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How To Find More Time

Guest post by: Jackie Mckay

Article Overview: Many holistic therapists discover the need to develop or hone their time management skills when they go into business for themselves. Unlike the corporate world where the "boss" frequently structured your day, as an entrepreneur you are the person who is responsible for organizing your days and your time.

How To Find More Time

Many holistic therapists discover the need to develop or hone their time management skills when they go into business for themselves. Unlike the corporate world where the "boss" frequently structured your day, as an entrepreneur you are the person who is responsible for organizing your days and your time. Problem is, many holistic therapists have a more "relaxed" sense of time and tend to find themselves feeling overwhelmed and stressed out, with a lack of clients as a result. When the stress looms, that only produces more stress inducing thoughts, which leads to procrastination and self-sabotage. Yikes!!

If you want to have a full healing practice, you need to consider your mindset about time and learn how to use it most effectively. Below are some of my own thoughts about time management. Put just a few of these ideas into practice starting today. You will be amazed at how focused and productive your days will be. And the best part is, you will reap the benefits of having a full practice filled with yummy clients.

1 - Know your why.

"The bigger the why the easier the how." - Jim Rohn

Every holistic healing business owner has moments in which he or she wonders whether what they're doing really matters in the larger scheme of things. After all, it all comes down to the fact that it's your business. You need to know in your heart that what you're doing really matters. It's not enough to just understand intellectually. This is because your heart has a real need to feel a connection to this larger picture, and without a heart-centered connection, you're going to be depending on will power and discipline to keep going. When you have clearly identified the big, juicy reason you started your holistic healing business it becomes so much easier to focus your day to day efforts. You have a purpose to keep your eye on.

2 - Know your boundaries and say no.

As "healers" we tend to say yes more often than we say no. And not for the right reason. Don't let should's get in your way. If you don't want to do something be clear about it. Be clear with yourself about what you are willing to give up your time for. Be clear with others about what is important to you. Stop doing things because you feel like you "have" to. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. Start honoring yourself and your time. Be a role model for others to do the same.

3 - Create a planned schedule.

Do you have a list of important to-do's sitting on your desk waiting to be checked off but find yourself tired at the end of the day, struggling with your desire to check out? Go back to #1 and re-read. Then budget yourself a brief amount of time each week towards your priority to-do's and schedule a time to work on only those things. Do not leave them unfinished. Make sure to complete each item. If it isn't complete, don't move on to anything else until it is. Make certain to slot in the most significant and important activities first and then slot in the rest. Having activities mapped out will prevent you from taking on other stuff or from simply "wasting" time.

4 - Create a sense of accountability.

Find an accountability partner. Share your goals with them each week. Tell them exactly what you have planned to get accomplished and let them know the following week what you accomplished. Setting up accountability and letting others know what you're up to makes it easier to say no to the "shoulds" and it creates a sense of urgency for getting your to-do's off your list. This is the main reason I'm in a high level mastermind group and have my own coach. It keeps me inspired and it keeps me on track because I have someone to "report" to.

5 - Self sabotage.

Oh yes, here is the biggest monster! Create awareness about the excuses you come up with to not follow through. Recondition yourself to create new habits around time (we'll talk about that in #6). Reprogram the way you look at time as a high value. We only have so many breaths on this planet. Take your time personally and seriously.

6 - Create realistic strategies and habits.

As holistic business owners we have a tendency to either be too relaxed about time or set high expectations for ourselves on how much we want to accomplish with our time. Which one are you? Here are some strategies to manage both of these:

• Be gentle with yourself by setting small targets
• Take baby sized steps that may appear laughable - just get 'em done!
• Use a timer to stay on track with your time
• Set deadlines
• Just keep taking imperfect action - don't lose yourself in the "perfection" of each task
• Stick to your commitments to yourself

7 - Get it off your list.

Time is valuable. If there is something you feel must get done and you dread it or see it as a waste of time, take it off your list. Delegate it. Hire someone. Ask someone to help you. Hire a book keeper; find a web designer and a house keeper. Yes, you can do these things yourself but the hours it would take you are the hours you could be working on attracting more clients and doing the work that you love to do.

8 - Time is short so have a blast!

As a solo entrepreneur it is so easy to take everything so darn seriously! One of my values is to feel joyful and to enjoy my time. Practice not looking too far ahead and instead looking at how far you have come! Let yourself be fully alive in each moment and celebrate your successes. When you commit to honoring this, how could you possibly waste any time?

Now, if you'd like to explore more specific time saving tips and learn how to create a personalized time saving system for your own holistic business then contact me!

Your Assignment

How do you use your time? Prepare yourself for your day every day. Connect inward to your why and then map out your business activities based on your priorities. Start implementing a few of the ideas above and keep at it. You will be amazed by the results. I promise!

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Article Tags: boss, entrepreneur, holistic therapists, time management skills



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