You Can't Manage Time. You Can Only Manage What You Do With It.

Do you feel like you are living life in a tornado? I call it the "whirlwind life."

The vast majority of people in our society today are overcommitted, overstressed, overscheduled, too tired, and too busy. Most of them will tell you they don’t like it. Either, they don’t know how to change it, or they aren’t willing to. The former problem can be corrected by applying the principles in this book or by moving permanently to a deserted island where you are the sole inhabitant and completely cut off from all communication with the outside world.

The latter problem can only be corrected when the person is willing to change what needs to be changed. ?

Change isn’t easy. It always requires more effort to make changes than it does to maintain the status quo. Changing your life is going to require energy, effort, self-discipline, and of course, time.

Work-life balance. It sounds good, like most lofty ideals do. But, how many of us have a good work-life balance? The term “work-life balance” assumes there is a life in there somewhere among all the work. However, for many of us,?actually getting to the “life” part (or getting there with enough energy to enjoy it) is our biggest challenge. How often are you too exhausted by the end of the workweek to really enjoy Saturday morning spent with the kids because you are too busy catching up on laundry or working in the yard? There simply wasn’t enough time to do your chores during the week. Or, you worked 10 plus hours per day at the office/job and still brought work home with you,?so you could catch up.

Warning signs and symptoms that you may be experiencing the “whirlwind life” include: always running late or behind schedule, total exhaustion at the end of each and every day, forgetting commitments or appointments, and/or finding yourself unprepared for the day. Like the time I was 100% committed to going to the gym, but realized when I got there, I hadn’t brought my sneakers.

The solution is simple. We need to manage time better, right?

Wrong. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In reality, no one can manage time. We can’t buy it. We can’t save it. We can’t get it back. However, we can waste it. We can spend it. Or, we can invest it.

“The challenge of a work-life balance is without question one of the most significant struggles of modern man.” ~Stephen R. Covey

There is an entire industry focused on “Time Management.” Millions of dollars are spent every year on planners, calendars, time tracking apps, and time budgeting software. There are literally hundreds of books on how to manage your time better, how to track where your time goes, and how to do it more efficiently. We hear phrases that sound great: “Work-life balance” or “Manage your time, manage your life.”

Evolution of Time Management

?The evolution of “time management” over the years is interesting. The first method for managing time involves creating a “to do” list. You put everything you need to do on the list, so you won’t forget. Whatever doesn’t get done at the end of the day is put on the list for tomorrow. Priorities are not determined. It simply all needs to get done, so you start at the top and work your down. Then, when you are about halfway down the list, you realize you finished a task that wasn’t even on the list. So, you add it to the list simply for the satisfaction of crossing it off.

The second method of time management involves more planning and preparing. You schedule everything, and if something isn’t scheduled, it doesn’t get done. There isn’t any room for anything extra because every single minute is scheduled. And, you feel pressured to live by the schedule you created. There isn’t any flexibility. Surprises of any kind are your worst enemy.?

The third method of time management involves both of the first two methods and adds the control element. You set goals, large and small, and work to accomplish them using a to-do list, planner, and calendar. You don’t permit disruptions or unplanned activities because that would mean you are jeopardizing your goals. You are laser focused – to the point where you miss out on the spontaneity of an unplanned Saturday.

The problem is the most important things in life don’t fit neatly into a planner. Your teenager might be suffering a life crisis, but you are too busy to notice. Or, you notice, but tell yourself you don’t have time to talk to him right now. That deadline for work is in sight, and you need to put in a few extra hours.

There is always pressure to get more done, to be more, to do more, to have more, and to accomplish more. Believe me, I know.

For a long time, I tried to be the “Super Achiever” of the year because I felt I had to prove something to myself and to everyone else. I wanted to make up for the lost?years growing up when?I had lived with my parents, virtually as a prisoner of my dad’s abuse and his controlling behaviors.

I felt the need to prove I was worth something by accomplishing everything.

It’s difficult, I know. As a self-employed entrepreneur, I spend at least twice as many hours working now as I did when I had a “real job.” Work consumes my life because there is always pressure to be writing, reading, posting quotes, inspiring people, meeting new people, speaking about my story, or publishing the next book. There are always people out there I want to reach with a message of hope. The pressure to not let them down is there, so I am always reaching out.

I’ve learned it’s important?to plan my priorities instead of prioritizing my planning. It’s simple but not easy. I know it’s much easier said than done. But, it can be done. I have learned to do it.

It’s how I managed to get through graduate school while working a full-time and a part-time job, while training for and running my first?marathon, while training for and winning four state mountain biking championships, while also balancing my role as wife, step-mother, chief cook and bottle washer, while also volunteering as a secretary for a non-profit organization in my community and writing the grant application for a successful Recreational Trails Program $100,000 grant. I was doing all of this simultaneously.

It’s not because I’m superwoman. I simply learned how to manage my life. Then, I did it.

Does it sound too good to be true? It’s not. It can be done. But, I won’t promise it will be easy. If we want different results, we must do things differently. Making some of the changes in this book will require you to think deeply about what you truly want, what you truly value, and what you are truly willing to do to get it. You must be willing to make decisions, sometimes difficult decisions.

It won’t happen overnight, and you won’t get it right all of the time. None of us do. But, there is hope. So, stop waiting for the right time or a better time. Stop waiting for next year or soccer season to end. Stop putting off the important things in your life in order to do the pressing things.

There are some people who will simply wish for life to be better or different but aren’t committed to change. If you are looking for a quick-fix or an instant cure, this newsletter is not for you. If you are committed to change, then learn more about how in my book, "PRIMETime: The Power of Effective Planning ."

Each section in the book has valuable information and a supporting exercise. Read the chapter. Then, complete the exercise. It’s tempting to rush through the exercises or skip them entirely. You will get as much out of the book as you put into it. If you rush through the sections in an effort to get done, you will get very little out of it. Life likely won’t change, and you will have simply spent some of your precious time wishing for life to be different or better instead of taking action to make it different or better.

The choice is yours – and as much as I would like to, I can’t do it for you. You are the one in control of your life. Or, if you aren’t in control of your life, you are the only one who can gain control of your life.

It’s your life.

It’s time to stop going through the motions each day.

It’s time to create the life you want.

It’s time to stop trying to manage time.

It’s time to start managing your life.

It’s time to start leading yourself.

Pick up a copy of "PRIME Time: The Power of Effective Planning" for yourself or someone else: Order here!