There is not enough time

This morning, after our session, my client and I had to agree on the date of his next coaching session. He opened the calendar on his smart phone and I could not help but noticing how his entire day, today and for the next couple of weeks, were jam-packed with meetings and tasks; day-in, day-out. Eventually he gave up on finding an available slot in the next few weeks and we agreed to only meet again in three months’ time.

It made me think about the value of time and the challenges we all have: there is just not enough time in a day to get to everything that we set out to do.

The reality is that life is busy. Make peace with the fact that you will not get to everything on your to do list. Don’t beat yourself up about it! However, you should get to your key priorities and the things you value most. This is a crucial ingredient of your overall happiness and emotional well-being.

What should we be doing differently? I would like to point out two important matters:

Those who failed to priorities

I would like to challenge you to take some time and evaluate your priorities in life. The question to ask is: What do I value most in life? I am not referring to moral values, but rather the things and people you value most. And be honest with yourself. We often say that we value something merely because we believe it is expected from us. After all, what will the people say if my family is not my top value? Or my job?

Once you have your true list of things that you value most, relook your to do list and calendar and ensure that your priorities are making their way into your to do list and calendar. Let’s take an example: if my key value is to have time with my spouse/partner, I need to book time in my calendar that is specifically aimed at maintaining this relationship. Perhaps we should have a date-night every week or second week. Once these things of value are in your dairy they become real. The items lower down on the value list should fit in around these priorities and things that I value most.

Granted, things do change and sometimes you just cannot get to something that you really value. In that case you should not delete the item from your calendar, instead, just move it. The message we send about a cancelled item is that it was not a priority to start with!

Death by meetings

So often we run from meeting to meeting and at the end of the day we feel that we have not managed to do any work other than attending meetings. Nowadays colleagues and teams can see our whereabouts in our calendars and meeting invitations are sent to fill every single available minute.

Perhaps it is a good time to pause and ask ourselves whether I am really needed at that meeting? Will I add value? Will I get some value? Is FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out) driving my attendance?

Be brave, take control, and decline the invitation.

You can even take your bravery to the next level: book time in your calendar when you can focus your attention to specific tasks. And guard those times. Do not allow meetings to replace your focus time.

You might have some feelings of guilt or even some FOMO. That is ok. Remember your overall objective is to better prioritise and making time for the things that are important.

Take some time this weekend to clarify what you really value most and start to change your to do list and calendar accordingly.

The key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities. Stephen Covey