Managing the Unruly Clock
Ouch…Does this cartoon hit a chord with you?
Here is my new version of the old nursery rhyme:
“Hickory Dickory Dock
I ’ve sold out to the clock
The clock struck one
and I’m undone…….
Hickory Dickory Dock.”This seems to be the mantra of so many of my clients. You don’t even want to know how many times I hear “I didn’t have time” in a week.
Here’s an idea: Every time you are tempted to say “I didn’t have time”, sustitute it with the truth: such as “I chose not to do it”, “I didn’t really intend to do it”, “I intended to, but I have a habit of overcommitting and I was not being realistic”, “I’m sorry I didn’t know how to say “no”, ” I didn’t put it on my schedule”, “I don’t have a schedule, so my life is out of control”, “I lived in my inbox this week instead of in my calendar, so I acted by default rather than design and didn’t get the important things done”………or whatever is really true.
There are a number of reasons we don’t get things done and we allow (usually unintentionally) the clock to steal hours out of our our life each week…..here are some of the major ones:
1. We are not clear on our vision, therefore have trouble prioritizing tasks.
2. We lack the energy to be intentional, and end up reactive instead of proactive with our time.
3. We don’t take the time to think. We’re just doing stuff the same old way we always have when it could be done more efficiently.
4. We have trouble delegating.
5. We don’t know how to say no. Or we choose not to say no, because we want everyone to like us.
6. We lack systems to make our use of time more effective. We are not using the leverage our available time.
7. We are not reading, learning, and growing.
8. We’re burned out, unhappy, we’ve lost our passion, or we are doing something for the wrong reasons.
9. We’re afraid what we really want because we don’t believe we deserve it.
10. We’re trying to multi-task and we’re not bringing anything to completion.
11. We’ve become a slave to our inbox(es).
12. We don’t know what works and what doesn’t work, so we try to do everything.
The truth is: We really don’t ever manage time. Time keeps on. Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, and it does not stop. We can only manage ourselves. Why do some people get so much done and have such full lives, and still seem happy, when others grind away, burnout, and race against the clock, like a helpless caged gerbil in a wheel?
If you would like to get more out of your day, and have a happier and fuller life, I have a few slots left for the Monday (Mar 24th) interactive Web session at 11AM Pacific time.. All subscribers to this blog are invited to attend free, on a first come, first serve basis. There are just a few spaces left. Email me if you would like to attend. julia@mentaliron.com . Let me know you’d like to attend and mention that you subscribe to this blog, and I will waive the $99 fee. The Web session is one hour long. It is called “Taming the Unruly Clock”.
Have a fabulous week, and keep reading!!!!!
Coach Julia
