Take Control of Your Time
Run Your Life … Instead of Letting Your Life Run You
By Brian Tracy
Online copywriters enjoy a lot of great career perks-there’s immense freedom, great opportunity, and the excitement of being on the cutting edge of new marketing paradigms. But online copywriters aren’t immune to some of the same problems that other freelances encounter.
One of the most common is what I call “time poverty.” Working people especially entrepreneurs-have more on their to-do list than a day can hold and that leaves too little time for their personal lives. Maybe you’ve experienced this-the feeling of being overwhelmed with responsibilities and
activities … and the harder you work, the further behind you feel. There’s always one more project begging for your attention, one more critical task that needs to be done, one more phone call that just can’t wait…
This sense of always spinning your wheels can cause you to fall into the reactive/responsive mode of living. Instead of deciding what you want to do and taking deliberate action to do it, you find yourself continually reacting to what is happening around you. It doesn’t take long before you’ve lost your sense of control.
Fortunately, I have a solution-one that I use in my own life.
I regularly step back and take a moment to take stock of what I’m doing. I review my activities against my priorities to see if I’m on the right track.
You should try this simple exercise. It only takes a few minutes… and it will help you take control of your time and end that feeling that you’re a slave to your to-do list and the demands of your work.
Achieve Balance, Harmony, and Inner Peace
I used to think time management was nothing more than a business tool, like a calculator or a cell phone. It was something I used to get more done in a shorter period of time with the goal of increasing my income. Then I learned that time management is not just a business tool-it’s a life skill… one that is core to achieving balance.
In your work life, there are so many demands on your time from other people that it’s common to have only a few minutes or hours that you get to direct with absolute control. But in your personal life, things are different. You can exert a tremendous amount of control over how you use your free time, and that’s the area I want you to focus on today.
Try approaching your personal time based on three major areas of your life…
1. Family and Personal Goals
Your family and personal goals are what get you out of bed in the morning. They’re the reason you work so hard and worry about money and allow yourself to become frustrated by all the demands on your time.
So ask yourself what goals you have for your personal life and your family life. Think about things both tangible and intangible. Maybe you’d like a
bigger house for your family or to take an honest-to-goodness family vacation. Or maybe you’d like to spend more quality time playing with your
children or reading good books.
Achieving these types goals is the real essence of time management.
2. Business and Career Goals
Your business goals are really a means to achieving your family and personal goals. Think of them as the “how” and your personal goals as the “why.” Most family or personal goals are affected either directly or indirectly by your income and by the time demands created by your work. Think about how you can achieve the level of income that will enable you to fulfill your family goals, and how can you develop the skills and abilities that will keep you ahead of the curve in your career.
Business and career goals are very important, especially when you consider hem in terms of your family and personal goals.
3. Personal Development Goals
Family, personal, and business goals are usually external… at least to some degree. But you have internal things you want to accomplish, too. And you’ll find that accomplishing your external goals is easier when your inner life is being nurtured.
If you wish to achieve worthwhile things in your personal and your career life, you must become a worthwhile person, and you do that through self-development. Ask yourself who you want to be and how you get there.
You can become anything you really want to become and achieve any goal you really want to achieve. The secret to doing it is to get to work on yourself and never stop.
Keep Your Life in Balance
I recommend you make a list of your personal and family goals, your business and career goals, and your self-development goals. Then organize them by priority. Not everything can be of equal importance, so you must decide what your most important goals are. What will bring you the most happiness, satisfaction, and joy in life?
Ask yourself these three key questions regularly to check in on your life balance:
- “What is really important to me?”
- “What are my highest value activities?”
- “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?”
You can only do one thing at a time, so make sure that what you are doing is the one most important thing you can be doing right now.
At work, when you are too busy and pressed for time, stop and decide what is most important for you to being doing in terms of your current situation.
At home, spend time doing what brings your satisfaction and joy. Personal time management lets you choose what to do first, what to do second, and what not to do at all. You can organize every aspect of your life so you can get the greatest joy, happiness, and satisfaction out of everything you do.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
