Unleash Your Potential #17 - Goal-Time Management

Douglas: Welcome to the Unleash Your Potential Blog, what question can I answer for you today?

AspireAchiever: How can I better manage my time and energy to achieve my goals? 

Douglas: Thank you for the question. Time/Energy management and achieving goals can sometimes feel like a chicken and egg scenario. Do I need better time/energy management to achieve my goals or do I need clearer goals to focus my time and energy? My gut and research tell me the answer is ‘yes,’ depending on the situation.

I have written before (Unleash Your Potential #1, 3, 4, & 11) about motivation and achieving goals and I encourage you to read those in addition to this post. However, I am going to come at it from a slightly different angle today.

I firmly believe that having SMARTR goals will focus your time and energy and make management much easier. Most of the time, when we feel our time and energy are lacking, it is because we are frittering them away on something that is not in line with our goals.

However, sometimes, our goals can be very clear and well crafted and we still feel as though we don’t have enough time or energy to complete them. This points to a different problem. We are not feeding the machine properly.

If you have gone through the goal-setting process and you are confident that your goals are in line, then I suggest you take stock of the system.

For time, where are you spending your non-goal time? How much time are spending on tasks that don’t lead you toward any of your goals? Keep a minute journal. Spend a few days keeping track of every single one of the 1,440 minutes in a day. Then categorize each minute you spent. Where are you wasting time?

As far as energy, are you refilling the tank as needed? What are you doing to replenish your energy? Meditation, sleep, prayer, nutrition, exercise, etc., these are all places where you refill the energy you need to work toward your goals. Time spent in these areas is not wasted time (unless you are overspending in this category). If you are sleeping 14 hours a day, you might take a look at how much sleep you need to be able to work toward your goals vs. how much time the extra sleep takes away from your ability to work toward your goals. It is critical to keep your body/mind/spirit in good condition to allow you the energy you need.

There it is. Make sure your goals are clear and then make sure you are in “fighting form” to work on those goals. I am pretty certain that if you attend to these two areas, you will find the result is more efficient time/energy management.

I hope my answer sheds some light on your question. If you want to dig into this concept further, I encourage you to reach out and set up a conversation. In the meantime, check back tomorrow for the next question in the Unleash Your Potential Series!

Be Well!

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