Need more time? I’m guessing you said yes, but what if I told you we’re thinking about time wrong? Here are 3 mantras to help stop feeling anxious about time.

1. I am in charge of my day. 

If that doesn’t feel true, it might be time to take a look at your boundaries. 

• When do you do your best work?
• What would you like your work day to start? When would you like it to end? 
• What would your ideal work day/week look like? 
• What “non-work” things would you like to have in your day (and when would you like them to happen)? 
• What’s getting in the way? 

Set some work hours, even if they are just for this week. See what happens if you are really firm about these boundaries. 

2. I have exactly the time I need. 

Not convinced? Try this:

• Get real about time.
  If it takes 35 minutes under ideal conditions to finish something and you round down to 30, you’re already behind. If you don’t assign times at all to your tasks, you may not even realize you are trying to cram 4 hours of work into 2 hours of work time. When you make this shift alone, it can do wonders. You feel less overwhelmed. You start to feel some momentum as you actually get things done. We get real about our time when we plan our week every Monday in Focus Planning. 
• Build in white space and buffer time.
  Buffer time is the extra time you add on to tasks that gives you a little flexibility. White space is time on your calendar you’ve reserved for deep thinking or not thinking. It’s a time for no distractions. Block it off. Guard it. Use it. 
• Use your time to your advantage.
  Define your work hours. Schedule your most important things first. Organize your work around your energy and when you do your best work. Not creative until after lunch? Don’t schedule creative work first thing. Distracted in the late afternoon? Use that time for less focused tasks. 
• Stop multitasking.
  We know it doesn’t work. Turn off distractions, focus on one thing at a time, and see how much you get done.
• Think less!
  Systems and routines help us streamline things we do regularly. Taco Tuesday takes the planning time out of Tuesday dinner. An onboarding process means you don’t have to think through the steps or write the emails or create the documents each time. Built in some ease and reclaim some time. 

Focus Sessions and Focus Planning help you get real about time and find your focus.

3. I don’t need more time. I need more focus. 

Focus means getting really clear on what you are doing and why. It means choosing to do things that move you in the right direction. It’s making a purposeful plan and having distraction-free time to do the work. It’s amazing what can happen when you ditch distractions and find your focus. 

See what more focus feels like with a free Focus Session.