Coach Pete's Tip: Manage Priorites Not Time

The secret is in managing your priorities not time. What do I mean by this? Well let's use an example. You're a busy person, between working, raising kids preparing meals etc. you have no free time. Suddenly something disrupting happens, a love one is in the hospital, you decide to buy a new home, the kids get involve in the school play and you have to take them to practice. Some how you find the time to take on the extra things and still get the groceries and go to work everyday.

How were you able to do this? By managing your priorities. You took a look at what was important in your life and focused your energy, attention and time. You put aside or delayed other things until the current priority was accomplished.

Maybe you realized that there were some things you thought were important, but in hindsight you could do without. You eliminated time wasters. For instance you cut down on the amount of television you watch, reduced your computer time and spent less time at the mall. Perhaps you changed your habits, getting up a half hour earlier, spending less time chatting with co-workers and limited going out for dinner. You found more efficient ways to do household chores and you enlisted help from you family/friends. In other words you developed new habits and methods that saved time and allowed you to concentrate on your priorities.

Now I know a lot of you are saying, "I don't' have time for all this!" Well there's a funny thing about time. We all have the same amount of time, 24 hours a day, 168 hours a week, 672 hours in an average month and 8,064 hours in a year. If we live to be 75 we will have lived for 604,800 hours!

Now figuring we spend 10 hours a day at work, commuting to work and getting ready to go to work and say 8 hours sleeping that leaves about 6 hours of "free time" to do everything else. That being the case how is it some people seem to have more time that others? Have you ever heard the expression: "If you want something done give it to a busy person?" Why is it that busy people seem to get things done? What's the real difference between being successful and failure. Well some of it has to do with motivation, some of it has to do with having written goals and some of it has to do with managing time.

As I mentioned all of us have the same amount of time each day. It is what we do with the time that matters. We make time for important things in our lives. When a crisis or important task is suddenly forced on us it some how it gets done. What we are doing is really managing priorities not time. We can not manage time, we can not stop it or hit the pause button. We can not rewind and replay the last hour. We can not even slow it down! Time waits for no one. So trying to get 30 hours out of a 24 hour day is impossible. However we can decide how we want to spend our time. If we consciously decide to spend our time on our life priorities, health, family, spiritual growth, career, etc. we will find the time to do it.

Here are some action tips that will help you find the time to accomplish your goals and live out your vision.

1. Focus on what's important: Perhaps you want to lose weight and get in better physical shape, but can't seem to find the time. What if you got up a 1/2 hour earlier 3 - 4 days a week? Instead of lying on the couch watching TV, you watch "American Idol" while pedaling a stationary bike. Better yet you turn off TV and spend a 15-20 minutes doing Yoga.

2. What if you plan your meals around healthy alternatives? Instead of stopping off at the store 3 or 4 times a week and grabbing a frozen pizza or eating at a fast food restaurant, you go shopping once a week and prepare several nutritious meals at a time?

For example by employing these simple techniques you can fit an exercise program into your daily schedule.

1. Park your car farther away from your office building.

2. Climb the stairs instead of the elevator.

3. Take a walk during lunch, instead of a cheese burger try a protein drink and an apple.

4.On a weekend turn off the video games and take your children to the park. Throw a Frisbee, chase the dog, play tag or just take a long "nature walk".

5. Enlist a friend and take walks in the evening or practice Yoga together.

Once you start thinking, many simple ideas will flow into your head and before you know it these small changes will transform you.

Information/Media Overload: The way I see it one of the great benefits of computers, cell phones, pages, ipods, the internet, emails, etc. is the tremendous amount of information that's available to us. All these devices can save us time and in an emergency save lives.

However this amazing technology is a double edge sword. Some of us are constantly wired. People go through the day wired to their cell phone or DVD. You see them everywhere in the car, shopping, out for a walk talking on their cell phones or listening to music. I have even seen or should I say heard them taking on their cell phones while in the restroom! We have become addicted to technology. We feel compelled to constantly be checking our email or text messaging or playing games.

There's an old joke about a farmer who just got a phone. (This was back in the days when some folks did not even have a phone!) One day his neighbor stopped by and the farmer invited him in for coffee. While they were sitting at the kitchen table drinking the coffee. The phone started ringing and ringing and ringing. The farmer ignored the phone and kept on drinking his coffee. Finally the neighbor could stand it no more. He said to the farmer "Aren't you going to answer that phone? The farmer said, "I got that phone for my convenience, not for somebody else's convenience!" The point is that all these gadgets can and do interfere with our lives.

It is up to you! Are these devices a tool for your convenience or are you enslaved by them? Okay, I hope you have an idea what I mean by managing priorities. Making changes in your life even small ones can be challenging and even a little frightening. Finding the time and making a commitment to change your life will require discipline and courage. You can do it by applying the ideas and guideline in this book. The most important step is to begin and we begin by writing down specific goals and action steps that will motivate and move you forward.



Coach Pete's Tip: Manage Priorites Not Time - To learn more about this author, visit Pete Turner's Website.

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