How do you find time to fit everything in?
You’ve got a jammed-packed schedule, full of meetings, family obligations, volunteering, and more. It seems like you just can’t possibly get everything done, and worst of all, you feel like you’re never doing enough. How do you manage your time better and win your week before it starts?
I got to sit down with Renée Warren on the Into The Wild show to talk about just that. Read on, or listen to the full episode here.
Get Clear On Your Vision
Good time management doesn’t start on the pages of your calendar. It’s doesn’t happen just because you want to win your week. It begins from the inside out. What do I mean by that?
Well, if you feel like you can’t fit everything into your schedule, it’s likely you have entirely too many things on your plate. How did that happen? Probably because you’ve said yes to entirely too many things. Why? Because you haven’t gotten clear on how you want to live your life.
There’s an awesome quote by Annie Dillard: “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.” So often, we get caught up in the day-to-day. We wonder: how will I finish my to-do list? How will I make it to the weekend? How will I get through this Monday? But the thing is all of those days add up into how we spend our lives.
And to get clear on how you spend your days, you need to get clear on your vision for your life.
What do you want your life to look like a year from now? What stories do you want to tell your family and friends when you’re looking back on your life? Will it be a blur of meetings, or will it be a life lived with purpose, with experiences and relationships that made you feel something?
It all starts with vision and knowing what you want BEFORE you try to rearrange your calendar. THAT’S how to win your week.
Win Your Week with Your Time Management Personality
So many times, people feel stuck. They don’t know what they want to do with their life; they just know they don’t like what they’re doing right now.
One of the first things I do with clients is help them figure out what they want life to look like. From there, we lay the foundation for how they spend their time in order to make that vision real.
One of my first coaching clients was unhappy in her job. She was working 24/7 and felt like she had to always be “on.” She didn’t have time to take care of herself and she wasn’t following her own interests – she didn’t even know what her interests were!
We worked together to form “2025 Andree,” meaning what she wanted her life to look like in 2025. In her vision, she was:
- Happy in her job
- Owned a home with a fire pit and a patio
- Worked in an office with a brick wall and a glass window (super specific, right?)
- Volunteering in her community
She wrote a letter to 2025 Andree, and guess what? The next time I ran into that client years later, everything was coming true. She owned a home with a fire pit, AND she had an office with a brick wall and glass window! It was there all along… We just had to put the pieces together so Andrea could make it a reality.
Imposter Syndrome
Because a person doesn’t know what they want, they don’t have the confidence to make moves in a specific direction. This can lead to the comparison game and imposter syndrome. But by articulating your core values, you can understand who you are and what you want for your life.
I have every one of my coaching clients take a personality assessment. It gives them a 17-page report that walks us through their personality preferences and how it relates to time management. Oftentimes after people take it, for the first time, they feel validated. They realize they’re not alone. Nothing is wrong with them… they just do time management a little differently!
In addition to not knowing your personality and values, I find imposter syndrome can be a result of a lack of connection with others. You begin to feel like you’re alone, and you start to feel like you’re not good enough. It’s so important to have a tight-knit community, and to realize that others struggle and feel like you do, too.
I once had a client who used to get down on herself because she saw people posting on social media about running marathons. When I asked her if she wanted to run a marathon, she said “no.” So why would she compare herself to someone who did?! The truth is, we can all fall into that trap from time to time.
Interested in finding out what your time management personality is? I created the Chaos to Calm Quiz to help you take your first steps. After this quiz, you’ll see results that show you exactly what you need to do to feel more productive, less stressed, and more balanced.
Fun for the Sake of Fun
Once you’re clear on your vision for your life, you can start shaping how you want to spend your free time. That can and should include hobbies and fun.
Not everything you enjoy has to be productive or make you money. We need fun for the sake of having fun. The most prolific minds – Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Benjamin Franklin – had hobbies outside of work. Many CEOs have musical hobbies just for the sake of playing an instrument. Pouring yourself into a creative pursuit unlocks new levels of creativity and problem solving and you wouldn’t have otherwise.
So next time you’re planning to win your week and scheduling every meeting and kids’ sports events – remember to schedule some fun, too!
Want more? Listen to the full episode here, or find out more about Renee and the Into the Wild Podcast here.
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