WHERE ARE YOU PUTTING YOUR TIME?

"There's no such thing as a lack of time. Only a lack of priorities." -
Tim Ferris
Author of "The 4 Hour Workweek"

The most powerful concepts are often the simplest. One of the first things I do with a client after working on getting them to focus on gratitude daily is take an inventory of how they spend their time. Its a crucial diagnostic test. Like checking the fluid levels in your car, or your blood pressure in a doctor's office, taking a "time inventory" will lead you to some incredible insights about the overall health of your life.

To re-design a life we have to unpack the current situation and see how we got where we are. Time inventory tells us exactly how we got here. Henry David Thoreau put it this way:

Its not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is what are we busy about?"

If you take an inventory of where you are spending your time and compare it to the quality of your life in specific areas you will undoubtedly see a correlation. Inventory your last two weeks and your next two weeks for a great example of why your life is exactly the way it is:

Health and Fitness - How much time are you spending on regular exercise, sleep, proper and nutrition planning?

Finances - How much time are you spending on adhering to your budget? Investing? Financial education?

Relationships - How much intentional time are you spending on increasing the quality of your relationships. This doesn't count time you are just in a room together but the time you spend thinking of ways to improve the relationship, being purposefully romantic with a spouse, intentionally teaching your children, or reaching out to old friends?

Career- How much time are you spending honing the skills that make you effective in your vocation? Or in researching alternative careers that are more aligned with your passions?

Dreams/passions/hobbies - How much time are you spending on things you love to do?

If like many midlifers you wake up after not getting enough sleep because an alarm clock tells you to, you can't "find time" to exercise, eat "fast" food because you don't "have time" to prepare meals that nourish and vitalize your body, "run" off to work, "run" to bring the kids to their activities and then collapse into escapism like television, beer, or internet surfing, your life has certain charactertistics to it. Your relationships are probably suffering. Your waist line is probably bigger than you want it to be, you're tired, and you feel unfulfilled.

If, on the other hand, you are intentionally placing your time in the areas that bring you to life, focusing on your health, your relationships, your finances and your dreams, you have a very different looking life. Its all a matter of where you intentionally place your focus.

EXERCISE:

Do a time inventory this week. Really identify exactly where your time is being spent. Then match up the largest percentages of the time you spend with the current outcomes that are manifesting in your life. Likewise, make a list of "problem areas" or areas you want to make changes in and then "reverse inventory" your time in those specific areas. So if you feel overweight, go back over the last month and see how much time you have spent on taking care of your body. If you feel your marriage is stagnant go back and take an honest appraisal of how much time you are spending on making that relationship magnificent. This exercise is usually quite illuminating as well as often dissappointing. Don't be too hard on yourself. This is a major step for you. By just becoming aware of this phenomenon you are living at a higher level. In upcoming posts we will discuss how to "carve" out time to reallocate it to our heart's desires as we work further on life design. After taking this honest time inventory we will start identifying "why" we are allocating time the way we are currently (you may be surprised when you find out the answer) and how we can start re-allocating time to construct a passionate and fulfilling life. Until then, focus on where you are spending your time and remember:

"He who chases two rabbits catches neither" - Goethe