Six Secrets to Tame your Time: Secret #5

Secret 5: Make it manageable    

You know that frustrating feeling where you are just fed up and ready for a change?  When we get to that point we often try to make drastic, massive changes — and they never stick (think New Year’s Resolutions).  This is EXACTLY the reason why I had you practice constraint in Secret #2.  

Relax.  Breathe.  

This. Is. Not. A. Race.       

Your current results are a reflection of your current habits.  We’re working to change your habits and studies prove it is far more effective to do so incrementally.  James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, tells us that if we improve just 1% each day we will be 37x better after just one year.  

1% improvement in anything is totally manageable. 

The banking industry latched on to this idea by launching savings programs allowing you to round up your purchases and add it to savings.  So when you pay for that Grande Skinny Caramel Macchiato that costs $4.79, it gets rounded up to $5.00 and 0.21¢ is deposited into savings.  If you’re trying to save for a vacation that costs $1,000 saving just  0.21¢ is a small step in that direction that is totally manageable.  You probably wouldn’t even notice the 0.21¢ but it IS a contribution towards your vacation plans.         

So how do I get just 1% better you ask?  

Here are some suggestions: 

• Maintain good habits you already have – In an effort to create new habits, we sometimes lose sight of the value of what we’re already doing that’s working well!  So, if you’re already going to the gym or meditating or reading the kids a bedtime story every night and it’s working for you, don’t stop!  In fact, consider praising yourself for the commitment instead of dismissing it.  

• Be fully present – In his book, The Practicing Mind, Thomas M. Sterner tells a story where he shaved off 40% of the normal time it took him to tune a piano simply by trying to do it as slowly as possible.  It sounds counterintuitive at first, but when we are fully present and engaged with what we are doing we make fewer mistakes and ultimately gain efficiencies.  

• Practice “Clean-tasking” – Multitasking is a myth.  There are very few things we can do simultaneously – maybe walking and chewing gum.  But, for things that require thought our brains can only focus on one task at a time.  Rarely are we truly “multitasking”.  Instead, we “switch tasking” and studies prove this takes significantly longer.  We can reclaim time by committing to “Clean-tasking” which means we focus solely on one task at a time, complete it, and then move on to the next.

• Identify and go after mini-goals – You’ve heard the old saying “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time”.  Consider your current results and make a commitment to marginal but prompt improvement.  For example, I wear a Fitbit which tells me the average number of steps I took last week was 11,200 per day.  If I want to increase to 12,000 per day, I’m not going to add 800 steps a day right out of the gate.  Instead, I might add 200 steps a day this week and then an additional 200 the following week until I get to the new average of 12,000.  This makes improvement far more do-able.

• Locate and eliminate “Time-stealers” – If you’ve ever found yourself asking “Where did all the time go??” I suggest you go find out.  Consider tracking your activities with a time tracking app to get a big picture view of where you spend time.  Most people who do this are amazed at the time stealers that invade their days!  Enter the data honestly with a mindset of curious discovery. When you review the data just ask yourself “How does this line up with my priorities and goals?”.  (PS – If you are wondering about a good app to use – Clockify, Harvest and Toggl are all good options that have free versions available).

Undoubtedly, there are many ways beyond just these suggestions to improve by 1%.  WHAT you choose to do is nowhere near as important as your commitment to actually improving and the reasons why you want to.  If you could use a hand untangling all that, I can definitely help – just click here to chat.