is
Enough!
By Robyn Pearce
Recently, as I participated in a live-to-air TV training session on
Time Management (for Pacific Knowledge Television) a caller rang in with a
question. He is in the computer industry, and wanted to know how he could
balance his heavy and demanding workload with the demands of a young
family. The question lingers in my mind - for a large sector of society it
is a serious matter.
The issue is how we view time. It seems that we never have enough.
My man desperately wanted to know how to find the time to enjoy his
children. His question is cried out in offices, classrooms, boardrooms and
homes throughout the western world.
Today many of us live in a world of sensory overload, of speed, and a
sense of time-poverty. Technology moves faster and faster. We feel as if
we can never catch up, that there is never enough time. But it's illusion.
Time hasn't changed - we have.
So - what can we do? Here are a few strategies for you.
Whatever we Focus on Enlarges:
If our whole attention and our top priorities are our important and
demanding work, our families, our relationships and our health will
suffer. In order to find time for these areas, which so often get lip
service, three actions are needed - 'mind-space', time allocation, and
physical action. A good intention is useless unless acted on. You might
have to take time out from work to regularly do things with your family,
or for yourself. In most jobs that time will easily be made up with extra
hours, or you can arrange 'glide-time'.
What are your KPI's (Key Performance Indicators)?
How can you judge your efficacy as a parent or partner? How much time do
you allocate? Make appointments with yourself and your family on a weekly
basis, treat them as seriously as appointments with a key client, and
you'll find the other 'stuff' fits in and around your core personal
activities.
Schedule in the Important People In Your Week
If you don't block in 'special' time with your special people, they'll
eventually get tired of waiting. Do you remember the old song by Harry
Chapin, 'Cat's in the cradle'? The little boy, waiting for his dad to
spend time with him, kept saying, 'One day I'll be just like you'. When
his dad was an old man, longing to see the son who never came, he found
that indeed, the promise had been delivered. If you wait for 'spare time'
you'll never have it.
Live in the 'Now'
Today many of us have forgotten how to live in the moment. We make
bedfellows of stress and anxiety. We focus either on the past and what we
could have done better, or in the future - planning or worrying over
coming events. We're so busy squeezing more in to every moment that most
of us forget to be 'present'. We therefore miss the joy of the experience.
And so time seems to race by - because we're not 'in' it.
Change Your Language
Notice your words, and how the people around you speak. How often do you
hear 'I'm so busy', 'I can't fit it in', 'I have no time', and 'I'm always
late/overworked/tired/have too much to do'? Start to use affirmations like
'I'm getting much better at my time management' or 'There is always enough
time to do the things that matter'.
An Attitude of Gratitude
Practice honouring the moment. Develop a sense of gratitude for the gift
of life, for the beauty of small things. Find something in every event to
appreciate. This is not just 'Pollyanna' behaviour - it will enhance your
health and stretch your hours.
Enjoy the Mundane
Next time you wash the dishes, the car, mow the lawns, feed the children,
sort out the paperwork on your desk or any other simple task, enjoy the
activity for itself. Try not to spend the time in which your body is
occupied thinking about something else. Don't wish the task was completed
- honour the moment and the experience. You'll be more relaxed when you
finish. Time will expand instead of leaving you with the feeling of hurry,
pressure and impatience often felt with a mundane task. And many times
you'll be surprised to find that it was a pleasant duty instead of the
chore you didn't want to do.
Meditate
Learn to meditate, or if this seems too hard, try every day to sit quietly
for at least 10 minutes. Focus on a plant or some other object. As
thoughts drift into your mind acknowledge them and let them go. Breathe
deeply from your abdomen, mentally saying 'Breathe out' with every
outgoing breath and 'Breathe in' with every incoming breath. This helps
you slow down to the natural rhythms around you. It 'stretches' time.
About the author: Robyn Pearce, of TimeLogic
Corporation, has helped 1000's of folks in 'Getting a grip on their time'.
Visit http://www.gettingagripontime.com
for FREE subscription to her email that includes "how-to"
practical time management assistance, books, tapes, products, and more.
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