Do you waste time or use it wisely? Are you constantly stressed because you are running out of time? Is there never enough time for you to do the things you want to do?
A matter of perspective
We all have the same amount of time (24 hours a day and 7 days a week), yet our perception of time will determine how well we use our time. Time, like money, is a resource. The difference with time is that it is more precious and valuable because you can never get time back. Meanwhile, you can always make more money.
Stop any further regrets
In the past you have made decisions and choices regarding how to use your time, where to spend or not to spend your time, and with whom and on what activities. As you think about those decisions and choices, do you have any regrets with how you used your time? Do you wish you had:
done things differently?
not put off making certain decisions?
made better life, relationship, career/business, health choices?
spent less time on the things you hated, found irrelevant or boring?
spent more time doing the things you really wanted to do?
spent more time pursuing your passions, dreams and goals?
spent less time with negative people?
spent more time with the people that matter most to you?
etc.
The good news is that you can stop feeling regrets, disappointments, anger, frustration and beating up on yourself about your past choices, so you can start to make better decisions and choices regarding what you do with your time from now on.
Do you live in present, past or future time?
Day to day we can live in the present and enjoy and appreciate every moment in the now. Alternatively, we can live our days with regular thoughts of the past and, therefore, live our now in the past. We can also live our days with too much thinking about the future and what may or may not happen, what could go wrong and the possible negative consequences.
Living in the past or in the future can cause us to feel stress, fear, anxiety, panic, confusion, frustration, procrastination and generally waste our precious time in the now.
If you have “unfinished” business from the past, you are probably dwelling on the past and cluttering your head and focus with what happened back then. Even though you are unable to change the past, how you relate to those past events and your perception of them can change. It is important that you have closure on the past so that you can move on – whether it be a past hurt, betrayal, argument, rejection, separation, divorce, loss, retrenchment, traumatic or other event.
It is difficult to totally appreciate your present experiences if your focus is clouded by past events. Often unfinished past experiences can cloud our decisions and choices about with whom we spend time and how we spend time from now on. Dwelling on the past also fills your head with the past, and makes it more challenging to be clear headed and productive in the now.
Unfinished past business also biases your current choices and decisions. For example, if you have past hurts that are unaddressed and that still “haunt” you, these can affect how you relate to people now, the depth or closeness you develop with your current personal and professional relationships, and whether or not and how you form new personal and professional relationships.
Likewise, if you focus too much on the future and what may or may not happen, what could go wrong and the possible negative consequences, it can impact on how you use your time now. Does thinking about your future help you to take action on your goals or does it cause you worry and procrastination? Do you daydream and wish about what you want or could do, or do you take action on this each day? Daydreaming on its own is insufficient, while lack of clarity of direction can also lead to confusion, scattered thinking and time wasting.
Rethinking time
How do you relate to time? Are you very organised or disorganised? Do you do the things you said you would do when you said you would do them, or do you put them off to another time?
The way you relate to time now depends on many things including your relationship to time, any unfinished business from the past, your clarity or lack of regarding your goals, and many other factors. The best way for you to have more time is to change these so that you: can make the best use of your time; have more time to do the things you enjoy; look forward to an exciting future; can make choices and decisions in the now which will help you to have the happiness and success you desire from now on.
Dr. Vesna Grubacevic is an author (of the Amazon best-selling book, Stop Sabotaging Your Confidence), speaker, media commentator, and the founder and Performance Transformation Expert® with multi award-winning company, Qt. She holds a PhD, a BEc and is passionate about helping professionals and individuals to improve their confidence, emotional and mental wellbeing and success. For more free resources please visit www.qttransformation.com
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