While We Are on the Topic of BS

Last post I had a little rant about people and the BS we put ourselves through. You can check that out here.

One the biggest loads of BS I have seen lately is people trying to tell me they don’t have ‘time’.

No time to:

• eat healthy diets
• exercise
• call friends
• read a book to learn something new
• relax and recharge
• write the book they’ve had burning inside them
• and so on…

You know what I mean right? All those things we ‘say’ we want to do but then use the excuse that we don’t have time.

I call BS on this.

Yes you do. You are choosing to spend your time on other things. You are using this as an excuse.

If I told you that you can get a free all expenses paid 4-day trip to Disneyland you’d find the time I bet! We make time happen for our favourite TV shows don’t we? We MAKE it happen even if that includes recording it and watching it later…we still ‘find’ the time.

If it is important enough that I hear about it from you repeatedly or that you make goals regarding it then you can find or make the time. And yes, if you are client of mine I WILL call you on this and then help you prove it to yourself. What you DO with that it ultimately up to you of course.

Check out my post on how to think about the choices you make regarding time that I wrote previously to help you understand what I mean about choice.

The point it things happen, we might need to readjust or plan it out but there is time. So, either get to it and make the choice to create the time either by using time better, eliminating time wasters or you can decide to continue on using excuses…only now you know them for what they are!

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10 awesome tips to beat procrastination!

In the past I have been the self-proclaimed Queen of Procrastination. Big project to do in University? My house was never cleaner. Time to study for exams? My friends loved that time because I made all kinds of pies, casseroles and such.

Today, I’m much better at dealing with my desire to put off things by finding other things to do and I’m much happier for it. Still from time to time, I struggle against putting on my crown again.

I decided to ask some of the best bloggers, business owners and fabulous people I know to share their thoughts on how to beat back the procrastination monster. The responses were awesome! Thanks again to the TCLclub for their input! Please add your tips and thoughts too!

 

1. Becky Kimes @RebeccaKimes, Becky’s Blog “Spirited Marketing Coach”

This one will be different LOL. Procrastination is usually because by some kind of resistance. So FEEEL the resistance in your body. Actually sit there and notice, or ask yourself, where is this resistance in my body. And then fully eng…age all your attention on feeling that feeling. Experience it in totality. And be willing to be with it until it shifts or moves, without judgment. There could be a valid reason for the procrastination..like something that needs to be done before the task you are procrastinating. Or a limiting belief that want to be addressed. This is an inside out approach. To many times we try to force something into happening..to take action when what we really need to do is see and experience what is going on internally.

2. Roy A. Ackerman @RAAckerman, Roy’s Blog “The Adjuvancy, LLC”

There are no tricks of which I am aware. However, I do make a list of things that need to get done EVERY night. It becomes my nightly screensaver- so it’s the first thing I see in the morning.

3. Kristen Robinson @KRDMarketing, Kristen’s Blog “KR Design”

My tip for procrastination is to break up the task in little pieces. I usually procrastinate b/c the task is daunting to me. By breaking up in a little pieces it doesn’t seem too bad and I can be productive.

4. Melanie Kissell @melaniekissel, Melanie’s Blog “Solo Mompreneur”

To alleviate ‘blogging’ procrastination: Create a weekly or monthly editorial calendar. Seeing your topics/titles and a few bullet points for each in front of you will keep you from scrambling around at the last minute for ideas.

5. Veronica Campos-Hallstrom @ClubCreativeArt, Veronica’s Blog “Club Creative Studio”

A check list with a prioritized category. It will get you moving when you see a short important “to do” list instead of a long list that seems to never end and gives you a feeling of defeat before you even get started. And if you promise yourself a reward, it makes you want to earn your treat… be it a well-deserved afternoon nap or a candy bar!

6. Leanne Chesser @WAHMSolution , Leanne’s Blog “WAHM Solution“

My best tip is to listen to your inner knowing and deal with the underlying issues or beliefs (very much like what Becky shared). Another tip is to focus on the “why” or the vision that doing the task will help you move toward.

7. Lisbeth Tanz @LisbethTanz , Lisbeth’s Blog “Your Words, Your Voice”

Understand if your procrastination is because of a real issue (don’t have the resources, research isn’t complete, etc.) or due to a mindset issue (It will take too long, I don’t know how to do it, I have other things that are more pressing,… etc.). If you can identify the true source of procrastination, you’ll be in a better place to deal with it. It it’s external (not enough research), then schedule time to do the research. If it’s an internal mental block, look more deeply as to why you’re allowing this to prevent you from moving forward. Why are you staying stuck?

8. Paula Lee Bright @almost60really , Paula’s Blog “Almost 60, Really?”

For those who are TRUE procrastinators like me, nothing short of setting an appointment with ME works best. I cut myself the slack while I think over the post for a day, but know that at noon tomorrow I start.
Then, at noon,… NO EXCUSES. It works for the times when I’m falling behind.

9. Martha Giffen @MarthaGiffen , Martha’s Blog “Martha Giffen. Helping you through the maze of online marketing”

I use another human being! It has come in the form of an accountability partner, a mastermind group and also a personal coach. But,seems like once I put the project out there and say it to one of those, they tend to hold my feet to the fire. OR is it that once I SAY it, that brings it into existence? OR I don’t want to disappoint THEM? Who knows? I could get sorta deep with the thought train! LOL

10. Tambre Leighn @tambreleighn, Tambre’s Blog “Coaching by Tambre”

Identify the underlying purpose to each task. Connecting to the core value the task is related to or the feeling that the task generates will help you move into warp speed, past any procrastination blocks. For example, if your goal is to lose weight and your task is to go to the gym for an hour three times a week, then identify what completing the task will give you…more energy, better health, stress reduction. If these things mean something to you then you’ve identified a core value and will be more inspired to get into action on it.

BONUS Check out this great video on procrastination by Lynn Brown of Learn It to Earn It

Do you have a tip, trick or way to climb over that wall of procrastination?

Did one of these tip really hit home for you?

I’d love to hear about it in the comments section below!

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Your Time and Your Values

I need more time! 

Where does the time go?

Time sure flies doesn’t it?

We are really obsessed with time aren’t we?

All these little comments reflect our way of dealing with the fact that our time is limited. As I’ve said before you only get 60 mins in an hour, 24 hours in a day, 7 days a week. No more, no less (excluding that pesky daylight savings time!). On one hand we feel the need to experience as much as possible and on the other hand we want to take great pleasure in our here and now. Quite a push-pull situation.  One that can cause a fair bit of internal stress actually. 

To resolve this you really need to start spending time on what matters.  I know I wrote about time being like a gift card and lots of people loved that analogy.  The question keeps coming back to how do I know where to spend my time to get the most value?  Listen carefully to that question to find your answer.  “The most value” you asked for?  There’s your clue!

You need to be fully aware of your core values and learn to base your life choices on these.  So many of us base it on what we perceive we ‘should’ want/feel/do.  If that worked I’d be out of a job and we’d all be happy and content.  One of my favourite examples is what I went personally went through recently–replacing my car!  Now I was smart enough to do a little research (or so I thought).  I started off knowing what I needed in a car. By the time the marketers and savvy commercials worked their magic I found myself stretching my budget to get something I didn’t really need; but wanted.  Or did I? When I took a breather and the magic of the new car smell wore off, I realized I’d rather not spend that much per month because I really wanted to save for a vacation. I wouldn’t be able to do that if I coughed up all that money for a car.  Sure it’s fun to drive, but that bit of fun wasn’t worth giving up the experience of travel for me.  The bottom line a fancy car isn’t what I really value in life.  So, it’s back to the drawing board with a written out list of needs, a money cap and a much calmer outlook. 

I was able to make this choice because I am very aware of what my core values are and I am basing my car buying choices on these.  This is a very simplistic example of how living from your values can save you time, stress and focus your life on the right things for you.

Your values can help you with all kinds of decisions.  It is what I do with my clients for amazing and life changing results. 

 

If you know what really means something to you AND you spend your time in that arena rather than one that means little to you,

 chances are the feeling that you are wasting time will diminish or disappear. 

 

Quick! Can you list your ten most important values?

 How about five?  

If you can’t do that pretty quick you might want to take some time to delve into discovering your core values.  Here is the perfect companion for this!

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Time Management part 1…

Where to start?

First lesson of time management is usually the most surprising. 

You cannot manage time.

There, whew, it’s over.  Okay? Still with me?  Confused? Don’t be.   Time is intangible; it is at the same time infinite and finite.  Exactly what magical wands do you possess that you think you can actual manage or somehow alter that?? (cus I’d love to borrow it for a day or two if I may)

Here’s the trick to understanding this.  You can only manage yourself.

Think of your day like a gift card.  Yes,  a gift card.  Everyday we get this gift of time and everyday the gift card expires.  Don’t worry…a new one comes each day!

When you go shopping with a real, in your hand, store gift card, how do you handle that?  Would you head into Macy’s and just start buying whatever you see first?  In fact why not forget style and don’t even bother trying it on for fit!  Would you hit the kids section and buy up all kind of cute tiny sleepers even though you don’t actually have a child at home? Or perhaps some patio furniture and you live in a condo? 

Do I sound ridiculous? Of course I do. We know the card is limited and so we carefully judge what it is we really want to spend our money on. But if you think about it we often waste our gift of time in much the same way and yet don’t realize how crazy that is as well.  We have the choice to spend our gift of time carefully and in a well thought out manner.  Yet, we often end up spending our precious time on things that don’t matter, don’t fit our life goals and end up frustrating us as we find we never have ‘time’ for what we really want to do.  Sound familiar?

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Go on, Get Chunky!

No, no, I don’t mean the peanut butter, or making your pants fit tighter.  Hmm…perhaps that should be chunking?  But it sounds so much more fun the other way.

Either way the point is that if you are feeling stressed out because you feel like you’re barely keeping your head above water here is a tip!

Learn to chunk your time. 

Let’s back up here for just a minute. In a previous post I mentioned the time management is a myth right? That you can’t manage time, it has 24 hours in a day and no matter what you try you can’t get any more.  And yes…you really DO need to sleep sometime.  Ok so many people think the key is to multi-task; you know do many things at once so you get more done.  You know what? All that does is get a bunch of things sorta or partially done; certainly not done to the best of your ability. 

Truly, there are very few who can actually focus on more than one thing at a time effectively.  Perhaps they are out there, but I’ve yet to meet them.  You can do this hit and miss if you like but there is a better way.

Chunking.

This is far more effective. 

Simply put chunking is when you strategically focus on one thing.  In order to begin you need to do the following.  Take your best guess at how long a project will take you.  Block out that time to focus on doing just that one thing.  Turn off your email and twitter alerts.  Unless it requires it, put the phone down and turn the ringer off.  Close the door, or even go so far as to put a sign up “closed for interruptions” .  Whatever it takes to get to a place with no distractions.  The key here is FOCUS!  Turn all your attention to whatever you need to do and you will get it done effectively and efficiently.  In fact, you really should add an estimate of how much time each and evert task will take on your to-do list.  This will help you plan your day effectively.

If this seems a bit over-scheduled don’t worry. You are not planning every minute of your life.  In fact I strongly recommend that you allow for flex time in there because as we all know..stuff happens.  Try this out a little at a time if need be.  Want to write and schedule your blogs?  How long does it take to write the 2 or 3 you post each week?  2 hours?  Find a time to focus on that, nothing else and see what happens.

This just doesn’t apply to your work either.  Try this technique when sitting down for dinner or a conversation with your spouse or kids.  Really hear them and be able to listen with your whole spirit, not in between tweets! 

So go on then..get chunky!

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