Time flies when you’re having fun!

A watched kettle never boils.

More speed less haste.

How to make time!

Clients often tell me how they just don’t have enough time to do everything they need to do. They make great big long lists and at the end of the day they feel that they have achieved little or nothing that was on their list of things to do.

After coaching clients for several sessions, I’ve noticed that they find two ways to change this.

1: Frequently the people that say they don’t have time are morning people, yet they spend their evenings and nights trying to catch up on what they didn’t do that day. Some even work late into the night to gain some leeway. Then in the morning they feel almost hungover and under perform for the rest of the day. The cycle continues over and over. For morning people the first thing they do would be to get a good nights sleep! Take a break and give yourself the evening off. Do something nice for yourself to help you relax and unwind. Have a bath, watch a movie or cook your favourite meal. Clients like to set themselves the goal of doing this once a week at first to help them break the cycle. That night they set their alarm clock an hour earlier and they go to bed at a reasonable time that will allow them 6-8 hours of sleep. This all requires a little planning in advance so be prepared. In the morning throw away your old list of actions and create a new one. It’s a brand new day, so it deserves a band new list!

2: Schedule things but leave room for a change in plans. If you really have to do something, how to you make sure it happens? Like dentist appointments, birthdays or other infrequent activities that you simply cannot miss. Clients soon realise after a few coaching sessions that “me” time is one of their most important times. Think of all the things you’d like to do but just can’t seem to find the time. For women this is often a relaxing bath with candles, a good book and a glass of wine. For men this is more like playing a musical instrument, meeting up with friends or going to gigs or the cinema. Some of these can take just a few minutes to a couple of hours. Plan in your diary when you could allocate the time. You’ll be amazed at how soon you can spare the time once you actually check your diary. For these activities remind yourself why this is important to you. What will you get from taking this time out? What could you do to prepare and make sure that it happens? Who else needs to know that this is important to you?

Breaking the cycle of a bad daily routine and scheduling “me” time are consistently the two areas that clients find a great deal of benefit from. Some clients just do one or the other where as other people may do both.