Welcome to the Pursue You Podcast, where we are empowering you to continually reflect, design and pursue who you were created to be so you can give the gift of your best self to your family, community, and business!
Today we are talking about time. Specifically finding more time in your day, in your week, in your month, in your life! We know we have a finite amount of town. I know for so long, I never felt like there was enough of it. I began to think about time differently. Finding more time is not just about being able to do more but making time for yourself to pursue you.
[5:02] I share two pieces to this transformation surrounding time in reference to mindset. The first idea involves the process of resetting your mindset about time. That, to me, meant to stop the need to be busy all the time. As an enneagram 3 and former collegiate student athlete, I had the mindset to be the best at all times. The second part of this is the feeling that I don’t want to miss any opportunity to live. I am an activity planner. I had a scarcity mindset around time. I was also comparing myself to people that were playing a different game. I became confident in the game I wanted to play and was able to decide how much time I wanted to invest to win that game, the game that only I can determine is successful.
[9:47] I chat about the feeling that when we are more efficient it allows us to do more. If I was more efficient, I could complete tasks more quickly and fill the rest of my time with more tasks. OR, if I have more time, I could fill it with NOTHING! Because I was so used to doing so much, I could always find things to do. There is always more laundry, more dishes until you start to honor the white space, the quiet space, the rest. When space begins to open up, you can CHOOSE what you add into your life. We had experience doing this during quarantine. You can discover things that are important to you. You can spend your time intentionally. This time is powerful.
[12:48] The second way to find more time is technology. I love technology and share a few ways I use technology to find more time. The overarching principle with technology is that it might only save you 2 minutes worth of time. Rory Vaden discusses the concept of automation and giving yourself permission to spend time on simplifying and utilizing technology in order to multiply your time tomorrow. He says, If you can spend 30x the amount of time that the task initially takes you in order to systemize it, then it is worth it. You are investing in your time. I share a few examples:
#1 – Saved email templates. If you have a business many things can cause you to repeat yourself or say the same message over and over. You can do this in a word document where you are copying and pasting, in gmail, etc.
#2 – Make shortcuts on your phone keyboard. I share an example about how I shorten my name on my cell phone. Simple task that makes a big difference.
#3 – Automatic emails. Set emails to send later or monthly, for example. I use Boomerang.
#4 – Zoom meetings (or virtual meetings). Stop wasting time traveling!
#5 – Video to educate and update clients or prospects or leads. I share an example of my husband and his use of video in his chiropractic office.
[20:55] The third way I suggest you find more time is systems. The overarching way that you are running a business or your life. A system has to do with your schedule and what you are doing each time of the day. I personally track in 30-minute blocks. Blocking your time and making sure you are doing the most important things first [your 20% first, the things that will generate the most return on investment]. Time blocking can also be in batches. Batches is working on an aspect of your business each day as opposed to time blocking during a day. It is also important to teach people how to treat you. If you are focused and “in the zone” and someone comes in and asks for help, that is a distraction and a problem. That person needs to better understand how precious that brain spaces is to you. Specify to them when it is appropriate to work with you.
[25:14] “Other people” are the fourth way to find more time. Bringing people into your world that can help you. This does not mean you need to have people in person full-time. There are incredible virtual assistants out there you can hire to support you. The Art of Subtraction is the idea that you think of “what is the first thing I can take off of my list.” Do a time audit of your next 7 days. Where are you spending your time and what are you spending your time on. I share an example of my own time audit. I realized I was physically driving 10 hours per week. I began researching hiring a driver and then purchased a personal hotspot so I could work on the go. In what spaces are you operating at your highest value and where are you operating at your lowest value. I share an example of my daycare director. Think outside the box! You cannot do it all on your own.
Four ways for you to find more time in your world, not so you can get more done necessarily, but so you can add white space (TBD space), it inspired me to pursue myself and learn about myself. These keys took me from feeling like I was on a raft on the ocean and brought me to solid ground. I never felt there was enough time. I encourage you to start today. You have all the time in the world you just have to be intentional about it.
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