Create More Time in Your Daily Schedule

"There's not enough hours in the day."  "There's not enough time in the day."  "I just don't have the time."    

We all know the time scarcity mindset.  Just admit it.  You have said at least one of these lines, if not all of them, at least once in your life.  And if we are being completely honest, probably multiple time per day. We say it.  We hear it.  We feel it.  The dreaded time crunch.  Trying to fit it all in-family time, a thriving career, an amazing intimate relationship, time to ourself for self care, time with friends, time with family, time to focus on our intellectual growth, and time to focus on our spiritual growth.  

I know that feeling all too well-where I feel like I am scattering pieces of myself all over the place so all dimensions of my life are thriving. At times, I found myself exhausted, frustrated, hopeless and resentful.  I knew that what I was doing was not working for me.  It was not getting me the desired outcome of joy and expansion in my life.  So I decided to search for answers in creating a more fulfilling solution to this time issue I was having.  

Through my research into books, blogs, articles, workshops, etc, this is what I have found about time and, more specifically, how to create more of it:

• Busyness vs. Intention: Many of us have been conditioned to believe that the busier we are, the more productive we are. We wear it like a status symbol.  Walking around pronouncing how exhausted we are while others exclaim "I don't know how you do it all!  It's amazing".  And some of us even receiving kudos from our bosses about "how hard we work".  To create more time, we must let go of this outdated belief.  Busyness is chaotic and a time waster.  When we are intentional with our time, we are more productive.  We learn to work within our genius zone-doing the things that we are uniquely suited to do and are within our spiritual gifts and strengths. 
• Ego vs. Energy: Ego is referred to as many things.  For this specific purpose, I choose to look at the false ego, which clings to it's false identify.  It is how we want to be perceived by other.  It is driven by the conditions of family and society-all of the "shoulds"-and by obligations.  We spend most of energy on tasks that we believe 'should' be done, creating a checklist of busy work.  When we move through life like this, we feel energetically drained.  This way of living is filled with regret and resentments.  When we follow our energy, we engage in those actions that fuel our passion.  We follow our creative genius.  When we follow our energy, we actually have more energy and become more motivated to conquer the world.
• Multitasking vs. Mindfulness: Have you ever been in an interview and the question is asked "how well can you multitask?".  I loved when I got that question because that gave me the opportunity to explain exactly why and how ineffective multitasking is as far as productivity is concerned.  Trying to do several things at once is a huge time waster.  Have you ever been in the middle of writing a blog while cooking dinner and having the TV on (not speaking from personal experience of course!).  What would have taken you 30-60 minutes has now been drug out to 2 hours at least!  To create more time, we must learn how to do one thing at a time.  When we practice mindfulness, we practice focusing on the present moment, what is directly in front of us, one task and one moment at a time.  So if you are sending an email and have the thought that you have to send a quick text, finish the email and then focus on the text.  
• Einstein Time vs. Newtonian Time:. I love this concept that I got out of the book The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks.  He describes Newtonian time is based out of scarcity, which leads to an uncomfortable feeling of time urgency inside of us.  Which is why we are always feeling rushed, and thus continuously rushing around.  This is a trap we must find our way out of.  In Einstein time, we are where time comes from.  When we look at it this way, we realize that we have the power to make as much time as we want...we are the boss.  Once we take ownership of our time and how we choose to spend it, we will no longer be a victim of time.  The resistance we have to this concept is that we often want an external source to blame.  If you stay in this victim mindset, you will never have enough time and you will not create the time to grow and expand in any area of your life.  You will remain stuck in your old beliefs and patterns.  Taking responsibility means you have to be honest about situations.  So instead of saying "I don't have time" when you receive an unwanted request, you would say "That is not a priority" or "I don't want to do that right now".   Hearing that, how uncomfortable did that just make you?  Now imagine how freeing that will be!!!  You'll have loads of time to engage in the activities that create more energy in your life!
• Self Critic vs. Self Compassion: How much time do you think you spend beating yourself up over decisions you made in the past, or even in the present.  One woman in my coaching program tracked this and she identified approximately 3-5 hours per day in her self critic and shame spiral.  When we are in shame, we become less focused and less productive.  By increasing our awareness of when we are in our critical state, we can practice self compassion techniques that offer a higher state of self love, which creates more motivation, as well as an abundance of time for creativity and working in your genius zone.  What will you do with an extra 3-5 hours per day?!

If you are looking to create more time in your day, all you have to do is become more intentional with our time, follow our energy, increase our mindful moments, shift to Einstein time, and practice self compassion.  

If you are ready to learn more about the specific tools to practice these time savers, reach out to Leanne at [email protected] and we can have an amazing chat about how you can implement these tools today! 

Sending love and light, LJ