TODAY’S IDEA:
Create uninterrupted time FOR YOU daily.
Given that we all have 24 hours in a day, how come some people seem to get a lot more done than others? I believe the secret lies in creating the habit of scheduling uninterrupted time on a daily basis and focusing during that time on your priorities.
At plain sight this seems very simple, but in practice it’s not: we’re all busy, not to mention sleep deprived… And the first thing that goes out the window in the face of a looming deadline or lots of work is the time we make for ourselves.
Most of the authors I read and the people I admire prefer to open up a chunk of time in their schedules early in the morning.They accomplish a lot when their minds are fresh and when they are well rested. This is their time, there are no interruptions, and they focus it on exercising, writing, meditating, journaling, reading, or a combination of these or other things that enables them to get closer to their goals.
Mornings are ideal because then you can go on with your day knowing that you have already accomplished, or taken a step towards your main goals. At the end of that day, you’ll feel like you’ve made progress, as opposed to feeling overwhelmed by the lack of time and distractions that would otherwise prevent you from working on your goals. The U.S. Army says: “We do more before 9AM than most people do all day.” This leads me to the amount of time to carve out: whatever is best for you. Experiment at first until you find your sweet spot.
Most of the people I’ve read who have a set morning routine spend anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. Yet Hal Elrod, author of The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed to Transform Your Life (Before 8AM), says that, in a pinch, he can do his six morning activities in one minute each and then get going. Could you start with 6 minutes a day if you knew this would take you closer to your goals? Seen this way it doesn’t seem all that crazy, right?
Andy Traub, author of The Early to Rise Experience: Learn to Rise Early in 30 Days, tells us to “publicly declare an end to wasting your mornings,” and reminds us, once a day, to:
“Make one decision that will change a person forever:
That day is today.
That decision is to get out of bed early.
That person is you.”
I am an early bird (and even more after reading these two books!) but my husband is a night owl and he gets a lot done in the evenings and late into the night. Since I’m a witness to these two personalities living together in harmony, I’m not an advocate for one or the other, except for the one that works for you. Or if you simply don’t have time in the morning or the evening, how about during your lunch time? And how about just 5 days a week? That’s the idea behind BoxLunch Lifestyle. Cheryl Johnson, the Founder, says: “Your lunch matters in a way you’ve never thought of before. It can reveal what you value and what might be holding you back. Real changes in how you eat and spend your time start here. Take back your life.”
Whether you do it in the morning, lunch time or evening, please make sure that you are indeed carving out some uninterrupted time on your day to work on your goals. Give yourself the gift of focusing on making your dreams come true. It’s never too early and it’s never too late. Your life will be all the better for it.
ACTION:
TODAY: Schedule some uninterrupted time on your calendar today and honor it like an appointment. What gets scheduled gets done!
FUTURE: Start creating this habit this week. Schedule chunks of uninterrupted time in your calendar and determine what you are going to do with that time. Also, unless you are a cold-turkey kind of person, I suggest starting slowly and building up to it. For example, instead of setting aside 1 hr daily as of tomorrow, start with 20 min during one week, then move up to 40 the following and by the 3rd week you’ll be scheduling one full hour of uninterrupted time for you, that way you’ll be able to assess how much time you need for your goals. Be gentle with yourself if you slip while you are building this habit, there will always be a million things screaming to take your attention away from this time. Just keep coming back to set aside time FOR YOU, daily, to work on your goals.
Let me know how it goes!