We’ve all been faced with the challenge of task and time management: struggling with how to fit everything in and get everything done, feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day, and stuck in a continual state of go-go-go. I’m sure you know the feeling.
So how do we relate to the never ending demands on your time WITHOUT coming from a place of obligation and push? How do we STOP The Overwhelm and come from a place of ease, flow and spontaneous presence?
Anne Perry, Kiva Leatherman and I recently had a juicy conversation about this and how we’ve each overcome our challenges with time and task management.
Here are some creative solutions we use to help face the challenges of time and task management:
- Come to terms with the fact that not everything will get done.
- Find ways to experience the essence of your ideal lifestyle every day.
- Create a container of time for each task that needs to get done.
- If you’re not inspired, don’t do it.
- And trust yourself with the responsibility of managing your time.
Come to terms with the fact that not everything will get done.
If given the chance, we can all come up with an endless list of things we feel need to be done. The key is accept that not all if will ever get done and to shift into an intentional relationship with time.
Know that if you get off the crazy train of do, do, do – go, go, go you’ll be fine. You will discover a well of creativity and productivity you didn’t even know you had access to.
“You can’t move forward by just continually doing.” Anne Perry
Find ways to experience the essence of your ideal lifestyle every day.
If you’re pushing, pushing, pushing to work through your task list to create your ideal lifestyle “some day”… stop. That kind of chase will leave you feeling forced and trapped. But when you find small ways to incorporate pieces of your ideal lifestyle into your everyday routine you will step into an authentic and inspired state of doing.
Take a page out of Anne’s book: BEFORE she pops open her laptop and jumps into work, she starts the day off with a green juice, a time slot set aside to just be, and a peaceful walk. It doesn’t have to be elaborate. Just love on yourself a bit, whatever that looks like for you.
Create a container of time for each task that needs to get done.
A task will fill the time we allocate to it. If you jump into a task without any structure, it could take 4 hours.Give that task a container of time and that same task could take you 20 minutes. You are the master of your time – you can slow it down, you can speed it up. Play creatively with how time can work with you and be your friend instead of working against it.
If you’re not inspired, don’t do it.
Only act when it’s from a place of inspiration. No more white-knuckling and grinding through a task just because. And it’s funny, when you hold off on the things that don’t light you up, they seem to dissipate and go away. Viola!
And there will be those times when nothing seems to come from that inspired place. When that happens, take a bath, a walk – do something. When you take time for yourself, the inspiration will come.
“When you’e always pushing and driving forward there’s no room for the magic to come in.” Amrita Khalsa
And trust yourself with the responsibility of managing your time.
Maybe in your past you’ve been irresponsible with managing your time and tasks; maybe you’ve responded based on your desires, which is not the same as responding based on inspiration. Your desire might be to stare mindlessly at your tv all day. While your inspiration may not always be the fun thing to do, it’s authentic and it’s what life is calling you to focus on.
Trust yourself to listen to that inspiration no matter how crazy or insane it may seem to anyone else. to listen to your inspiration no matter what others may think or feel about it.
Watch the recording of our hangout below for more on how the Eyes Wide Open Collective responds the the overwhelm.
And please LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW and tell us all the things that are coming up for you around this topic: What are your struggles, your breakthroughs?
