How do I find time for my priorities?
In my Designing Your Life Plan book, I have you do extensive exercises to identify your priorities in life and then I have you describe what you want your life to look like in 5 years. Does that mean that’s all you have to do to get the life you really want to live? Of course not, there is a significant amount of work that needs to be done in order to live your life with intention. So today, I want to blog about one of the areas that may be holding you back, that is learning to say “No.”
Most of us find that we are not living according to our own priorities, mostly doing things we should not be doing. This is a good place to start, examine a week or two of your life and assess why you did what you did during that week. Did you have to work late every day last week? Did you have to go to three evening events last week? Did you have to volunteer at the school last week? Did you have to clean the house for 6 hours on Saturday? And then ask yourself, what did you do that moved you closer to achieving your priorities? If you found that you spent more time doing things that did not align with your priorities, it is time to make some changes.
So last night, I realized I had to be in the Northwest suburb twice today, once in the early morning, and then later on this evening. For me, that meant six and half hours of my day would be spent, including the long drive time. I have a priority around maximizing my work days so that I can get 10 hours of work in most days. So when I learned that a conference line had been provided for the early morning meeting, I chose to participate in the meeting via a conference line, saving me 2 hours in the morning. I found that I was able to participate perfectly well being on the call.
What are your non-negotiables or as the picture illustrates your “No’s”? If you don’t know what these are, I invite you to take some time to write them down and then carry them with you so that you can have a reminder next time someone ask, can you work late everynight, or would you like to attend an evening event with me next Tuesday and Thursday.
Another one of my non-negotiables is not to work on the holiday’s this year. I’m an entrepreneur so it can be really tempting to work most holidays since it is a good day to get caught up since there won’t be any interruptions, phone calls, emails that day since everyone else is off for the holiday. I am happy to say that this year, I have not worked on the holidays and instead spent time with my nurturing my priorities of time with family and friends.
What are you doing that you need to say No, No, y No to?
Coach Luz
