Time and energy, both are so precious and yet so easy to waste. How much time and energy have you wasted already today? Imagine if for every minute you wasted you lost a pound! Would you be in debt?
One reason why these two are so easy to waste is that we don’t see their true value. Yet, how we spend our time and energy throughout the day determines our mood by the end of the day.
How much time and energy have you wasted running around here and there but getting no-where today? How much time and energy have you invested in achieving your aims and enjoying life today? Compare how you feel at the end of the day after both of these scenarios?
Investing in our time and energy isn’t about doing more, it is about using our time and energy in a worthwhile way. It is about being active leaders, taking control of how we spend our time and energy.
- Start valuing your time and energy.
- Accept that “I can’t do everything!”
- Sort out what is and isn’t important. Be mindful of what you are doing. Is it really important and essential right now? If not, why are you doing it? Are you addicted to the ‘doing? Are you following the agenda of others? Or doing it out of habit?
- Start making conscious choices about how and where to spend your time and energy. Prioritize the important over the things that can wait. Have a ‘Not to Do’ as well as a ‘To Do’ list.
- At the beginning of the day/week, try to invest in planning for the day/week. In doing so, you create some free time. Even with on-going meetings and projects, schedule in family time, leisure time, and ‘Me’ time.
- ‘Me Time’. Create 2-10 minute slots in your day in which you can refresh, recharge and realign yourself. Scheduling these in are necessary to getting the best out of your day. Whether its whilst walking to a meeting, making a cup of tea, a 1- minute lunch time walk… the choice is yours!
- Concentrate on what you are doing. Doing too many things at once, we lose focus and they take longer to do and more mistakes are made. If something is important, pause for a few minutes, collect your attention and then give the task your utmost attention possible.
