Stop trying to find “time”…it ain’t lost.

So often people tell me they “can’t find the time” as it relates to some change they want to make in their life, or just time to get work done. I used to say this a lot myself. I tell them they never will. They look at me like, “What?”  Again I tell them they never will find the time.

Time does not need to be found, it isn’t lost. What we need to be intentional with is our focus.  The definition I like for focus is the attention or concentration on something.  Here’s the thing though, it’s been my experience that many folks do not have a strong approach to creating control and focus for themselves.  So they run around each day amid chaos and confusion, creating stress in their lives–and often the lives of others.  And they’re not working as fast and easily as they can.

So what gets in the way of creating focus?

  1. Holding onto stuff in your head
  2. Piles and notes on your desk
  3. Lacking a clear vision of what you really want to create for you and your family–professionally and personally (and reviewing it consistently)
  4. A full in-box…and using that as your to-do list

So the way to generate focus is to do the opposite of the 4 items above.  Convert all your stuff into what it is…and I’d suggest you can either trash it, save it, or turn it into an action you are going to do later.  But if you’re going to do it in the future, don’t leave it in the past…buried a few pages back on a legal pad, or 50 emails down in your in-box.  Instead, do as many suggest and use your calendar as your to-do list.  Schedule your meetings and calls, then fill  in with time committed to your work.  If you’re on Outlook, convert your actionable emails that will take less than 8 minutes into tasks–getting them out of your in-box–and assign the date you want to do them so you see them so they show in the task view area at the bottom of your calendar.

Create an all-day event in your calendar called ***VISION*** and set it to recur each Friday.  Then in the notes section write your vision for six months from now.  This is simply you creating space to imagine what you want to have real in your life…in all areas…career, health, relationships, Faith/Spirit, etc.  

It’s been my experience over my 15 years in this work that the simple techniques above…applied completely and consistently…will generate focus and speed on all the “right things in life.”

Be well.

Danny Bader