The last few days I’ve felt overwhelmed with everything that I feel I should be doing and things I feel I should have already done. I’ve been putting a lot of pressure on myself to just get one more thing done.
Earlier this week I was looking through the audio library that’s available to me because I’m doing my coach training with iPEC and found one about time management. My biggest take away was that time management is just another way to say choice management. I realized that it’s absolutely true. I choose at every moment what I want to do.
This morning I saw this quote:
Scattering your day means you never fully experience anything you’re doing. Choose what is most important, shut out distractions, and give all your attention to the activity at hand.—Martha Beck, O Magazine – April, 2002
For me this week, this quote is entirely appropriate. I spent a lot of time the last couple days thinking about what else I need to get done while trying to get something else done. Guess how effective that strategy is for getting the task at hand done? Right, it’s not effective at all. So, I’m noticing when I’m scattering my attention and asking myself what I need to do (or not do) to prevent it.
And this afternoon I saw a blog post over at Productive Flourishing called “Effectiveness Is All About Managing Your Time, Energy, and Attention”. In it Charlie says:
Instead of thinking just about how you’re using your time, think about how you’re using your time, energy, and attention.
Again, completely appropriate for me this week and a reminder to do my best with all three of them. For example, I know that I need to exercise in the morning, if I don’t I won’t have the energy or attention to do it later. I need to pay attention to where I can apply this to other parts of my life.
I laughed to myself when I saw the blog post because I realized that time management has been on my mind in one way or another all week. I felt like the Universe (or God) was hitting me upside the head and saying “Hey! You don’t have to feel overwhelmed if you don’t want to! Here’s some things to think about! And in case you didn’t get it the first time, I’m sending more messages.” Thanks Universe! I’m getting the message and I’m open to any additional input you have!
People forget that the essence of time-management is to be thankful of our time and not just for the sake of being productive. Every second shouldn’t be wasted because well…you have limited time to do the things you want to do and it’s a shame if we’re not truly aware of that.