The idea of putting a constant focus on experimenting with alternative strategies and approaches in everyday life is commonly perceived as challenging. Evidently, there are a lot of people who would like to create outcomes that they haven’t been able to create so far. However, in most respects, people feel more comfortable when they can leave things as they are and stick with their habits. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they don’t consider themselves capable of doing things differently. More likely, it’s because they feel unsure about how to fit those adjustments and alterations they’d be required to make into their entrenched schedule. They know that making changes will force them to, at least temporarily, leave their comfort zone, and they shy away from making that commitment.
Time and again, I’ve heard people acknowledge the fact that, in order for them to create better results in whatever area of their lives, they’d have to somehow challenge the way they deal with everyday tasks and obligations. Yet, in many cases, the actions these people take fail to speak as loud as their words. It’s rare for us to meet anyone who isn’t guilty of procrastination or some other form of self-sabotage. In fact, many people would rather label themselves as lazy or dysfunctional than go to any length in order for them to be able to create the outcome they’re looking for in the smartest and most astute way.
A lot of people never find the time to get to the next level of skill, performance, lifestyle, success, or personal fulfillment. On the other hand, some people are indeed well aware that they could find the time, if they decided to do so. Unfortunately, these people tend to fail when it comes to making themselves stay out of their emotional comfort zone long enough for any changes to settle in sustainably. They know that time is often scarce, but also, that a lack of time is certainly not the main issue. Occasionally, I’ve also encountered people who simply couldn’t decide what approach to take, and others who knew what they had to do, but failed to get started anyway. Also, I’ve come across a number of people who are constantly busy and very much convinced that they don’t have the time necessary to even think about finding time.
There’s one basic misconception that is holding many of us back. Obviously, we cannot increase the number of hours in each day, or squeeze more days into a single week. We can, however, decide to take control. Therefore, our goal should never be about finding time. Instead, we need to focus on making time.
Rather few people just happen to have an abundance of unused hours lounging around in their daily schedule. In my experience, even an avowed free spirit, who thrives on living in the moment and doesn’t see the point in planning out their day, is capable of keeping themselves too busy to ever find enough time for a lot of things that they might be interested in. So, pretty much anyone is likely to benefit from making the best possible use of any free time slots they have at their disposal. The way I see it, most of us are well advised to utilize the time we have to make more time for ourselves. And yes, I’m indeed indicating that there’s a process for making time. Or, more precisely, a four-step system.
Step one is plain and simple. First of all, you have to stop lying to yourself. If you were truly unable to find any time at all, you certainly wouldn’t be reading this. However, I freely admit that the amount of time you have at your disposal might well be insufficient to make enough of a difference. Still, it might be 15 minutes in the morning, or in the evening, or just an hour here and there that you can spare during the weekend. If used wisely, this will be all you need to in order for you to carry out step two.
The second step requires from you to make the best possible use of those free time slots that you’ve determined. During those free minutes or hours you have, you need to start planning out whatever you need to do in order to get better organized. Ultimately, you have to figure out how to act and behave more strategically. For most people, it’s not even hard to find ways to do the things they do in a more time-efficient manner. Or, to realize that there are tasks that could be delegated or discontinued without causing much of an issue.
Maybe, you’ll rethink and modify how you prepare your breakfast, or you find a quicker way to recover after work. Maybe, you’ll end up changing how you manage your appointments, or you’ll reconsider the priorities you set for your weekends and vacation. Maybe you’ll decide to organize your workplace differently, or you’ll change the routines you use to take care of your household. That is, if you have any routines in place. Or, maybe you’ll simply let go of whatever doesn’t serve you any more, creating free space that can be filled with something new. There are far more possibilities than I can list here. So, if you cannot come up with several angles that allow for you to become more time-efficient in your life, you either haven’t thought hard enough, or you are well-advised to get yourself some professional assistance.
When you can bring yourself to take a systematic approach to all this, the minutes of free time you create in your daily schedule will inevitably accumulate. Then, you can allocate some bigger time slots that you now have at your disposal to those activities and tasks that enable you to reach the next level. So, in step three, we get the chance to focus on things that relatively few people ever get the chance to fully focus on, because most people are far too tied up with killing their time. Step three is about implementing any routines and practices that help you move forward. Also, it is about exploring the idea that the more capable you become at doing anything, the more positive feelings it is likely to trigger. I’m not saying that skill and fun always go together. However, in many cases, fun and deep satisfaction don’t emerge without a notable level of skill. And, of course, steadily increasing our performance level allows us to do a lot of things not just more easily, but also more time-efficiently.
Finally, we arrive at step four, which could be considered the most important one. This step is remarkably simple, and rather easy to accomplish. Yet, it is where most people shipwreck themselves. Step four is about developing a mindset that allows for making continuous improvement a fundamental life principle. It is about constantly creating an edge for ourselves, instead of merely reacting to any obvious needs and requirements at hand.
Only when you master this last piece of the puzzle, you understand the key to accomplishing pretty much anything in life. Getting to any point where you haven’t been to before requires you to constantly progress and take appropriate measures until you’re there. If you make it a condition to be instantly rewarded for each and every intermediate step you take, you’ll never reach your destination. If you take a big step when a small one would be more effective, this will slow you down. If you take a small step when a big one is needed, you might experience a setback. If you want to give up each time you feel like you’re experiencing a setback, you’ll likely never know what you’re missing out on. So, if you’re interested in figuring out where this road can lead you, start making time.
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