Hands up all those who have (or regularly do) use the excuse “I don’t have enough time”!

Yep, guilty party right here.

It’s almost like it’s become a habit – “this task isn’t something I’m particularly excited or passionate about doing, so I’m just gonna claim a lack of time as my excuse.”

“I’ve got too much work to do. I’m too busy running around and looking after the kids/dog/house. I just don’t have time.”

It’s a widely acceptable excuse, and, until now, a fairly reliable one.

But here’s the truth…

I’m here to tell you that despite what you might tell yourself, you OWN your time and have 100% free-will to do with it whatever the hell you want.

Do you HAVE to go to work? 

Nope, but you CHOOSE to. So you have the money you need to support the lifestyle you want.

Do you HAVE to take the kids to sports practice? 

No again, but you CHOOSE to. So they learn the value of commitment, exercise and teamwork.

Do you HAVE to cook a healthy dinner for your family every night?

Another no, but you CHOOSE to. To save money on take-out and to ensure your family is well fed with nutritious meals.

We all have free will to make our own choices. And we always spend our time the way we WANT to spend it. So it’s important to get really clear on what it is we really want to create in our lives…

How do I know this? 

Following a recent diagnosis I went from working an average of 40 hours a week with endless tasks and little down time or space in my calendar for weeks in advance to working around 20 hours a week with lots of space for rest, creativity and taking on new and exciting projects.

I went from being tired, endlessly busy and dancing with overwhelm, to calm, relaxed and quietly confident about the uncertainty of my future.

What changed? 

My thoughts and beliefs about my time.  

What if you were to develop a chronic health condition and could only work 4 hours a day, or even less? 

What would that mean for you and your business? 

Could you cope? 

Would your business fall apart? 

Would the stress and uncertainty of it all diminish your health further? 

What dodgy beliefs do you have about time and work that would make this a stressful and untenable situation?

What positive beliefs do you have about yourself and your abilities that would help you overcome such obstacles? 

The keys to the kingdom of time are constraint, decision and commitment. And here’s how to use them..

Constrain: It’s all about priorities baby!

Determine your top one or two priorities and let all the other maybes, shoulda and couldas go.

Decide: Let go of the distractions.

Do each of your tasks and activities on your to-do list align with your top priorities? If yes, delegate or schedule them into your diary to get them done. If not, let them go.

This point is relevant to both your work and personal life. Do you spend your time bending over backwards to please others? Mindlessly scrolling social media? Worrying about what people think? Do these activities align with your personal priorities? If not, why not be a rebel and let them go too?

Commit: Have your own back!

Lots of thoughts and objections are going to surface in your brain and try to distract you from your path. Accept this, acknowledge them and be curious about them. Get them out of your head by writing them down and then challenge them. Is this thought really true? Supposing it might be, what is the absolute worst case scenario? What is the likelihood of that worst thing happening? What if it isn’t true? What is the best possible scenario?  Which scenario do I want to commit myself to? Which thoughts am I going to choose to help keep me on track?

Write these positive thoughts down and stick them up somewhere you can see them. Each time things feel hard or overwhelming, stop and take a breath, remember the worst and best case scenarios, and re-read the thoughts you have chosen to help keep you on track.

You’ve got this!

Is everyone going to be happy with your choices? Probably not, but remember – YOUR time is YOURS to do with as YOU wish. You don’t need to live by anyone else’s rules.

You can do hard things (duh – you run your own business!). You can definitely do this!