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Top Five Tips to Take Back Your Time

 Sacha Crouch

Want true freedom while running your business? Forget trying to get on top of things! 

Realistically we can never get on top of things. False lies are at play when we convince ourselves we will one day achieve it - never-ending to-do lists just never end, work keeps flowing in, phones keep ringing, email inbox's keep imploding. Let's face it, it's downright impossible to get on top of things because life just is not set up that way. 

We're not meant to arrive. We're meant to continue on. Life IS the process, remember. 

Setting ourselves the unrealistic expectation to get on top of things keeps us in a constant state of stress and striving. We spend each day aiming hopelessly to finally make it through our to-do list so that we can feel good when we leave the office and meander home. Because we foolishly tell ourselves this, we put things off like eating healthy meals, taking those much needed breaks, talking patiently with others and spending time doing the things we love. We promise ourselves we'll indulge in these soon - we'll just get on top of things first! 

But, alas, there's always more to do before we get on top of things. 

Accept it; you never will get on top of things. Well, for never more than a fleeting transitory moment, that is, before you are once again swept off your feet. 

Chuck this life-cheating statement out of your vocabulary. 

Instead, decide to ‘feel' on top of things, all the time. 

Ok so it's a small semantic difference but it has a huge difference on impact. Let me explain. 

Presence is a big part of the distinction. In order to feel on top of things we need to let go of focusing on everything we have yet to do and instead focus on our present moment right here right now. Taking the task at hand as our measure of feeling on top of things, we let go of our mental worry about everything else. 

It's so easy to get caught up thinking about all that needs doing to finish a project or to get through your day. But this does nothing to help you move forward and actually finish things. In fact is has the exact opposite effect. It detracts from doing the most you can and stirs your mental energy into frustration and urgency. 

How can you turn this around in order to take back your time? 

•1.    Habituate your prioritising

Everyone knows how important it is to prioritise but very few do it faithfully. As a result, we end up wasting valuable time on unimportant things in the big scheme of life and run out of time for the things that really make a difference. Know your top three priorities for the year, for the month and for the day, every day. Keep it this simple!!!

 •2.    Set realistic time frames

Business owners are notorious for wanting to achieve big things and hence trying to squeeze way more activities into a given day then is achievable without falling in a heap. We grossly overestimate how much time we have to complete tasks and jump in with a yes way too quickly, failing to check-in.

In order to set realistic time frames, you must stop and reflect on what is already on your plate. You must make choices of what you will remove - not just keep adding more to your work load. Adopt the philosophy of less is more and say no to anything that does not clearly align with your top priorities. The extra focus and calm you gain will lead to higher productivity and results over the long-haul.

How can you learn to set realistic time frames? The first things I get clients to do is monitor their time framing for a week, stopping at the end of each day and evaluating how well they estimated available time. They're often shocked to see their gross misjudgements.

3. Learn to delegate effectively

Delegation and outsourcing free up our time for the important things and empower others to take on greater responsibility. The downside of delegation involves the extra time and effort to start the process happening. At the time it can feel easier to just get on and do it ourselves. It's an understandable temptation but long term it keeps us stuck needing to do everything ourselves and keeps others down and lacking initiative and responsibility.

Having said that you must delegate - all delegation is not good delegation. There is an art to ensuring delegation happens smoothly. In order to delegate effectively you must set clear expectations of the desired outcome - not vague actions. Secondly you must choose someone who has the capability to succeed or take the responsibility to provide them with adequate resources to achieve it. Thirdly you must have review points if it is a big project to discuss their progress and help keep them feeling in control. Fourthly you must acknowledge and recognise their efforts along the way.

Lastly, you must honestly let go! This is perhaps the hardest part and why so many business owners come to me for coaching. Too often people delegate work physically, but emotionally keep hold of it by looking over the persons shoulder, rescuing them too quickly, insisting things are done the way they do it or picking flaws rather than providing encouragement and acknowledgment.

4. Minimise distractions

Our lives are filled with distractions, it's unavoidable, but we can set up both our work and personal lives to minimise the impact upon our productivity (and our sanity). The less distracted we are the more focused we become, the easier it is to get in flow and the calmer we feel.

Set up your environment to eliminate as many distractions and time-wasters as you can. Take a look at your physical work environment as well as your boundaries and habits. How can you minimise distractions? Here are some ideas... 

• Switch off your computer, email, landline and mobile phone for big chunks of time
• Clear your desk of all extraneous projects with only the project you are working on in visual sight
• Close the door or window for short spouts to have noise free space
• Go to a quiet room for periods of uninterrupted time throughout the day
• Educate your team, suppliers and clients of the best times to contact you
• When possible remove yourself completely from distractions. If you work from home leave the house and work in coffee shops for a couple of hours. If you work in an office, book out a meeting room for four hours each week and lock yourself in. 

When you decide to set a new boundary to minimise distractions, ensure you communicate it to others affected by the boundary. Who needs to know this and what can you put in place to deal with the new boundary? What can people do if they need you? What are the alternatives? What are the exceptions?

 •5.    Learn the art of presence

Presence involves being in the moment, focused only on what you are doing now, not thinking about the future or the past. It is an art because it takes time to develop the ability to be present on a more regular basis. But it is a simple art of repetition that requires bringing your mind back to the now, over and over again. 

The first step is to let go of focusing on what else needs doing other than what you have decided to do right now. You cannot fit more than you can fit into any given day, sounds silly to say hey? But that's reality. The only thing you can do is plod through what you have set yourself, calmly and with great focus. 

When other things you need to do pop into your mind, write them down. If you've already written them down remind yourself you've already taken care of it for now. Refocus on what you were already doing. If an interruption comes in, calmly deal with it. Don't curse and swear that it's throwing you off being on top of everything. Just deal with it as best you can in this moment and move on. Forget it intruded into your space. Then get back to doing what you planned to do in the next moment. 

Taking back your time involves a commitment to looking after what you can control and accepting what you can't. Accept that it is not possible to get on top of things and focus instead on doing what it takes to FEEL on top of things in every moment.  Stop putting off your life for some fine day in the future when everything is perfect - for that day will never come. Live now, enjoy each moment and fall in love again with both your business and your life. 

 

About Sacha Crouch Sacha specialises in helping business owners to free up their time, reduce their stress and enjoy lifestyle with their success. Clients come to Sacha because they are overworked, overwhelmed, stressed, procrastinating over things they know they need to do, and struggling to find the time and energy for their personal lives. Sacha also mentors other coaches through the Life Coaching Academy of Australia, spent two years as Events Director for the International Coach Federation NSW and is the resident life coach for Yahoo!7 Dating. Her latest adventure is authoring the forthcoming book ‘More Time for Life: The Business Owner's Guide to halving stress, doubling time and enjoying life'. For more information and free resources visit www.activ8change.com.au.