I’ve been catching up with people across our business lately, helping them to formulate a plan to take their business to the next level. One thing that I keep hearing from people as being a barrier to hitting their targets is “I don’t have time.” It got me thinking about how we spend our time and the ways we can maximise it in order to ensure we’re living a life that makes us feel fulfilled.A major part of managing our time is setting boundaries, guarding our time and spending it wisely because time really is one of the most precious things we have.The pandemic has blurred our sense of time. During the lockdown, many people found they had more time on their hands than they’d ever been used to, but we were limited in terms of what we could do because there were so many restrictions imposed on our lives. Post lockdown it seemed that lots of people couldn’t say no to things, they wanted to catch up on all the things they couldn’t do and so were filling all their time. Setting boundaries is an empowering way to enable us to spend our time on the things that will take our lives in the direction we really want. So what does that look like?
Step one is to set out what you want to achieve. Think about your goals and establish a plan, made up of small steps that will help you reach them. This will essentially be your guide that will help you keep on track along the way. Try setting focused goals rather than generalised one’s, honing in on what you really want to achieve whether it’s a car, a promotion at work or buying a house will make it easier to work out what you need to do to get there! Breaking your goal into bite-sized achievable steps that you can take ownership of will make everything more manageable and will help you track your process along the way.
Energy drainers are the things that you spend time doing which distract you from your goals. It could be that you spend lots of time scrolling through your phone, maybe you struggle to get into a healthy routine with your food and exercise. Not getting enough sleep is also a big energy drainer. Assessing what areas of your life might be holding you back and then working to improve on these things will help you become more successful in other areas and ultimately reach your goals more quickly.
It’s hard to fit in everything and trying to do so will ultimately lead to burn out. Prioritise what’s important to you by simply asking yourself whether what you're about to do will fulfil you or if it will take you closer to achieving your goal. If the answer to both aspects is no then you should feel comfortable saying no to it.Remember, you are in control of your own path and whilst it can be hard to say no to things initially, the more you say it the easier it gets!It’s important that we get the balance right between work, social and self-care so when you’re setting out your priorities, make sure you allow yourself a mix of all of these things in there. This will help you sustain a healthy, happy lifestyle while still working towards your goals.If you’re struggling to reach your goals and want to have a chat, drop me a message or follow my social media for more helpful tips! Follow me on Facebook here.
Prior to starting his current business with UW, Derek dedicated 29 years to Primary Education, serving as a classroom practitioner, an Advisory Teacher for Information Technology, and ultimately as the Head of a Primary School until 2014.
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