Time is Precious

When I’m engaged in something I love to do or I’m completely focused on a task at hand, time seems to slip away at the speed of sound.  As I grow older, days, weeks and months seem to go very fast.

Whenever I’m waiting for something to happen, a call back from a potential client, the bus to take me home or, when I was little, Santa to come – time seems to stand still.

Time is one of the few things in life that we can’t have a “do over”.  Theoretically you spend your time according to what is most important to you.  That’s fine in theory, in reality we spend lots of our time unconsciously living our life in habits.

Here are some tips on how to stay conscious.

Tip 1:  Shake up your routine.  In the morning I follow a routine, I get ready in a certain order – I brush my teeth from the left side of my mouth to the right, brush my hair the same way, etc.  Do one thing different – instead of brushing your teeth from upper left to lower right – start with upper right to lower left.  Hold your brush in the opposite hand.  It doesn’t matter what you do differently – just the action of doing it differently will make you more conscious.

Tip 2:  Drive a different way to work.  Plot it out so you won’t be late.  Pay attention to the new thoughts entering your mind.

Tip 3:  Create a technology free day.  Put away the cell phone, email and texting.  Don’t turn on your computer.  If thinking about this tip makes you really anxious, you might want to take a technology free half day, quarter day or even hour.  Technology is wonderful but it can put us on auto-pilot.

Tip 4:  Plan for the day.  Each day ask yourself – what is most important about today?  Make the day about accomplishing what is most important.  The most important item for me today was grocery shopping for a large holiday meal that was coming up.  Once I made my list and completed the shopping the rest of the day was a breeze.

Tip 5:  Scheduling.  Before the week begins I plan what needs to be accomplished and what day I’m going to do it.  I don’t schedule more than 50 to 75% of my time on any given day.  Giving each day a purpose causes me to choose how I spend my time.

Tip 6:  One thing at a time.  Realistically you can only do one thing at a time well.  Answering email while talking on the phone and organizing your desk causes your mind to stop and start several different activities.  I seem to glaze over – maybe it’s overload – when this happens.  Breaking the tasks up into dedicated time not only helps me be more conscious, I get more done in a short amount of time.  If you don’t believe me, time yourself and see what your experience is.

What do you do to live consciously?  Do you spend the majority of your time as you’d like?  How do you choose to spend your time and how do you make that happen?  Leave your comments below to share what works for you!

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