For a long time, I got very frustrated that I spent what seemed like the best parts of my energy working for someone else and achieving their goals. A few times I felt a bit depressed and anxious about that. How frustrating it was! Sometimes when work is particularly busy, I still feel that way. But for the most part, I’ve found 6 ways that help me get traction and do what I want.
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Watch less TV. Maybe for some of you, this is not a big deal. But I get sucked in to TV. If I’m not careful, I can watch 2 or 3 hours of TV straight. On YouTube, I can find an interesting or entertaining video, then, before I know it, it’s 3 hours later. Where does the time go? Worse yet, what do I have to show for it. So if you’re like me, just by eliminating TV, YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, etc, you can pick up HOURS per week to work on what’s important to you.
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Closely related to #1 is use social media less. We’ve all sat down to check out Facebook “for a minute” and then wonder where the last hour (or 2) went. I really enjoy Facebook for keeping track of family and friends; however it can rob you of time to focus on your goals. Perhaps you can pick up 2 or 3 more hours per week by limiting your social media use.
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Create a plan. This has been my secret weapon for several reasons. I get overwhelmed easily. I want to accomplish every thing right now (yesterday would be better). Having a plan makes everything bite sized. I actually print off my plan and tape it to the bathroom mirror where I see it all the time. It reminds me of my progress, and I get a huge rush out of marking off what I get finished.
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Use free time wisely. Once you carve out time with steps 1 & 2, and have your plan from step 3, this step is pretty automatic. When you make free time, you’ll know how to make the most of it. Make the plan, and then work it.
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Be Consistent. I’m guilty of this: I’ll go for a long time without working on a goal, and then I’ll stay up til 2am one day working on it. The next day I’m exhausted and go to bed early. Then I don’t work on the goal again for a few weeks or months. Yeah, I’ve never found that very productive. Over the last couple years I’ve worked very hard to develop the quality of consistency. I’ve found it to be true that I can accomplish more by spending reasonable amounts of time every day over a long period of time. This approach has also allowed me to be more balanced in other areas of my life.
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Make the most of your morning. After making my plan, this has been secret weapon number two. I find that when I work on my goals early in the morning, I’m giving the best part of myself to what’s most important to me. It’s incredibly fulfilling. And it allows me to be more at peace at work because I’ve already done what I wanted to. Also, my mornings (at least until we have kids) are quiet with few interruptions.
I’ve been working on building these habits over the last couple years, and they’ve been very powerful. Some of you might be working multiple jobs or working while going to school. Maybe you have family responsibilities that limit the extra time you have. Please, don’t get discouraged!! By setting goals and creating a realistic plan to achieve them, you can accomplish great things over time. Be patient with yourself. Be persistent. You can do this!
Remember a time when you felt like you had a killer week? You achieved something important to you, you’re pumped, and ready to work hard to feel that again. I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.