I’m gonna keep it real with ya today…
I get SUPER fired up over 1 topic.
TIME.
As in when people say they don’t have TIME for important things in their lives.
For their dreams and goals.
So I wanna get this out there for ya before we dig into the biggest time wasters and how to cut them out of your life, ok?
At the end of the episode, I have a free download for ya.
It’s called the Mindful Intentions Planner.
And it’s gonna guide you through a process to think seriously about the changes you’re ready to make in your life.
Because that’s the key.
Being ready and COMMITTED to make changes.
Not just talking about it… actually showing the EFF UP and doing it.
PHEW, sorry ok I’m already spicy about this. LOL
So let’s dive in.
How do we waste time? My friends, let me count the friggin ways.
Just kidding -- I don’t wanna give you any more ideas about how to WASTE time. LOL
When we’re not conscious of our choices, we default to this kind of programming where we take the easier, softer path.
I mean, cmon. No one likes to do the hard stuff.
But we CAN. Just ask Glennon Doyle.
“We can do hard things” is her literal war cry on the daily.
And we NEED to be ok with doing hard things if we’re going to live the kind of life we truly want.
When we waste time, it may seem comforting… in the moment. Or like it’s important.
But it’s a lie. How do I know?
Because when you end the day and haven’t gotten that to-do list done…
...or feel like “What did I DO all day”?
Then that’s a huge red flag that productivity is an issue.
And everything inside of you is telling you so.
But instead of beating yourself up about…
Make. Changes.
Changes you are going to COMMIT to.
Do it for yourself.
No one else is watching you.
Be accountable to your own self.
It’s super hard but it’s so so important, you guys.
And speaking of productivity, lemme drop THIS truth bomb on ya.
I read this study recently that says most of us are only operating at 51% of our capacity at any one time.
Yikes. Think how life would be if we just increase that by, say, 10%?
Of course, you know me, I want that full 49% but I’m willing to baby step it, LOL.
And here’s one more stat that’s gonna blow your mind.
The average office worker actually puts in about 3 hours of productive work during an 8-hour day.
That one hurts my soul. LOL But honestly I’m not surprised.
And it totally applies to both entrepreneurs and 9-5ers.
Look. We all have habits we’d like to break... changes we wanna apply to make our lives more manageable.
I mean how many times have you said, “I wish there were more hours in a day?”
I know you can’t see me but I’m literally raising my hand right now. LOL
But here’s the thing… there are tons of micro-time wasters throughout the day.
Like, you get a Facebook notification that an old high school hottie just posted a new photo.
And you can’t resist.
Gotta hop right on over to FB and check it out. OBVIOUSLY. LOL
And OMG, he’s friends with that girl you totally forgot about… let’s see what she’s up to.
When you finally look up, time is gone.
And that document you were working on is still half-written.
Bye bye creative juices.
Bye bye flow...
Friends, this happens… all. day. long.
If you were honest with yourself right now… can you pinpoint your own little micro time wasters?
That shiz adds up.
It’s literally time you’ll never get back.
The worst thing about wasting time is how BAD it makes us feel.
Which is totally manageable.
I’m not saying you have to be all work work work 24/7.
But when you MANAGE your time effectively… you can literally do more with less effort.
And yes, still have time for checking your social accounts when it’s not disrupting your flow.
So let’s break out of this vicious cycle. I know you’re been looking for an easy way to do it.
I’ve got 5 tips to help you do that.
The first one may revolutionize how you look at time… and lead to much greater productivity.
If you CHOOSE to take action on it.
Again… that key phrase.
Choose to take action.
So the first tip is… Monetize your time.
That’s right. Put a dollar amount on your time… like an hourly rate.
And PS: don’t devalue yourself. Like, don’t give yourself a BS 10 bucks an hour for easy math.
Think about what you’d charge someone else -- and imagine they REALLY want you. LOL
As an example, let’s say you value your time at $25 an hour.
Tooling around on Facebook for two hours just cost you 50 bucks.
Was that worth it?
Would you pay 50 bucks for 2 hours of time looking at the FB page of some dude you knew 30 years ago?
Proooobbbbbbably not, right?
Let’s expand on this.
Multiply that by a five-day work week and you’re looking at $250 lost.
Would you spend 250 a week for Facebook access?
Hard NO.
When you think of it that way, it changes the game a bit, now doesn’t it?
A lot of this comes down to mindset.
We don’t value our own time.
But time is a finite resource. You can generate more money… but you can’t generate more time.
So I want you to really look at this in your life… because you ARE worth the effort to put in the work.
And the results WILL come if you show up in your life… and in your biz.
Let’s go to Tip #2: Lose the phone.
I know, I know… this one is hard to hear.
But THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP.
And OMG I have to tell you this real quick.
A survey of Millennials and Gen Zers showed most of them would rather lose a finger than give up their smartphones.
I mean, really? Bless them. LOL
Ok so when I say lose the phone, here’s what I really mean.
Reduce your reliance on it. It should NOT be your go-to device all day long.
You can use this super useful tool inside your phone called DND: Do Not Disturb.
And you can do it on TONS of things.
Because those chimes and buzzes alerting you to smartphone activity are addictive AF.
And they are COMPLETE time wasters.
For example, I have a group chat with some girlfriends… and I do love them.
I do.
But they can gab.
And they have different sorts of lives than me -- so during the workday it’s all PING PING PING.
Once I put that chat thread on MUTE… everything changed.
I can pop back into conversations when I’m done with work. And still be part of the party… but not at the expense of my productivity.
You can also do DND as a global setting on your phone.
I always set mine from 8pm until 8am. So I can be fully present with my family in the evening hours. And get my own shiz done early in the am.
And I know it will work for you too… once you COMMIT to this as an action in your life.
Ok, Tip #3: Use websites, not apps.
Yeah those apps are so convenient, but every single one of them is looking for more shiz to send your way to distract you.
It’s good for when you’re on the go… but they tempt you with their convenience.
And in case you haven’t noticed, they lovvvvvve to send you push notifications.
Allll the time for crap you aren’t really interested in. But of course you gotta check when you get that ping.
So during the day when you’re in productivity mode, commit to accessing what you need via your laptop.
It sounds nuts but that extra effort gives you more time to consider whether it’s worth it…
And you’ll probably be pleasantly surprised to find that it’s not.
Ready for Tip #4? Close those tabs.
C’mon, I know you’ve got 10-plus tabs open on your computer right now -- and some in your incognito browser. LOL
Do you feel seen right now?
Are you thinking about covering up your camera because you’re convinced I’m spying on you? LOL
The thing is… doing that?
You may think it’s saving you time… but it’s actually a total distraction.
Subconsciously, it creates anxiety. Because while you’re not actively looking at all those tabs, your eyes do see them.
And be real… how many times do you click on a tab, realize it’s the wrong one, and you get frustrated AF?
Yup, you just wasted time trying to save time.
Humans are natural problem solvers, so we want to solve all.the.things at once.
Finishing things actually makes us happy.
Isn’t that ironic?
We do too many things because we want to finish them… and be happy. But we can’t finish them because we’re doing too many things.
We keep a bunch of tabs open thinking it will be faster… but then we can’t find what we need quickly because we have too many friggin’ tabs open.
So we’re stressed and unhappy.
And then we get super down on ourselves because we have so many uncompleted tasks or projects open.
Having multiple tabs open is a sign this is what’s going on in the deeper levels of your brain.
How you do anything is how you do everything.
So close out tabs you aren’t actively using. You’ll actually get way more done.
Alrighty… Tip #5: Create a routine.
I actually love this one.
Because when you have a routine, it becomes muscle memory…
And you can get shiz done faster and without any brain power. It’s amazeballs.
I mean, write it down if you need to.
Put it into your calendar.
Do it every day, in the exact same way.
Use time blocking. AKA: schedule specific time blocks for specific tasks.
As my friend Marie Forleo says, “if it ain’t calendared it ain’t happening.” So true, right?
Be militant about your downtime -- especially about your progressive rest routine in the evening… and prioritizing sleep.
Literally build a habit.
Which takes daily effort… but over time, it becomes virtually no effort at all.
NOW… before you start to implement any of these strategies…
You need to acknowledge and accept that you waste time.
Own. Your Shiz. LOL
I say that with no judgment.
Because we ALL do it.
But if you wanna make a change… you gotta realize there’s something better for you out there.
And that means being HONEST with yourself.
So many of us lie to ourselves about stupid crap… and I don’t know about you but I’m over it.
It doesn’t serve me to pretend like things are the way I want them to be… when they’re NOT.
So my friends, until you acknowledge and ACCEPT your own personal time-wasting habits... you won’t be able to change them.
The point isn’t to become a workaholic or eliminate ALL distraction.
It’s to align how you spend your time with your priorities.
With what you CARE about… to align with your PASSION and your PURPOSE.
That’s what you’re on this planet for.
You are here for a reason.
And you will be much better served -- both now AND in the long run -- by spending your precious time and effort… on THAT.
I told you I am passionate about this, didn’t I? LOL
SO -- to help you do this…
I want you to download that freebie I mentioned at the top of the show.
It'll help you to start thinking about spending your time more strategically. So you can stop wasting time… start kicking butt in the areas that matter to you.
That you’re actually passionate about.
And ultimately do more with less effort.
That’s the dream, right?
Ok friends… get to work! Go do hard things! LOL
And I’ll see ya online.