Managing Time so Time Doesn't Manage You

Do you ever feel like time is some sort of cruel dictator ruling over your entire existence? It sounds dramatic, but I think in a way we can all relate, right?

But what if you could be the orchestrator of your time, not the victim of it? If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the present season, or worried about the upcoming holidays, take a big exhale (Do it. Right now.). Everyone’s life looks different and some seasons take a lot more grace for the inevitable chaos. So if you’re in those stormy days, I hope these tools bring you a little more peace, presence, and grace for your messy, beautiful, hard, sacred life.

Believe you’re the hero, not the victim.

When we wake up thinking that our lack-of-time has already messed up the day, we give it power to sabotage. What we speak has been proven to re-wire the way we think and therefore what we experience, so it’s so important to speak life over the hours of your day instead of doom. You can re-claim your authority by navigating out of victim mentality through statements like, “I have been given so many hours in my day. I get to choose what I do with my time.  I am not a victim.”

Let go of a scarcity mindset.

It’s the natural human tendency to gravitate towards a scarcity mindset.  Not enough time, not enough money, not enough recognition, not enough….fill in the blank with a zillion things.  It’s a mindset that often floats in our subconscious and dictates how we view our life without us even being cognitively aware that we’re looking through that lens. What a bully. Moving from a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset looks like shifting your thoughts from “I don’t have enough time today” to “I have been given enough time for what is most important today.”

This also entails taking abundance actions to retrain your relationship with time….lingering a little longer with a friend, picking up a book before you pick up the to do list. Like any relationship, you have to re-gain trust that you will indeed survive when you practice abundance, and over time, it will feel less daunting.

Budget your time like you’d budget your money.

Just like budgeting money tells it where to go, the same applies to time. If you design a plan for your time you’ll be more likely to experience the things that are most important to you. Even if they don’t all end up happening (because life obviously doesn’t work like a well-oiled machine EVER) your odds greatly improve if you make a game-plan. If you make a plan, 30% of it might happen, if you don’t make a plan, 0% of it will happen. The days can go by fast, but prioritizing the things that align with your values has a way of slowing time down so you’re not caught in spinning chaos.

………

I hope these three mindset shifts feel helpful as you move towards reclaiming more peace, freedom, and presence for the things that are most valuable to you. Time can feel so overwhelming because so many things are out of your control, but you don’t have fewer hours than you need in order to live a really good life. Choose what matters most, remember that your life isn’t more valuable based on what you accomplish, and when everything feels chaotic like there’s barely room to breath…that’s the perfect time to take a breath.

Keep an eye out for part two of this series where I’ll give you a practical tool for time-management!