Written by: Christina Marlett, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Read this article to discover the missing piece in most approaches to time management. If you don’t know this important tip, you’ll continue to feel stressed, overwhelmed and way too busy, no matter how organized you are. Have you ever wished there was more time in your day so you could get more done? You’re not alone. Most people, especially high achievers, feel that if there were just a few more hours in the day…
In the name of productivity, you’ve probably looked into time management and while that’s one approach, there’s something likely going on underneath what’s happening in your calendar that’s affecting every minute of every day (and it’s likely not in the most positive way).
That would be your beliefs around time.
Are you against time?
If you see time as the enemy, no matter how organized you are, you will never have enough time. That’s because if you’re against something in your life, there will always be tension around it, which makes it have to exist.
For example, Mother Teresa said she would not march in a rally against war but she would be happy to attend a peace rally. In this case, if you feel like you’re always against time, you’ll definitely end up having tension around it. So what’s the solution?
What if you started to treat time like your best friend? How would you feel, think and speak about time?
It’s a great question that will completely transform your life. Let’s dive into it further. In this article, we’ll explore the first part; how would you feel about time if it was your BFF.
How Do You Feel About Time?
The only way you can experience time is through your emotions. When I learned that concept, it rocked my world. I decided to get curious about how I felt about time. For several days, I set a timer and whenever it went off, I checked in with how I was feeling about time. The results of my little study shocked me. I realized that for the most part, I felt worried, stressed and anxious about time.
Once I had that awareness, I could do something about it, so I created a new mantra for how I wanted to feel about time. “I experience time with peace, joy and ease.” I repeated it to myself over and over, especially when I was feeling the opposite.
Process for Shifting your Feelings Around Time
Perhaps you want to do the experiment too. For a few days, (maybe 2-4) set a timer or reminder on your phone to check in with how you’re feeling in relation to time. Make a note of the emotion, either in a journal or on your phone. Once complete, look for a trend. If it’s mostly or all about stress, create a new mantra for how you want to feel, or use the one above. I’m happy to share because it’s made all the difference. Repeat your new mantra often, especially when you’re feeling stressed about time.
Pro Tip
If you notice you’re anxious or worried about time (getting stuff done, being late, feeling overwhelmed or behind), ask yourself: In this moment, how can I experience time with peace, joy and ease? (Or whatever your new mantra states.) Hint: The answer is always take a nice deep belly breath.
Belly Breathing
Why? Because breathing into the lower lobes of the lungs and belly activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which takes you out of fight or flight. It also gets you out of your primitive brain and into the prefrontal cortex, where you can make more rational decisions.
Make your breath as long as possible. Aim for an 8-count inhale and an 8-count exhale, in and out through the nose. As you build your breathing capacity, extend it even further. The slower you go, the more effective it will be. For more info on belly breathing, click here.
Between the mantra and the slow breathing, you’ll notice a significant difference in how you feel about time. It will take practice because old habits can take a while to change, but as long as you’re persistent and diligent, you’ll feel far better about time.
In part two of this article, you’ll learn the next step for shifting your relationship with time, which will focus on your thoughts. You’re invited to do the experiment above and practice what you’ve learned so far, and then next time you’ll be all set for the next part of the process.
In the meantime, keep this question in your awareness: If time were my best friend, how would I feel about it? Ideally, assuming you have a healthy best-friend relationship, you would want to be feeling things like loved, appreciated and nurtured. The more you can start to send those emotions out towards time and cultivate them in yourself, you’ll find the stress and worry dissipating.
Benefits for Shifting your Feelings Around Time
When that happens, you’ll release the tension you felt around time, which means that you’ll get more done with ease and it will take less time. Plus, you’ll get more clarity on your highest priorities and you’ll be able to let go of tasks that just amount to busy work with no real benefits.
It’s a total win-win. That’s the value of getting curious about what’s going on underneath the time management strategies. Until next time!
If you have any questions or want to share your results or mantra with me, please use the contact form at CourageousSelf-Care.com.
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Christina Marlett, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine As the creator of Courageous Self-Care, Christina is passionate about helping stressed out high achievers learn to lead their communities, families and themselves from a place of wholeness, overflowing energy and deep self-respect. She excels at helping overwhelmed leaders revitalize their energy from the inside out so that they can be productive and peaceful at the same time. Christina is a certified Embodiment Coach, Body Awake Yoga teacher, Happy for No Reason Trainer, Energy Codes Facilitator and BEST Practitioner who helps you take inspired action so that you have epic relationships, vibrant health and so much energy that people will ask you what you’ve been doing differently.
