Your Sexy Calendar
It can be really tough sometimes making transitions from one
mind set to another, especially when we need to make those
transitions around time. Starting and stopping one activity and
moving into another can be difficult, but sometimes nothing
seems tougher than stopping work and coming back to it after a
holiday.
We call this problem time management. But you know the more I
work with my own time and coach others to work with theirs the
more I realize that it isn't about managing time. Time can't be
managed. It just keeps going on doing its thing....march march
march...
What we can do is make some real decisions about what to do with
our time. That's the only thing we really have control over.
I think this is so important that my six month Savvy Sponsoring
program starts off with the not so very sexy topic of store
hours and calendar and it's a critical part of my six week Get
Your Year In Gear Program. Why? Because without a good awareness
of how you spend your time, things simply don't run smoothly.
Typically we are running from one thing to another as fast as we
can to keep up with all we have to do...and at the end of the
day we still have 49 items on our to-do list that didn't get
done. What's worse, we're exhausted. And tomorrow is going to
look exactly like today another never ending to-do list.
There is another way. Honest.
There is a way that is so simple that you can tear up that to-do
list. In fact tearing up your to-do list is a requirement to
make it work. Not only can you tear it up you can still get
everything done you need to and have some energy left over at
the end of the day for you.
No kidding. If you don't think it's true check out the success
stories. Real people making real changes in their lives and
their businesses and so can you. What does it take to tear up
the to-do list? A new way of thinking. That means you need to be
proactive (no pixie dust here).
Here is the first new thing to do. Take everything on your to-do
list and give it a time slot in your calendar. Yes, everything.
Picking up the kids from school, running to the post office,
making those phone calls. Everything has its very own time slot
in your calendar. Here is the best way to make this happen.
(1) List everything you'd like to get done. (2) Prioritize the
list. (3) Put the most important items into your calendar first
adding the lower priority things if there's time. (4) Tear up
the list. (5) Work from your calendar.
No more squeezing that never ending task list into an already
full schedule. Put each item into its own time slot and - then
tear up the to-do list.
A critical piece is to make a conscious intentional choice when
you change something in your calendar. Then no one can pull your
"time rug" out from under you. It may get tugged on, but you
will have control. Conscious intention is a critical part of
making your calendar work. This means rather than just "not
doing it" you take a minute to actually move the item from one
time slot to another. You are aware you're making the change,
that you're taking the action to change something. There are no
surprises at the end of the day because you neglected to look at
and follow your calendar. Go ahead and make changes, it's your
calendar you decide what to do...but the key word here is decide
Conscious intentional choice, it makes all the difference in the
world.
There is a lot more to keeping a calendar that is Sexy and lean
that gives you plenty of time to make money, keep your family
happy and most important take care of you too. But if you just
add these few steps you'll be far and away in a better place
than you are now!