HOW MUCH CAN YOU REALLY DO? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 161

Are you a good planner?  Are you good at time management?  If you are getting older are you still able to do all that you used to do?  Have you had an illness or injury that prevents you from doing everything you want to do?  Is there something you want to do but for which you do not have the needed skill set?

Planning and time management are not just for the young or those in the work force.  We still need to plan how to use our time and accomplish our tasks and goals.  Now that I am getting older I do not have the physical strength or stamina that I had ten years ago.  Yet I still plan my days as if I can still do everything as quickly as I used to and as if I can still do as many things in a day as I used to do.

Yesterday I read something that made sense.  It said if the same things keep appearing on your to-do list but never getting checked off, then admit you either do not want to do them or are not going to do them and remove them from the list.  That is good advice because when I do not accomplish all the things on my daily lists I become annoyed with myself.  Truth is I now need to pay someone else to do certain things or prevail upon my children to do them for me when they visit.  For example, anything that involves climbing on a ladder is now beyond my stability and coordination.

Think about it.  Is there anything in your life for which you need to tell yourself:

ACCEPT MY LIMITS

HOW DOES LIFE GO BY? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 94

We are all given the same number of minutes and hours in a day and days in a week.  Yet somehow there are people who accomplish so much more than you do in that same amount of time.  Why do you think that is?  Is it because you don't manage your time?  Is it because you have fear of failure so you delay getting started?  Is it because you don't know what you want to do or how to do it?  Is it because you spend too much time on minutiae and avoid the big projects?  Is it because you are a perfectionist who is never finished with anything because it is never quite "perfect" or "good enough" for you?

There are people who foolishly fritter away their money and other assets, and there are people who just as foolishly fritter away their time.  They treat it as if there is an endless supply of minutes and hours which we all know is not the case.  When time is gone it cannot be retrieved so make the most of your time.  Be aware of how you are spending it.

If you know what an hourglass is or a minute timer you know that the sand falls through the glass rather rapidly so it is a good reminder of how fast the time of your life is going.  Don't delay, get started, fulfill your dreams, achieve your goals, and enjoy the process.

How does life go by?  It goes:

MINUTE BY MINUTE

Does Time Get Away From You?

As the weeks fly by I ask myself where the time went and what did I accomplish. I recently listened to a series of webinars which provided me with some great ideas. Jack Canfield (well-known author, motivational speaker, and business coach) talked about how significant "the power of five" can be. He said that on our to-do lists we should list five things that move us toward our goals, and we should start each day working on those five things until they are completed. Then if time remains we can work on other tasks. While he was speaking about business goals I know that his advice also applies to taking care of children, running a household, and juggling work and family life. Most of us put too many things on our to-do lists with no real grasp of how long it would actually take us to complete the entire list. If we focus on what is most important to be completed and form our to-do lists with five tasks leading to the accomplishment of those things, we will get them done! If I am not pro-active I can easily get caught up in minutia, and probably a little of my own OCD also slips in there. I have been trying to follow "the power of five" advice daily, and I am amazed at how much more I am accomplishing. Whether I am concentrating on my business, household tasks and projects, or volunteer work I really am able to get the most important things done first. Try it. I'm sure you will be pleased with the results. I know that children can at times prevent adherence to schedules and plans, but more often than not I am confident you will get all or most of your five things done on a daily basis and still have time left to do other things. I am also thinking that as children enter school and take on responsibilities this might be a good practice to share with them. Let me know what you think. I hope you will sign up to follow my blog and give me your feedback on anything I write. Thanks in advance for helping me!