Reclaim Your Time & Energy with these 5 Steps!

Reclaim Your Time and Energy

I am working with a business owner currently who has two kids at home, two elderly parents living with them, is trying to take some time off, and is a handful of months away from running out of cash growing her business to profitable.

She is up for the challenge!   She is learning (faster!) what it takes to be an entrepreneur and is digging deeper to face challenges and show up more powerfully in ways her business and team need her to.    Respect!   I love working with people like her.

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the demands of your business or leadership role?

If you are working long hours, have a never ending to-do list, and face what seems like 20% more stress every year, it's time to take control.  Here are 5 ways you can reclaim your time and energy:

1. Stop being a chicken about saying ‘no’, and set boundaries

Get more surgical on exactly what your top priorities are.   Then get more meanness in your game about holding the line on those items more.   If someone tries to take your time away from those things when you’ve set a boundary around that time – either tell them to sod off (nicely, of course)… or kindly tell them you’ll stickhandle your priorities and get to it as soon as you can.   And be authentic – not just to placate and pay lip service to them – but negotiate when you’ll deliver.   And honour that.  

Stop trying to please everyone.   It’s weakness of character.   It’s worthiness chasing. 

Research Pomodoro Technique if you want to stay focused and efficient.   Or ask me about HBR’s # 1 time management tool I use with my clients if you are truly serious about boundaries with your work.

2. Take 10 minutes every morning

Before you dive into your work and get taken away, stop and set your priorities for the day.  Schedule them in. And every 2-3 hours pause and check in with them again.

Connect daily priorities with your weekly priorities…which will be connected to your Quarterly priorities.   It’s not rocket science.   But it sure is hard for you to stay committed to this practice, isn't it.   How could you increase your commitment to this winning morning practice? If you don't quite understand this question...ask me.

3. Delegate and Empower

Stop trying to do everything yourself.  All you are doing is showing your team that you do not fully trust them when you don’t delegate.   And perhaps worse, you take away valuable learning and growth opportunities by not delegating.  

It’s selfish when you think about it.   The internal message you are saying to yourself is, “I want this done right, and only I can do it the way I want it…so I’ll do it myself.  I don’t trust him/her to do it properly.”  

In effect, you’d rather take time away from your own priorities, and remove an opportunity for a team member to learn / grow / fail forward, then allow them the chance.

Trust your team to handle day-to-day operations so you can focus on strategic growth.  Identify training opportunities and then teach.   That’s your job.  Leaders empower others.

4. Prioritize Your Energy

This sounds like a broken record from every general health article that has ever been published -  Exercise.  Eat better.  Sleep fully.   Control your stress.   You know this.   So perhaps the best question here is:  What gets in the way for you here?  

5. Reconnect with Your Purpose

Remind yourself why you do what you do.   Is it to help others?   To have impact?  To build authentic relationships built on trust?    Or perhaps it’s to challenge the status quo or system, and make things better?   Or to do things the ‘right’ way?   Or perhaps it’s Mastery in a chosen area?  Or to simplify things and make them more understandable for others?    Likely it’s one of these is your life’s purpose – whether you know it or not.

And why is that purpose important to you?   Go a few levels deeper on why that is important to you and others.  If you don’t feel some emotion in it, you haven’t asked the ‘why important’ questions enough times in a row.

Perhaps this feels like more of a ‘tough love’ piece.   It is.  

If you can honestly say to yourself that everything is great in your life – congratulations!   And next, unsubscribe….I’m not talking to you.  

This is a group for driven growth-focused people who know intimately what it feels like to feel unsatisfied with unfulfilled potential.   It’s a curse and a blessing.  If you have it you know exactly what I mean.

If you are not satisfied with any part of your work or life – it’s a shame that you wouldn’t do something more about it.   Life is too short to waste.   Get to it!  

Message me back if you are feeling this one.