Why there is never enough time

I don’t know if you can claim with full confidence that you have plenty of time but I have yet to hear that said or see it written anywhere.

We’re all wanting more time and we never seem to get it but I’m going to propose we’re looking for the wrong thing.

Rather than time, which is largely out of your control – how many of us have wished for an extra hour or two in the day? It never happens, does it? 

[You try to take control of time, so you take things off your schedule only to find other things have filled the gap and you still don’t have any extra time, you’ve only got a new routine.]

Rather than wishing for more time, I propose you seek to have more energy.

The coaching process I use with my clients is called the Core Energy Coaching process. At its very root is the science that we are all made of energy and that our beliefs, thoughts, feelings and actions have an energetic signature that either depletes or restores us.

All day long we are thinking thoughts that either gives us energy or we are thinking thoughts that take our energy away.

What’s really stealing your time

This phenomenon was written about in the book, The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.

The subtitle of this book is “Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal.”

How many times have you carved out time to work on a project only to find when that open time came that you were too cranky, tired, hungry or restless to focus on the task and get it done?

The reason you couldn’t focus is your energy was tapped out. You needed to do something to restore your energy before you could use any on your project.

These are the times you find yourself reaching for your phone or going on the computer to check facebook or watch Youtube videos.

One of my favorites is of a baby panda bear sneezing. It’s hilarious.

We instinctively do this because we want to find something that will calm us down, let us check out for a while or find a good laugh.

These strategies work in the short-term but they are not the best source of energy so you end up spending precious time trying to gain a small amount of energy to make it to the end of the day.

The key is to keep your energy high so when the time presents itself to get something done, you are all-in and ready to go.

Rather than constantly responding reactively to lost energy try adding in some activities that will proactively renew your energy and/or prevent your energy from getting stolen.

How to find more energy

Here is a list of things that proactively renew your energy and obviously their opposites are the energy stealers. I’ve broken them down into categories but let me be clear, they all overlap.

Physical energy: sleep, good nutrition, exercise or activity, stretching, conscious breathing, and good hydration.

Mental energy: keep life simple; minimize decision-making and make decisions in a timely manner. Read books, watch videos and have conversations that stimulate your mind (TED talks are great for this), and actively seek to communicate clearly to prevent confusion and ask that those around you do the same.

Emotional and spiritual energy: activities that bring you joy, spending time with happy, positive people, spending time with animals and being out in nature, being of service and taking time for reflection.

Would you add anything to this list? Go to the post that accompanies this episode and leave a comment letting us know what you do to restore your energy and keep it high.

I hope this was helpful and helps you to have a more energetic week ahead.

Resources

Accomplished: How to Go from Dreaming to Doing: A simple, step by step system that gives you the foundation and structure to take your goals and make them happen.

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