Posted: 11th February 2015
Pavlenka Small from Small Steps Coaching guides you through steps for …
You never seem to have enough time to get everything done?
As a busy self-employed woman, how often do you feel like:-
We all seem to lead such busy lives and the above are phrases I hear repeatedly from women I work with, many of whom are struggling to build up their business whilst juggling family life and possibly have paid work as well.
Have you considered what having more time would mean to you?
Of course, we all know there are a set number of hours in each day, but how would you feel if you were actually managing to achieve more of what you had set out to do?
What would more time give you?
Having enough time means different things to different people and it all depends on what your priorities are in life. The secret is to use your time in a way that it works for you and not against you.
Consider the following. Do you-
Good time management is 99% self-discipline and adopting habits that work for you, not against you.
Take my client Amy*, a busy self-employed mum of a two year old, with another baby on the way. Amy was really worried about how she was going to cope when the new baby arrived as she already felt she was struggling to get everything done.
Amy’s first coaching goal was to keep a log of how she spent her time for two weeks, from the moment she got up until she went to bed. She decided to colour code activities into red for work, blue for domestic tasks (shopping, ironing, housework), green for her husband’s time (squash, an evening class, out with his mates,) and yellow for Amy’s ‘me time.’
When we looked at the time log, Amy was amazed to see there was just one yellow hour a week, six green and eight hours a week of blue. Much of the latter was taken up going shopping on an almost daily basis and when I questioned Amy about this she said this was what she had always done. As her second coaching goal she tried internet shopping for two weeks and was pleased to discover not only did she free up 3 or 4 hours a week but she also saved money on her weekly shopping bill as well!
How can YOU improve YOUR time management?
In order to make your expenditure of time work for you rather than against you, you will need to spend time on the following:-
Planning organising rearranging sorting eliminating thinking
Reviewing changing things that are not working for you
Good time management is all about being busy on the right things-it is about working smarter not necessarily harder.
So the big question to all WIRE members is, do you have the right mind-set to improve your time management now?!
(*name changed to protect identity)
Pavlenka Small www.smallstepscoaching.co.uk.
