Making Time for What Matters Most to You – TPW452

In this episode we’re reviewing some of the basics for making time for what matters most to you, while still taking care of our daily responsibilities. Making time for what matters most to you is essential for a meaningfully productive life A few days from now will be the 9th anniversary of the launch of The Productive Woman podcast. In the 9 years I’ve been doing this, I’ve talked to a lot of women about productivity--listeners, guests, and women I know or meet in real life. I only remember two women I’ve spoken to--both guests on the podcast--who told me they don’t consider themselves to be busy women. Most of the others have talked about being, not only busy, but too busy at times.  It’s easy to be busy and yet feel like we’re not accomplishing one or more of the things that matter most to us. But making time for what matters most to you is essential for living a fulfilling and meaningful life. This week I thought I’d do a refresher on the basic strategies you can use to help you prioritize and allocate time for the things that are most important to you: 1. Reflect on your priorities. Take some time to reflect on what truly matters to you in life. Identify your core values and the activities or relationships that align with those values. This will help you determine what deserves your time and attention. This is about awareness and intention. Instead of being reactive--going through the day dealing with what comes up (often other people’s priorities for your time, energy, and attention)--thinking intentionally about what really matters to you is a starting point for setting your own agenda.  When you identify those core values and the most important activities or relationships, ask yourself: Do my calendar, my to-do list, and my spending habits reflect those values and priorities?  I love the way one article puts it: “If you find yourself saying, “I have to …” with a sigh for a lot of your calendar items, that’s sure sign that you are spending time in a way that doesn’t bring you joy. Sure, we all have plenty of things we have to do, but many of us have a lot more control over our time than we want to admit.” 2. Set specific goals. Once you've identified your priorities, set specific goals related to those areas. Break down your goals into actionable steps that you can take consistently. Having clear goals will help you stay focused and motivated. Again, this is about intentionality--becoming proactive about how we use the finite amounts of time, energy, and attention we each have. Examples:  If you identify expanding your relationship with a specific client as a priority for you, exactly what will you do--and when--to address this priority?   If cultivating friendships with other women is important to you, what steps will you take--and when--to do this?  * If your spiritual well-being is important, how will you care for that? What is your goal there, and what steps will you take? Favor process goals over outcome goals:  * I will identify 2 key clients that I’d like to do more business with, and will develop a plan for 3 actions I’ll take. I’ll calendar time this week to brainstorm ideas. I’ll call my contact at each of those clients and schedule lunch in the next 3 weeks.  * I will call friend A to check in on her and schedule a tennis game with friend B.  * I will spend 15 minutes reading a sacred text each morning while I drink my morning coffee.