1. Time Vampires

These are activities that steal your time. Television, videos, the small ‘breather’ watching an hour of sport. The hours build up. Conservatively, people spend (or waste) 15 hours of their time per week watching television or on social media – in aggregate, that’s almost a whole waking day and 52 days per year.

Being constantly distracted by emails, Facebook, Snapchat, etc instead of focusing on your tasks and goals is not good – it’s procrastination.

The brain takes around 15 minutes to get back into focus after an interruption – constant messaging, phone calls and other distractions therefore use up a number of 15 minutes during your day.

Recognise the distractions in your life – blitz social media or social emails at the end of the day, once you’ve achieved your outcomes.

2. Time Management & Priorities

Set a plan, recognise your priorities and tasks and then put them to work towards your goals.
Feeling overwhelmed? Time management can be split into 4:

(1). Do it – action it straight away.

(2). Bin it – if it’s not important or part of your goal then bin it and move on.

(3). Delegate it – if it needs to be done but someone else can do it then send it their way. You don’t need to do everything.

(4). Defer it – if it needs doing but is not urgent then come back to it. It can wait.

3. Keep Free Time in Your Diary

Do something for yourself at least one evening a week, something you’re really going to enjoy. If you can’t manage one evening a week, then make it one day / one weekend every month.

Forget work and goals for that period of time and get back in touch with what’s important to you, your family and your friends.

4. Say No (and Mean It)

Set your goals and priorities and do not be afraid to say “No” every now and again to put these goals first. This is not about saying no to everything – it’s more about not feeling you have to take on the extra responsibility at work or home just to please others.

5. Find Your Balance

Be aware of your own needs and well-being. Listen to yourself and your emotions. Be mindful of how you are feeling physically as well as emotionally. Listen to your intuition.

If you feel you’re out of balance day in, day out, then it’s time to look at what’s going on, re-evaluate and change it.

18-07 works with individuals and organisations – helping people achieve their goals faster.