You have the time! - Time hacks to accelerate your growth
You have the time! Time is not your issue! This was something that came across in a booming voice during my motivational workout video the other morning. I’ll be honest, it initially triggered me. My first thought was, “Dude, you don’t know me and the expectations people have of me. You have no idea how many meetings I have today.” The imaginary verbal attack ensued! Perhaps it did for you as you read my opening line!
Ryan Blair famously said, “If it is important to you, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.” It seems that it’s not a lack of time but a lack of clarity around the importance of a task or goal that derails us.
I recently uninstalled Instagram from my phone. It was no longer serving me, and I was appalled when my weekly report showed that I had spent 8 hours the previous week scrolling. I mean, come on, that’s an entire workday!
Immediately I reclaimed 8 freaking hours of my week just by removing the app! This led me to consider which other areas of my life am I wasting time when I could be growing, learning and progressing. The next obvious one for me was my TV routine. I have nothing against TV. I have a few series I keep connected to and my perfect Sunday afternoon includes some popcorn and some juicy real-life murder stories! I know that I need to place a limit on that time or get creative in order to get prepared for the week ahead. If I get that murder-mystery in I’m setting my week up for success and ironing my outfits while I indulge.
Here are a few of the time hacks I use to learn and grow while I’m doing mundane things…
- Listen to podcasts in the shower and while I’m doing my make up. Get fired up in the morning before your day starts with a little motivation and inspiration.
- While driving, swap out talk radio or news with an amazing audio book which will enrich your life!
- Substitute your nightly “Below Deck” binge streaks with a brisk walk or reading something of substance.
- Get inspired while vacuuming! I never waste a house clean up by listening to the sound of the machine, I’m learning what successful people to do accelerate their growth.
- Instead of mindless scrolling, replace that time with deep conversation. I found my husband and I “having coffee together” while each of us were connected to strangers on Instagram instead of each other. That scrolling time is now spent connecting through conversation, discussing goals and making plans for an awesome future!
- Use your transcribe button on the treadmill! This is a great hack to kill two birds with one stone. I’ll do a powerwalk while I’m speaking out a blog or bullet points for a blog, so I get away from my desk, capture the content and get in a mini cardio session.
A big aha moment for coaching clients is taking a deep dive and look at their calendar. Your calendar doesn’t lie about what is most important to you. If you want to be in great shape, your training schedule is a pipedream until it’s written down, time-blocked and prioritized on the calendar. Most importantly, the time that is allocated and honoured and you execute.
Do you track the time spent on your apps? If not, I’d encourage you to do so! You may just gain a significant advantage like, oh I don’t know, an ENTIRE day like I did!
What efficiency time hacks do you use to accelerate your growth? We’d love to hear them!
