You and I share at least two things in common. We both have 24 hours in a day, and our days are finite. Yet how we experience and use our time varies widely.
Perhaps you are time-aware. You know how much time you have and spend it intentionally. Or maybe you have difficulty keeping track of time, feel time-poor, are easily distracted, and never have enough hours to get things done.
If you think of your relationship to time on a scale from zero to one hundred, with one end representing a total lack of time awareness and intentionality and the other representing high time awareness and intentionality, where would you place yourself? Whether your number is zero or one hundred, several concepts can improve your relationship with time and help you approach it more compassionately.
Time Management Scale
Before I share the strategies, review the Time Management Scale to get a sense of where you are right now. This isn’t an exact science, but the scale will help you identify your strengths and challenges. Understanding your relationship with time, combined with the concepts I’m about to share, can be a game-changer for you.
How to Use the Scale
Reflect honestly on where you are today
Identify your target range and desired habits
Take consistent action to improve your score over time
Remember that small choices about how you spend your time today shape your future.
3 Ideas to Encourage More Compassionate and Aligned Time Management
There are three ways to align your time in a more compassionate and powerful way. As I mentioned earlier, the time available each day is fixed. Your life and the time you have left are finite. None of us knows how many days remain. How you use this precious resource shapes your life.
1. Energy
Have you noticed how your energy ebbs and flows throughout the day? For example, I have more energy and mental clarity earlier in the day, and my energy lessens as the day goes on. Matching high-brain-demand tasks, such as planning or writing, with the time of day I’m ‘fully charged’ works better for me. Lower-brain-demand tasks, like resetting spaces or grocery shopping, can be done when my energy is less.
As you plan your available time and how you will spend it, factor in your energy. A while ago, Executive Coach Marcy Stoudt introduced me to the reframing of time management as energy management.
It’s helpful to consider how you’re planning and using your time. One thing I’ve learned is how much longer tasks take when my energy isn’t aligned. For example, when I’m tired and my energy is low, it takes me two to three times as long to do certain tasks as when I’m well-rested and in my high-energy, brain-power part of the day.
Aligning your energy management with how you use your time is a compassionate practice.
“Small choices about how you spend your time today shape your future.”
2. Priorities
Have you noticed that some priorities, especially those tied to values, are fixed while others are flexible? For example, family might always be a top priority, so you’ll drop everything if someone in your family needs you. Or, when planning, family considerations drive your choices.
Flexible priorities are tasks, goals, and commitments that matter but don’t require immediate action or have a set deadline.
Flexible priorities could include:
Projects with open deadlines
Buy groceries sometime this week
Meet a friend for coffee in the next few months
Edit belongings to downsize
Plant flowers in the garden
Clean out the garage this season
Improve sleep habits
Try a meditation app
When considering your available time, aligning your priorities with your values and clarifying which tasks are fixed or flexible can lead to a more compassionate way forward.
3. Reality
Ah, yes! The old reality check. Here’s where time management can go sideways. Many people I know, including clients, struggle to align their available time with how long tasks take. This is where optimism needs to be balanced with a realistic understanding of time.
Has this happened to you? I see it most often on ambitious to-do lists. For example, you sit down to write your daily list. You have twenty or thirty items and expect to do them all today because they’re all “equally important.” Yet as the day goes on, you’ve only gotten to a few items. It’s clear you won’t finish everything. The day isn’t over, and you’re starting to feel stressed and defeated. Believe me, I get it. Reality and intention are two very different things.
Reality Check 1: Not everything is equally important.
Reality Check 2: Your list is too ambitious to complete in one day.
Reality Check 3: Optimism is great, but balance it with a realistic understanding of your available time and how long tasks take.
Reality Check 4: Reduce the size of your list. Curate a daily list of 1-5 items. Get those done, then review the time you have left before adding more to your day.
When you stop planning for an ideal day and start planning for the day you actually have, you gain a greater sense of control, accomplishment, and ease.
Are You Ready to Bring a More Compassionate Approach to Time Management?
The number is 24, as in the hours in a day. The number of days you have left is unknown. You have choices about how to spend your time. Use understanding and compassion as you plan and decide.
What will that look like for you? Which time management ideas resonate most with you? I’d love to hear your thoughts. I invite you to join the conversation.
How Can I Help?
Do you feel overwhelmed, disorganized, and time-stressed? Are you struggling to manage all your tasks, goals, and commitments? I’m here to help! You don’t have to do this alone. Virtual organizing is an extraordinary path forward – Local feel with a global reach.
Let’s connect! I’m easy to reach.
Schedule a Discovery Call
Fill out the Contact Form
Email me at linda@ohsorganized.com or
Call 914-271-5673
Managing your time, getting organized, and living with more ease are possible, especially with support.
